E – 1976 Understanding and Using Electrical Wiring Diagrams

This course is intended for use by those new to using electrical drawings or those wishing to refresh their knowledge of the associated function and components that make up the electrical drawing system.

The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of drafting and drawings used in the electrical industry. Electrical drawing’s purpose is to transfer electrical information or requirements to one or several users so that productive work may be performed. This work may consist of such actions as estimating, planning, manufacturing, construction, commissioning, maintenance and troubleshooting.

The interpretation of electrical drawings requires knowledge of circuit diagram, graphics, alphabetic and numeric symbols, basic circuit practices and a basic understanding of the relevant process requirements.

There are several types of drawings depicting electrical circuits which are outlined in this course. The types of diagrams that will be reviewed include the:

• Operating Diagram
• Schematic or One Line Diagram
• Electrical Arrangement
• Elementary Wiring Diagram
• A.C. Elementary Wiring Diagram
• D.C. Elementary Wiring Diagram
• Connection Wiring Diagram
• Block Diagram

An electrical diagram could be a single page schematic, or a 200-page document. This course is intended to break it all down into small chunks that are easily understood.

Electrical diagrams may follow different standards depending on the country where they will be used. They may have different layouts depending on the company and the designer who is designing the drawing. They also may be drawn by different types of software, such as AUTOCAD. So, when you see a wiring diagram for the first time, you can take a little time to analyze it and become familiar with its layout and symbols and recalling what you have learned in this course.

During this course, you’ll learn to communicate with electrical terminology with the help of symbolism and standards that manifest themselves as technical drawings that include components in their symbols such as blocks, terminal strips, circuit breakers, power supplies, chassis grounds relays and so on.
By end of this course, you’ll have a good understanding of how to read, understand and use any wiring diagram for your benefit. This course is intended to give you a quick overview and get you started into this two-dimensional world of electrical symbology.