Troubleshooting Duct Connection Issues When Upgrading from Revit 2023 to 2024

In my blog post, What to Do with All the Orphaned Revit MEP Elements, I outlined a valuable solution for resolving orphaned MEP elements that enable you to focus on your design work. Today, I would like to delve into a related issue that can arise during the process of upgrading from a previous Revit version: the disconnection of ducts.  

During the upgrade process of an MEP project, you may encounter a range of issues, varying in severity from minor inconveniences to more significant challenges. One issue that I have seen while upgrading an MEP project from Revit 2023 to 2024 is duct tap branches being detached from a main duct run. Here are some solutions to overcome this challenge. 

In the warning dialog box, click Expand>>.

A dialog box opens displaying a list of all the warnings. You can expand the nodes next to each warning to see more information, but I prefer to click Export…, and in the Export Revit Error Report dialog box, navigate to my desired location and click Save.  

• By selecting export, you can save these warnings in an HTML file. 

Open the HTML file that was exported. Like the dialog box that displays all the warnings and element id numbers, the HTML file displays this information as well and can easily be referenced. 

In Revit, from the Manage tab>Inquiry panel, select Select by ID. In the Select Elements by ID dialog box, copy and paste the ID numbers from the HTML file. Separate the numbers with a semicolon and no spaces, then click Show or OK.  

Hint: Select everything in the Select Elements by ID dialog box and paste it into a Notepad TXT file in case you need to find these elements again. 

• Show will try to find and open a view that will highlight the elements in it. You can continue to click Show, and Revit will open views to show the elements. 
• OK will highlight the elements in the currently open view. From the Project Browser you can open different views to see the highlighted elements. You can also zoom and pan in the view, but once you click on a command or click in the view, the elements will no longer be highlighted, and you will need to run the tool again. 
• Cancel will de-select the elements found in the model. 

In the view, you can see the taps that are not attached. You will get this tap warning message if: 

• The duct branch’s Middle Elevation is slightly lower or higher than the main duct that it’s connecting into. 
• The duct branch size is larger than the main duct size.  

You can then resolve the size and/or elevation issue by selecting on the branch duct, and from the Options Bar, modifying the Width, Height, and Middle Elevation, as needed. 

I hope you find these tips useful when upgrading models or checking ducts. 

About the Author

Learning Content Developer<br><br>Cherisse is an Autodesk Certified Professional for Revit with extensive experience in teaching and technical support. She holds an Associates of Applied Science degree in Architectural Drafting and Design with a focus on Interior Design. In her career spanning over 20 years in the industry, she has helped many firms with their CAD management and software implementation needs as they modernized to a BIM design environment. Today, she brings her passion for design and architecture to all the learning content she creates.

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