Blog Need Replaced?
You have a design change come in and you find out you need to replace one part in some assemblies. So how do you replace it? Do you delete the component, delete the mates and put in the new component in with new mates? WRONG…this takes way too long especially if you have multiples to replace in the assembly.
You should be using the “Replace Components” tool. It’s easy and does a lot for you.
- Right click on the component in the graphic area or on in the FeatureManager Design Tree.
- Now choose “Replace Components”. This component is added to the selection box of components to replace.
- Select the “Browse…” button and find the component that is doing the replacing.
- Under Options, make sure you select Re-attach mates. This is what saves the time. Also, if you want to replace all the instances, checkmark the box “All instances” which is under the top selection box.
So now you clicked OK and you have a selection box on the left, a preview box with the old component in it, a little toolbar with “isolate” on it, and the assembly has the new component in it. Now what?
- The preview window shows a face selected/highlighted. Select the same face on the new component in the assembly.
- Doing this puts a green checkmark on the left.
- Now either flip the alignment or move to the next red question mark.
- If you can’t get to the required face or can’t tell what face to select, rotate the assembly and you will see the preview rotate too. You can also click in the preview window and rotate the model.
There you go a new tool that makes replacing components very easy.