3D note annotation angular dimension failure

[Paul6]

I have a flexible torsion spring modelled.

I have an angular dimension annotation calling out the angle between the legs. 

When the spring is in the free state the legs are parallel and therefore @ 0° and the dimension annotation fails, and so does the model.

When the spring is shown in the deflected state @42°, the dimension annotation is shown and the model is happy. See below

As the spring will be saved in the free state, how do I prevent the annotation / model from failing. I do not want a separate family table member, combined state, simplified rep etc. I just want the base model to have the annotation without the failure in the free state.

Any ideas?, Thanks.

[Dale_Rosema]

Can you define the angle of the bottom leg from the horizontal position instead of the other leg? If you need to, you could cheat and give the free state an angle of 0.1°.

[Paul6]

Yes, I can define it from the horizontal but I still get the dimension failure at 0°

The cheat works with a free state of 0.01°, which will not effect the dia. of the spring. However the dimension is not visible on the screen.

It would be nice to have the free state of 0° as a visible annotation note.

[Dale_Rosema]

What if you create a plane 5 degrees below horizontal and dimension from that. Your model would go from 5° to 53° when it travel.

For dimensions you could then dimension on the drawing from the horizontal and go from 0° to 48°.

It would be a created dimension on the drawing and a "show" dimension.

[Paul6 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your ideas.

I think I have found the solution.

I should have used the show annotation feature for the 3D note, and selected the driving dimension for the spring deflection rather than creating a stand alone 3d note dimension.