Replaced parts won't mate in assembly

GFC_Projects

Hi all,

I have a set of parts that I replaced with parts (same geometry, just different properties) from another assembly. The mates that previously applied to the original parts broke, and when I try to fix them with the new instances, I now get told that they are over-defining the assembly. Does anyone have experience with this or have any idea why it's happening?

shawn_crocker

I have experienced it and it was because some how something got selected wrong when replacing entities or there is somehow an extra unneeded mate. Try right clicking and selecting show mates for one of the parts. Try replacing the mate entities by deleting both entities in the selection box and very carefully reselect the correct ones. Try moving the parts away from each other the ensure you are selecting what you think.

Ps. Why do you need to replace parts with these new parts? Why is version control not allowing you to update to newest version?

GFC_Projects

They aren't actually versions of each other. I have two nearly identical assemblies, as they are made for two different models (but are the same product). I build the part studios separately, but they share some identical parts so I wanted to update the shared parts to a released version so they have the same part numbers in assemblies. Perhaps I should try replacing the parts in the part studio, or deriving them into a new part studio in the same document and then importing them to the assembly, rather than replacing parts directly in the assembly? 

matthew_stacy

@GFC_Projects, perhaps you could share your document and make it public.  I have encountered issues similar to what you describe.  Even though the replacement parts are "identical" there may in fact be subtle differences that are not immediately obvious. 

Sometimes deleting the offending connector in the offending mate is a way to fix this.  The sign or direction of that particular connector may not be consistent with the original assembled geometry.  It may need to be re-oriented or reversed.

Not having seen your model this is all just idle speculation though.  Apply a grain of salt.

GFC_Projects

Turns out there were a bunch of sneaky group mates that were buried in the model. After removing the offending instances from those group mates, everything worked fine!