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Electrical system design illustration?

claycookiemonster

Well Known Member
I'm getting down to the point of inserting wire into connector, and I'm thinking it'd be good to have a written record of how I'm doing this.

Is there a way to use average software to create a record of the entire electrical system with wires and associated colors and pins so I can make and keep a record of what I'm doing?

Failing to be able to use "normal mortal" software, what can I do besides drawing very carefully on an infinite number of legal pads to keep a record of what I'm creating?
 
To draw schematic diagrams, I use the free classic version of ExpressSCH.exe which is part of Express.PCB
It is very easy to learn how to use.
 
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Is Microsoft Excel "average software"? If yes, and there is interest, I can post how to use Excel to plan and/or document the wiring for an RV.
 
There are many threads on VAF about drawing schematics. Use the Search button, then Advanced Search if you need more terms.

Dave
 
I had a similar question a few weeks ago since I'd decided I needed to document as much as I could on how my plane was wired since I was finding the documentation from the builder and previous owners was not that accurate. I wanted something like the Nuckolls Z-series Electrical System drawings.

Based on some earlier threads I tried just two options, since the 2nd worked pretty well.

I started with Graphic for Mac on my wife's Mac. The Mac is newer than my ancient windows machine. Net-net, I didn't like it, and while the amount they want to use it isn't terrible, it isn't free either. Basically $10 a month after the free 7 day trial. My primarily being a windows user probably had something to do with it, but to me it felt clunky and inadequate for electrical diagrams.

The other option I tried is a free cloud based application at diagrams.net (aka drawio) that seemed so much easier to use, and works really well considering the age of this PC. I used Visio in the past, and the feel is similar. The one caveat is that they ask you to give them permission to access to your MS Onedrive (cloud back-up) without limitation, to store your drawings there, which seemed pretty absurd to me. I declined that, and just stored the drawing local. Pretty sure you can store them on a google drive, if you have that set up

Since nothing is ever truly free, you do need to sign in with Google or something, but so far it seems perfectly adequate for schematics and wiring diagrams. I'm sure they have some way to monetize it, but so far it seems worth a lot more than I paid for it.
 
copy copy

I grabbed a schematic someone had done for a RV10, and just started updating. It was on Visio. I am still not very good at visio, biut it worked and produced a nice, organized wiring schematic.

I would advise to not scrimp on the schematic. two years from now, it will be really important to know where all the wires go. also, dont use only white wires, try to use a rainbow of colors, but you do not need to get fancy and only use blue for this, red for that, rather just avoid a bundle with all white wires. and list the colors on schematic.

Lastly, takes lots of pictures; electrons are free. I took pictures of every connector before I put the back shell on. It has already paid off. JMHO
 
Excel

Paul, I would be interested in how to use excel as you describe.

The idea is to use Excel to document each and every electrical termination point and what it connects to. A termination point includes e.g.: the pins on a D-SUB connector; connectors on switches and CBs; ground bus tabs; terminals on electrical equipment etc. i.e. anything that will have a wire connected to it. The data about the termination points and the connections is held in an Excel table and there is no schematic "drawing" per se. This method can achieve an equivalent outcome to the traditional "lines on paper" schematic.

I've attached a screen shot for how I've set up Excel that works for me, but it doesn't need to be done exactly like this. This spreadsheet has a tab for each D-SUB connector and for each item of equipment or junction "box". Then, each tab holds data to identify the various termination points and what they connect to. The data includes details of wire color (and gauge as required) and can be anything else you need e.g. some people generate an ID number label for each wire.

The spread sheet can be printed out for use in the shop, with each connection ticked off as it is completed. I find the Excel filter and sort functions to be useful when developing and refining the data and it's obviously very easy to amend and maintain the data.
 

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Excel and Visio

I used both Excel and Visio for my electrical schematics. Excel was great for tracking the wire size, color, length, description, pins/sockets/terminals (and their respective part numbers). I used Visio for the actual schematics. Visio isn't the easiest software to learn but there are a ton of examples on YouTube. You don't need the expensive version. You just make the various components (switches, relays, etc.) via the lines/arcs/etc. in the software and group them together to make a component. I had file that was nothing but the symbols I made. That way I'd just copy/paste them in the various files as needed. If I need a new symbol, I make it in my "Symbols" file and then copy/paste it into the new schematic.

I decided to make a schematic for every "system" on the aircraft (Pitot heat, Nav/Strobe/Landing lights, transponder, etc.). Each system was on it's own page. The wire code I used to label the wires was based on what page it was shown on in the schematics, and the wire number was based on that individual wire on the page. For example, if I see a wire with the label "(07-32)" on it, I know that I can find information on that wire on page 7 of my schematic, and it's labeled as wire "07-32" on that page. The "32" just denotes that it's the "32nd" wire on that page (starting with wire "01"). I included these wire codes in my Excel file too.

As you can imagine, the same wire is sometimes are used for multiple systems. Not a problem. If I need a wire for a particular system, it gets a "code". If I need that same wire later on for some other system, I just use that same code on the new schematic. For example, if I see wire (07-32) while I'm on page 11, I can flip back to page 7 to see what that wire is used for.

Another nice thing about both the Excel and Visio files is I would print them and then highlight the finished wires with a yellow highlighter as I installed them. Both on the Excel row and the Visio schematic. You'r not done until you fill up the pages with yellow...

Take lot's of pictures. You'll need them later. I put wire labels at each end of the wire (unless it was a really short wire where I'd only use one label), and a label in each "bay" it passed through (so that if I was working with only one cover removed, I could figure out what that wire did without having to go dig through the entire harness to figure it out).

After I completed a system, I would test it and make sure it worked properly before moving onto another system. Less troubleshooting if there's a problem.

You can also use this for schematics of other systems too such as brake lines, pitot/static/AoA plumbing, etc.

I hope this helps.

Jeff
 
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