Getting Started with CaidentCalc

CaidentCalc is a hydraulic calculation application for fire sprinkler systems. Enter the design information for your fire sprinkler system, run the hydraulic calculations, and generate a PDF report for your submittal.

What CaidentCalc can do

CaidentCalc provides the tools for creating and running hydraulic calculations, reviewing the results, and generating calculation reports.

• Fast system entry: Enter nodes, pipes, pumps, and fixed losses using keyboard-friendly, spreadsheet-style tables. Lengths and elevations can be entered as feet and inches or decimal feet.
• Hydraulic calculations: Run calculations for multiple calculation areas within the same project.
• Detailed results: Review pass/fail results and safety margins for each calculation area, along with node pressures and discharges, segment-by-segment friction analysis, and water-supply curves.
• PDF reports: Generate calculation reports with a configurable cover sheet, company information, design criteria, calculation summaries, and optional base-of-riser data. Reports can be generated for individual calculation areas or combined into a single PDF.
• Pipe-table management: View, create, and edit pipe and fitting tables, or import existing HASS pipe tables.
• Third-party imports (Beta): Import calculation reports from HASS, AutoSPRINK, and HydraCAD and convert them into editable CaidentCalc projects.
• Caident Design integration: Send fire sprinkler system designs from Caident Design directly to CaidentCalc without having to enter the piping information again.

Getting CaidentCalc

CaidentCalc is available for Windows and is licensed through your organization. If your organization has purchased CaidentCalc, you can download the application from the Downloads page in Caident.

Before getting started, make sure you’ve also been assigned a CaidentCalc seat by your organization’s administrator.

Once you sign in with your Caident account, the basic process for creating a hydraulic calculation in CaidentCalc looks like this:

1. Enter the water supply.
2. Add nodes and connect them with segments.
3. Define a calculation area.
4. Calculate.
5. Review the Pass/Fail summary and export the report to PDF.

The sections below walk through each part of this process in more detail. First, though, there are a few different ways to get a project into CaidentCalc.

Three ways a project starts

• Create a new project — build the system from scratch in the calc editor.
• Import a calculation — import an existing HASS, AutoSPRINK, or HydraCAD report and turn it into an editable CaidentCalc project.
• Receive it from Caident Design — draw the system in Caident Design and send it directly to CaidentCalc.

The workspace

After signing in, the Home screen is where you can start a new project, open an existing project, or jump back into something you’ve recently worked on.

Once you open a project, you can move between the different parts of CaidentCalc using the navigation at the top of the application. Your project stays open as you move between sections, so you can enter your system information, run calculations, and review your results without switching between separate files or windows.

CaidentCalc includes four themes: Midnight, which is the default, along with Light, Dark, and Sandstone.

Building a system

The calc editor keeps the main parts of your hydraulic calculation together on one page: the water supply, nodes, calculation areas, and piping.

Water supply

Start with the water supply information from your flow test, including the static pressure, residual pressure, flow, and hose allowance.

Nodes

Nodes define the points throughout the sprinkler system and are identified by a tag and elevation. Nodes that represent flowing sprinklers can be marked using the sprinkler flow option, while other demands, such as domestic flow or hose stations, can be added as outgoing flow.

Node tags are used throughout the calculation to connect the system together. If a tag is changed, CaidentCalc automatically updates the other references to that node.

Calculation areas

Calculation areas define the design areas you want to calculate. For each area, you select the flowing sprinkler nodes and enter their K-factors and minimum flow requirements.

A project can contain multiple calculation areas, each with its own group of flowing sprinklers and design requirements. Each area is calculated independently, so you can evaluate multiple design areas within the same project.

Segments

Segments define the connections between nodes and can represent pipes, pumps, or fixed pressure losses. Pipe segments include the pipe material, diameter, length, and fittings. The Hazen-Williams C value and fitting equivalent lengths are based on the material and pipe table selected for the project.

Fittings can be selected from the fittings dialog or entered directly using shorthand codes. For example, 3R5T can be used to enter three run tees and five tees.

As segments are added, the node indicators above the table show which nodes have been connected. This makes it easier to identify nodes that have not yet been connected to the piping network.

Entering data fast

CaidentCalc’s tables are built for quick data entry without constantly switching between the keyboard and mouse. Use the arrow and Tab keys to move between fields, add or remove rows from the keyboard, and undo or redo up to 50 changes.

CaidentCalc also checks your inputs as you work and flags problems that can be caught right away. Before a calculation runs, it checks the entire system for issues such as duplicate or unused nodes, references to nodes that don’t exist, invalid pipe lengths or diameters, fittings that aren’t available for the selected material, and nodes that aren’t connected back to the water supply.

If there’s a problem that needs to be fixed, an error message appears at the top of the page. Selecting it takes you directly to the field causing the issue.

Running the calculation

Once your system is ready, select Calculate to run the hydraulic calculations. CaidentCalc calculates each calculation area separately and shows the progress as each one is completed. If a calculation area can’t be completed, CaidentCalc will show the issue for that area so you know what needs to be reviewed.

If you make changes after running a calculation, CaidentCalc lets you know that your results are out of date. Once you’re ready, you can recalculate to update the results with your latest changes.

Reading results

The Results page starts with a summary of the calculation. It includes the water supply information and a row for each calculation area showing flow at the source, available pressure, required pressure, safety margin in psi and percent, and a Pass or Fail result.

You can expand a calculation area to review the detailed results:

• Flow analysis and system demand shows flow at the source, hose allowance, outgoing flow, sprinkler discharge, and required versus available pressure.
• Nodes summary shows each node’s elevation, type, pressure, and discharge.
• Segments summary provides the full friction analysis, including end-node elevations and pressures, flows, velocity, nominal and actual diameter, fittings and equivalent lengths, C value, and elevation, friction, and total pressure change for each segment.

The fitting data section shows the C value and equivalent-length table used for each material in the calculation, so you can review the fitting data behind the friction-loss results.

The water-supply curve plots the available supply from the flow test using the standard N^1.85 curve and shows the demand point for each calculation area. Areas below the available supply curve pass, and the distance between the demand point and the curve represents the available safety margin.

Exporting PDF reports

Once you’re satisfied with the calculation results, you can export them as a PDF report. CaidentCalc can also create a cover sheet with the project and design information needed for the submittal.

• Company information: Use a saved company profile to include your company name, address, and logo.
• Project information: Add the project name, number, date, address, and calculation areas included in the report.
• Design criteria: Select the occupancy classification and CaidentCalc will fill in the standard density and design area. These values can also be changed when the project requires different criteria.
• Calculation summary: Include the sprinkler information and calculated results for each area, including K-factor, temperature rating, sprinkler count, flows, pressures, and safety margin. Base-of-riser information can also be included.
• Notes: Add any additional information you want included on the cover sheet.

The finished report includes the cover sheet, calculation overview, node and segment analysis, fitting data, and water-supply curve. You can create a separate PDF for each calculation area or combine all of the areas into a single report.

Projects and settings

CaidentCalc projects are saved as individual .ccalc files, making them easy to save, move, share, and reopen later. You can also open a CaidentCalc project directly by double-clicking the file.

In the application settings, you can choose your preferred theme, configure autosave, set defaults for new projects, and control how PDF reports are exported. You can also save company profiles so your company information and logo are ready to use when creating cover sheets.

CaidentCalc automatically checks for updates, so you can stay on the latest version without having to manually download each update.

CaidentCalc is intended to support professional fire protection design. Calculation inputs and results should be reviewed by a qualified fire protection professional before use in permit, construction, or other formal documents. Caident assumes no liability for calculations relied upon without appropriate professional review.