Pro tip: A plumber told me my isometric drawing for a boiler room was 'like a plate of spaghetti'

I was at a job site in Boise last Thursday, showing the mechanical guy my piping layout. He squinted at my tablet and said, 'Son, this looks like a plate of spaghetti to me. I need to see the meatballs.' He meant I'd drawn all the pipes but hadn't clearly marked the actual fixtures and valves. It hit different because he wasn't being mean, he just needed to build the thing. How do you guys make sure your isos are clear for the folks in the field?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora_dixon10d ago

Ever think you were being clear with just pipe runs? I used to cram all my notes into one corner, like a legend, and call it good. Then a fitter asked me to circle each valve with its size right there, because his eyes couldn't jump back and forth all day. Now I put the tag for a pump or a strainer right on the line next to it, even if it makes the drawing a little busier. It's not as clean for me, but it means they don't have to guess.

andrewr659d ago

My buddy Dave had a welder walk off a job site last year over a drawing like that. The guy spent twenty minutes trying to find a valve spec buried in a tiny note block across the sheet. Dave said he learned right then that a drawing isn't for the engineer, it's for the guy holding the tools. Now he puts every single callout right on the part, even if the lead designer grumbles about the clutter. It just saves so much time and hassle for the crew actually building the thing.