Released September 24, 2018.
The following is a list of new and updated features in Design Master Electrical RT 1.3.
Voltage Drop Based upon Distribution Equipment Size: Added an option to calculate feeder voltage drop based upon 80% of the distribution equipment size instead of the calculated load on the distribution equipment.
At the start of a project, before loads have been defined, calculating the voltage drop based upon the load results in a voltage drop of 0%. A voltage drop of 0% does not give you any information about the project.
The new option will calculate the voltage drop as if the distribution equipment is fully loaded. Feeders will display a voltage drop value. In particular, you will be able to see which feeders are likely to exceed 3% voltage drop. You can then upsize those feeders at the beginning of the project instead of at the end.
Fixed Voltage Drop Power Factor: The power factor used in the voltage drop calculation can be fixed at 0.85. Previously the power factor was based upon the power factor set in Revit. We have found that the Revit model is often not well defined and the power factor is not correct. For these projects the Revit power factor can be ignored and a single fixed value of 0.85 can be used in the calculation instead.
Ground Wire Upsizing: Upsizing the conductor size will upsize the ground wire size, too. Previously the ground wire did not change size and you had to manually upsize it. The ground wire is upsized based upon NEC 250.122(B).
Ground wires in existing projects will be upsized when the project is converted to the new version. A list of circuits that have new ground wire sizes will be displayed when this change happens. You can review the new sizes and confirm they are all appropriate.
Arc-Flash Sticker Printing Improvements: Printing of arc-flash stickers has been improved. The print commands create a single HTML file for all of the arc-flash stickers that you can print from your browser. Previously each arc-flash sticker was a separate file and had to be printed individually. The sticker size has been updated so that four stickers fit on a standard 8.5x11 piece of paper.
Licensing: The technical backend for managing licenses has been upgraded in this release. Your current license should continue to work with no changes. The license update process will be a little different when you renew your subscription.
Installing the license will require an active internet connection.
Single-user licenses will regularly check in with our license server on the internet. They will work when disconnected from the internet.
Floating licenses will now use our remote license servers on the internet to manage concurrent use. They will require an active internet connection to be used.
