[Equest-users] dd wizard - invalid argument

[Pasha Korber-Gonzalez]

Bruce-you've been comin' in pretty heavy yourself on this forum and I concur
with your explanations & comments/advice to Aaron and other new users of
eQuest.  Put very well and sincere.  Bruce stated the reality of the need
for accuracy & efficiency in setting up any energy model.  After foolishly
having faith in my eQuest files' ability to run smoothly from start to
finish, I have adopted the "Save As" approach for all of my project files,
and like Bruce stated, "Never get 30 hours in without testing and running it
many times on the path...the simulation at this point is for confirmation
your model is running and [free of errors.]"

Aaron-you might want to send us your .pd2 & .inp files so we can see the
error(s) you are experiencing.  I think Bruce is on the right track that it
might be an external surface.  Do you have a pitched roof on your model?

Pasha

On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 7:50 PM, Bruce Easterbrook <bruce5 at bellnet.ca>wrote:

>     You did have an error in your electric rate but obviously if it is not
> now involved it probably is not the main problem.  That leaves the roof.  If
> you have several custom floors when you create them in the DD wizard they
> will all have roofs.  If they are stacked you will have embedded roofs ifyou have not gone in and removed them which you can't do in the DD wizard.
> They will only effect floor to floor heat transfer and maybe eQuest will
> give them a solar load I don't know.  eQuest will run with them if they are
> technically (geometrically) correct.  The problem is you can't see them in
> the 3D view if they are covered by other floors and easy visual check to see
> if they are geometrically correct is not possible.  That will cause eQuest
> to crash.  You may be able to cheat a little.  eQuest will show external
> surfaces in a red outline in the 3D view.  If this is may be your problem go
> to the building shell tab to one of the floors and highlight the roof in
> tree pane.  Switch to your 3D view and hold your control key and with your
> left mouse held down rotate the 3D model.  It will switch to wire frame and
> the roof surface will be highlighted in red.  I can't remember how to turn
> on the wire frame view but that is possible to do as well.  Maybe someone
> monitoring this will refresh my memory.  I think you have a roof geometry
> problem and geometry problems are a pain in the ass.
>     The other thing I have noticed and I'm not sure quite why but if there
> was an error and you have corrected it, the program may have not actually
> accommodated the change yet.  My guess is, the program runs in a linear
> fashion start to finish.  A change will probably get added to the end of the
> program as a addition or change.  When the program is run again it is using
> the original file and then the additions, but the error is still there and
> the program hits it first and crashes.  I have found when doing major
> changes it is best just to save the file, close it and re-open it.  eQuest
> will then reorder the file and it probably won't crash if you did correct
> the error.  Run a simulation and you will get much better error messages as
> to what the problem is.  I have adjusted my trouble shooting technique to
> this method in the last few weeks and have seen many errors disappear once
> the file is reinitialized.  It has saved many hours of banging my head on
> the wall.
>     This is not specifically for you Aaron, just a general observation
> (tangent).  I have noticed a few guides in the last week or so to help new
> comers but no one has mentioned reinitializing the project.  It may be an
> obscure point but I think it saved me about 30% of my hours on my latest
> project.  One of the biggest things with eQuest is to get it running and
> keep it running as you build your model.  Start simple, initially, heat
> transfer surfaces are important, zones are important, windows are not,
> schedules are not, utilities are not, constructions are not, layers are not,
> HVAC systems and their zones are not.  Geometry is CRITICAL.  eQuest will
> choke with a vertex error of .01, Carol(e) is "anal on this point", lol, but
> she knows what she is talking about.  She and Pasha both agree and no doubt
> will add wisdom if they have any pointers to add.  I should add a plug for
> Nick as well, another heavy hauler on this site with major experience beyond
> his years.  Start simple, get the box(es), and surfaces correct.  Zones
> initially can be artificial with the future HVAC system in mind *but also*to assist with the geometry.  Specifically, in dealing with other floors and
> roofs.  An un-named eQuest instructor will attest to this, it is easier to
> manipulate your zoning to assist in your geometry problems and put them
> together later to accommodate your HVAC model than create the surfaces on
> the fly in detailed edit. Especially with 40 students watching!  eQuest can
> be humbling even for experts.  NEVER get 30 hours in without testing and
> running it many times on the path.  Lots of saves, build your files as well
> as the model.  The simulation at this point is for confirmation your model
> is running and for error messages.  A tiny error in geometry will crash the
> file.  There is no point doing anything but the bare minimum until the
> geometry is correct.  It will crash your project with minimal error
> messages, maybe none, eQuest will just freeze.  Once the geometry is correct
> keep adding to the complexity one step at a time, test and confirm, fix
> errors, save, then the next step.  I know it sounds plodding, it is.
> Methodical is a much classier word.  Efficient is more to the point.  I
> contract so when everything blows up I don't get paid.  I eat the hours for
> my mistakes.  In the end it is all similar, whether it is the boss pounding
> on the door or the client, the deadline has arrived, eQuest is not
> cooperating and you are ready to toss the computer out the window, your name
> is mud.  Plodding is smart.
>     Sorry for the digression Aaron, the Voodoo thread was interesting and I
> didn't get to add my 2 cents worth.  I was in a swamp with alligators at the
> time.  On the other hand I did learn a lesson about reinitialization.  You
> learn by doing and making mistakes.
> Bruce
>
>
> On 14/06/2010 06:43 PM, Dahlstrom, Aaron wrote:
>
>  Bruce –
>
>
>
> The error shows up when I attempt to “finish” the DD wizard.
>
>
>
> When I look through the PD2 file and the INP file in Notepad, neither have
> any explicit errors in them.
>
>
>
> The PD2 file does have -
>
> 1)      RoofZoneErrorCode = 4
>
> 2)      TOUPeriodErrSeas1 = " "
>
>
>
> I can get *into *the wizard just fine, and all the data appears correct.
> The problem is that when I “finish” the program crashes.
>
>
>
> I just experimented with removing the TOU electric rate, and again, when I
> hit “finish” it crashes eQUEST with the error noted below.
>
>
>
> Thanks for trying!
>
>
>
> Any other suggestions?
>
>
>
> *Aaron Dahlstrom , PE, LEED® AP*
>
> *In P**o**sse* – A subsidiary of *AKF*| 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 1414,
> Philadelphia, PA 19102
>
> d: 215-282-6753| m: 267-507-5470| In Posse: 215-282-6800| AKF: 215-735-7290
>
> e: ADahlstrom at in-posse.com | in posse web: www.in-posse.com | akf web:
> www.akfgroup.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Bruce Easterbrook [mailto:bruce5 at bellnet.ca <bruce5 at bellnet.ca>]
> *Sent:* Monday, June 14, 2010 5:21 PM
> *To:* Dahlstrom, Aaron
> *Cc:* equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Equest-users] dd wizard - invalid argument
>
>
>
> It depends where you are in the process.  If you are getting a detailed sim
> report it should open to the errors part of the report.  If you aren't that
> far open the project BDL or INP files with notepad.  They will list warnings
> and errors as they are processed.  The error will be at the end, there may
> be contributing errors before.  All it really does is tell you where it
> kicked out, but it does provide clues.  When you run your simulation make
> sure the boxes are checked so it will run through errors and warnings.  You
> get better hints this way.
> Bruce Easterbrook P.Eng.
> Abode Engineering
>
> On 14/06/2010 04:56 PM, Dahlstrom, Aaron wrote:
>
> Folks:
>
>
>
> I have gotten the following error several times on the same project.
>
>
>
> I have rebuilt the file from scratch already once, and I’m wondering if
> there is another way to fix this error.
>
>
>
> Any idea if there are reports or INIs that I can view / modify to find out
> where exactly this “invalid argument” is located?
>
>
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> *Aaron Dahlstrom , PE, LEED® AP*
>
> *In P**o**sse* – A subsidiary of *AKF*| 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 1414,
> Philadelphia, PA 19102
>
> d: 215-282-6753| m: 267-507-5470| In Posse: 215-282-6800| AKF: 215-735-7290
>
> e: ADahlstrom at in-posse.com | in posse web: www.in-posse.com | akf web:
> www.akfgroup.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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