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SW Electrical 3D insert part error

Question asked by Kevin Eichler on Aug 26, 2014
Latest reply on Sep 20, 2014 by Kevin Eichler

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Hello,

So I've been using SW Electrical for a week now and have managed to make some custom components, associate them appropriately, and wire them in SWE 2D. I just tried to open the project in SWE 3D for the first time last night and ran into an issue. The first two custom components I tried to insert did so successfully and without issue, the last which was also a round barrel shape connector (as opposed to the first two which were square connectors) would not insert and the following error message would appear:

"The 3D part associated to the component could not be used. Reason: the manufacturer part dimensions are less than the minimum dimensions of the part.

Height: 37

Depth: 35

Check manufacturer part dimensions, some could have been switched (width and depth for example) or are missing."

I have changed the dimensions in the manufacturer properties several times and even modified the part several times in an attempt to correct this issue but have been unsuccessful. Does anyone know a solution to this issue? Thanks

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Daniel Myers Aug 26, 2014 2:06 PM
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I've run into this issue as well. Usually it is when we are creating dynamically resizable parts, that some pattern or something has a minimum size that it can be. But often we have to just start the part over when we get the error, because nothing we change will make it go away.

I created a test part that was just a 2mm cube. I assigned it to a solidworks Electrical part that had dimensions set to be 40x50x60. It inserted just fine with no problems. I also set the solidworks Electrical part to be .5x.5x.5, and it inserted without error.

Do you want to attach the problem 3D part, and a screenshot of your manufacturer part properties from solidworks electrical? I could see if I get the same problem.
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- Kevin Eichler @ Daniel Myers on Aug 26, 2014 2:51 PM
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  As you can see the part is fairly simple, just a cylinder with two recessed ends and the two slots on the sides are modifications i made to try to get it to work (used them to define a left and right in the SW electrical wizard). The current dimensions are noted on the left, depth being the diameter, height being the length of the cylinder, and width the distance from the two slots. This is an extremely simplified version of the connector I want, just for learning purposes, not sure if more complex geometry will cause problems or if it just can't find what its looking for. Thanks for taking a look at this!
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  - Daniel Myers @ Kevin Eichler on Aug 26, 2014 3:07 PM
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    It's not so important to define the top, bottom, left, right in the part. From playing with things, it seems like all those do are help orient a part when there are mating references set up (back-panel or rail).
    
    You could try going back to the original version without those added slots and see if it works then. It would be great if someone else could comment who's dealt with this error before.
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    - Kevin Eichler @ Daniel Myers on Aug 26, 2014 4:24 PM
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      I'll mess around with it using your suggestions and see what I can figure out, thanks
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    - Kevin Eichler @ Daniel Myers on Aug 28, 2014 2:09 PM
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      Ok so I remade the connector as a very simple cube. Reassociated the new component with the existing symbols and changed the dimensions to the new ones under properties, and the result when going to 3D is still the same, no change whatsoever. Really not sure what the problem could be, next step is to completely redo the harness in a new file.
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      - Julian Scharf @ Kevin Eichler on Aug 29, 2014 7:48 PM
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        Hi Kevin,
        I have never really understood the benefit of enforcing the sizing of the database entry on the actual 3D part. I got sick of running into this problem unexpectedly.
        My workaround is to set L, W, H to 1000 (1 metre) in the manufacturer part library. This is an inelegant hack, I admit. However we do not use the sizing in our Electrical reports or BOMs so it causes no problems for us.
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        Earl Hasz @ Julian Scharf on Sep 2, 2014 8:46 AM
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        A number of the installed EW_??? 3D parts look to the three values for their sizing on insertion. Granted the values go out the window the moment you reference custom models to the library. Setting 1000 certainly removes that particular check.
        
        -Earl
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        Julian Scharf @ Earl Hasz on Sep 12, 2014 8:14 PM
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        Just to expand on what Earl has described with some pictures.
        
        Here is a snapshot of the 'bog standard' SolidWorks Electrical part that is inserted. There are a number of linked dimensions inside the part.
        
        I have created a test manufacturer part entry. I've given the following:
        Width: 100
        Height: 150
        Depth: 125
        
        I assign this part to a component in my design.
        
        When I insert it SolidWorks Electrical will:
        1- Realise that I have not assigned a designated 3D part
        2- Substitue the default
        3- Resize the 'bog standard' according to the dimensions that it finds in the Manufacturer part entry.
        
        Have a look at the dimensions of the resulting part after it has been inserted:
        
        To be honest, I'm still not really sure how this feature was intended to be utilised. Perhaps when creating the cabinet, the bog standard parts are dynamically resized to reserve space. Then later they can be swapped out for Electrically intelligent parts with routing points? If anyone uses this feature the way it is intended, please let us know.
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        Kevin Eichler @ Julian Scharf on Sep 10, 2014 5:15 PM
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        Thanks for the tip!
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Sebastian Davies Sep 12, 2014 10:41 AM
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The reason for the message is normally related to the minimum dimension applied inside the 3D part. If you have a cube and specify the minimum dimensions as 2x2x2, for example, but have manufacturer part dimension or 1x1x1 then the program will try to reduce the size of the 3D part below its minimum allowable size. By the same token if the manufacturers part is 3x3x3 then the 3D part will be adjusted to this from 2x2x2 without issue.

So the solution is to either reduce the minimum size of the part you are inserting, select another part, or increase the sizes of the manufacturer part. Generally the message will include the minimum sizes defined in the 3D part itself.

I hope this helps.
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- Daniel Myers @ Sebastian Davies on Sep 12, 2014 2:47 PM
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  Could you show me a picture of where minimum dimensions inside of a 3D part are set?
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  - Julian Scharf @ Daniel Myers on Sep 12, 2014 7:58 PM
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    Hi Daniel,
    This is where the minimum dimensions are set:
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  - Sebastian Davies @ Daniel Myers on Sep 15, 2014 10:29 AM
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    Hi Dan,
    
    Everything that Julian has written is correct, just to add a bit more to that and to explain further I will talk in relation to the EW_DEFAULT sldprt files.
    
    Parts work using configurations, normally you start with two EW_CONFIG and default. Everytime you insert one of these SLDPRT files a new configuration is automatically created, the new configuration gets the name of the part and manufacturer tagged to it which is taken from the component.
    
    For example, I am going to insert -T1, part 04251 manufacturer Legrand, I opt to use the part EW_DEFAULT, a new configuration is automatically created called 04251|Legrand 30x89x66 (I trust the naming is self explaintory in this context).
    
    The reason for the new name is so that if you ever insert a component in future using this sldprt, and you've assigned a part used previously, then the existing configuration will be used.
    
    A good place to see this is with ducts and rails, insert some default ducts and rails with different parts applied each time then review the configurations in the EW_RAIL* for example.
    
    The dimensions in the part are exactly those shown in the last image of Julians post from 12/09, these are actually named in the configurations, so as to know which SLDPRT dimensions should be associated to which field.
    
    That's the very basics, there is a bit more to it than that. I hope this helps shed some more light on the topic. If you want to know more please let me know.
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Kevin Eichler Sep 20, 2014 5:11 PM
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So I was trying to insert a cylindrical connector like before, this time I used the trick of placing all dimensions to 1000 but the problem did not go away. Any ideas? Did I do it incorrectly?
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Kevin Eichler Sep 20, 2014 5:14 PM
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this is also the case with all other connectors ( I was redoing the entire harness/assembly) nothing inserts and everything gets the same error message
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- Kevin Eichler @ Kevin Eichler on Sep 20, 2014 5:20 PM
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  I resolved the issue, I was changing the dimensions in the wrong place
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SW Electrical 3D insert part error

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