Any good electrical diagramming programs?

RoyS · Jan 11, 2017

Did you know that you can rent Autocad monthly? You download it in minutes and pay a very reasonable monthly fee. I rented Autocad Lite (for a Mac) for a month to draw up plans for a home addition. It only cost $48 for the month. Autocad has a long learning curve if you have never used it before, however.

Stu Jackson · Jan 11, 2017

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4821.0.html

Maine Sail · Jan 11, 2017

Justin_NSA said:
I'm looking for a decent CAD program to diagram my boat's electrical system. Preferably with a short learning curve and inexpensive if not free. What we used to call shareware. I have a strong background in military and commercial avionics so I know what I need to do as far as laying it out on 'paper'.
As I have been fixing and modifying my electrical systems e.g. mast lighting, tank monitor, mis-wired circuits etc, I have been sketching up pieces of the puzzle. I'd like to bring it all together in a diagram for myself and for the next owner.
Anyone use one of the programs out there that runs in Windows? Thanks for your help.

Do you want to do schematic type diagrams or just general system diagrams. I have found my customers who are less versed in understanding electrical schematic type diagrams prefer a simple MS Paint diagram with photos of the actual products they have installed. Over the years I have built a library of component images. I use MS Paint, Visio and Paint.net mostly.. With Visio you don't get the electonics images unless you go for the upgraded version.. Pretty much any diode, switch, fuse symbol etc. can easily be found on-line then imported into Paint and moved where you want it...

This was a simple design I did for a boat the owner had already gutted to the bones. I say "simple" because the boat had no inverter, no windlass, no electric winches and only a very basic 120V system powering outlets, a charger and a water heater. This, by today's standards, is pretty simple.

When I am asked to make a drawing of the installed system I will ask the owner if they want an electrical layout drawn using standardized electrical symbols or an electrical layout using images of the actual installed products. Most boat owners, unless they are electrical engineers, simply don't understand electrical schematics or know what the symbols mean so they usually opt for a drawling like this one. There is no sense handing someone a drawing for their boats system if the language it's drawn up in is foreign to them.

I would recommend creating a DC foundation like the drawing below, a DC distribution drawing (DC panel and loads) and an AC distribution and feed drawing.

jeepbluetj · Jan 11, 2017

Digikey has free schematic design software online. It's usable, not fantastic, but usable.
http://www.digikey.com/schemeit/

It may have been mentioned in the thread that Stu posted.
I hate visio with a passion.... But that's just me.

Bill Roosa · Jan 11, 2017

Well if you were in the military you should have your powerpoint ranger tab right? Pictures and PP like MS suggested would seem to be the most economical route

Kermit · Jan 11, 2017

My best friend is an electrical engineer for the Air Force. (And won Engineer of the Year award 2 years in a row.) When he moonlights on commercial building projects he uses a pencil and paper.

Ron20324 · Jan 11, 2017

I, too, wanted to chart my boat's wiring, plus what I added. I found MS Word can do it if you use the "insert" tab to draw lines and shapes. I'm hoping this pic will show enough detail. Where you see green triple letter in an "exit" arrow, refers to another page that has the same arrow as an INPUT to that page's diagram. THAT page might be for the windlass ckt, or helm pod wiring, or inverter wiring. I can't get one to upload, but I'll keep trying.

Maine Sail · Jan 11, 2017

Justin_NSA said:
I like the pictorial diagram but I would want to take mine a little deeper. I want to diagram the 'innards' of the control panel, distribution switches etc. Equipment like the A/C, charger/inverter would look more like a block with in and out connections. I can interpret symbols so pictures would not be necessary, but in the end I would probably like to have both to pass on to the next owner. Not that I'm selling anytime soon.

You simply make multiple diagrams. It is very, very difficult to do a "decent" job, even for a 30 footer, with one drawing. This is why most builders break it out into multiple drawings. Most large yachts have books of diagrams for everything from fuel transfer, AC systems, plumbing systems, refer systems, hydraulic systems, stabilizers, 240V, 120V, DC, electronics, security sytems, coms systems etc. etc. etc.. I have a massive mega yacht I work on that has an entire library of 3" thick three ring binders on the ships systems...

Even on a small boat you would have AC feed & distribution, DC distribution, DC foundation, engine diagram, plumbing and NMEA/Electronics systems etc. etc..

Brian D · Jan 11, 2017

I use Visio. You might be able to find an older version that is free. Or ask around and see if anyone has a suite you can buy from them.

I believe that Google had a free CAD program. It was called SketchUp. Might check into that one. Not sure of the learning curve though.

Ron20324 · Jan 11, 2017

sesmith · Jan 11, 2017

Express Sch is another possibility:

https://www.expresspcb.com/expresssch/

It's mainly for board layout and design, but I use it at work for wiring schematics, and have used it to draw the power distribution for our boat. It's a very basic drawing program, but it's quick to learn and easy to use.

capta · Jan 11, 2017

When I took a rather in depth, but now much out of date, class in electronic technology we had a program called Electronic Work Bench (EWB). It was great because you could actually "light up" the circuits and take voltage, amperage and resistance readings anywhere in the circuit.
I think this would be a great thing for us to have. Imagine wanting to add a new circuit and seeing the effects it would have on the boat's systems. I'd do it for my ac & dc systems.
I just googled EWB and found several shareware versions available. I haven't had time to check them out, but if they are like the version I used, they should be pretty user friendly.

GeorgeC1 · Jan 12, 2017

I was using Schemeit on the Digikey website but you need an internet connection to access the schematic software. I now use TinyCAD. It is available as a free download. It has a library of hundreds of electrical/electronic symbols and you can embed graphical images in your drawings. It is very easy to use.

Brian D · Jan 12, 2017

By the way, I have also used MS Excel. The columns and rows can be used like graft paper. Just adjust the width to equal the height and BAM, perfect template for lines. Just a thought.