Examples of LV Wiring Plans?

D

doogie04

Member
Hi all, hope this is the right forum -- feels like a wiring closet question.   I’m about to embark on a whole home renovation.  I've spent some quality times with the 101, 102, and 103 type resources here -- so helpful. 
 
One thing, however, that seems to be lacking is example low voltage wiring plans. I guess looking at the architect’s plans there is a whole nomenclature built up for the electricians.  So what about us low voltage mortals?  I know everyone’s situation is different, but I'm looking for common nomenclature.  Types of things I’m concerned with:
  •  what's the symbol for a wall jack? 
  •  how do you distinguish the number of ports on a jack?
  •  how do you distinguish different types of ports on a jack?  (eth, 3.5mm, IR, HDBaseT, Coax, other)
  •  Wire runs -- do you color code, use different patterns, or tick marks on lines for  16/4, speaker, Ethernet, Coax? 
  •  Wire runs - how do you indicate number of pulls? line thickness,  dashed/dot pattern?
  •  existing versus new items?
  •  Wall speakers vs ceiling speakers?
 
  So anyone have some examples to share?
 
Best,
-eric
 
 
 
 
I've never seen one, but would also be interested to see one. I'd have to imagine that they do exist, particular for commercial buildings where network drops are much more critical. However, I'm not sure about them being in residentail drawings.
 
I'd have to look again, but I'm pretty sure that the plans for my home include symbols for CATV and Phone drops, but nothing else; the builder didn't install anything else either. I added plenty of my own [during construction and since]... I've never bothered to update the drawings to reflect what's currently installed, but I have been asked about it before.
 
Historically I would just import a CAD drawing into Visio and just put my pieces in.  It was simple as it only dealt with LV network stuff and I had little pictures of switches and routers et al.  The most difficult piece was getting a soft copy of the CAD drawing; typically never provided by an architect back in the 1990's.
 
During a new home build and reviewing the architecture stock drawings in the late 1990's and wanting my pieces of LV; I did what I could with the allotted time I had pre-build.
 
I just took the electrical drawing and penciled in my LV cabling stuff (for addendum's to the alarm wiring which related to automation) then told the builder to make copies of my penciled in stuff drawing overlaid on the electrical.  I did do a post completed build visio only LV drawing for references sakes after completion as some things did change during construction.  I didn't do the alarm prewiring and never did see a picture from the subcontracted alarm company such that I included that stuff in my post construction visio drawings.  I still utilize the drawing today some 14 years later as I installed much LV cabling at the time and I knew that I wasn't going to terminate all of that LV cabling within a year of the completion of said build. Mostly because it was a DIY and I did do baby steps using what I needed when I needed it.
 
I have had conflicts for personal commercial endeavors relating to what is on a drawing, what was bid to do and what was done and I learned a bunch of stuff "en vivo" which sometimes became costly events.  One was a simple lighting for some 3000 foot space within a larger building.  I asked a simple question of the contractor.  Where are my wall light switches? The answer was to utilize the fuse panel some 300 feet away because it wasn't in the drawings.  I said no and paid for the "addendum" of wall switches".
 
Thanks for the tips guys.  Much appreciated.  
 
@drvnbysound -- you're right it's not part of my plans --yet.   The architect gave me a relatively clean sheet to do the LV plan on.  He's just going to take what I provide and insert as an additional sheet.
 
@RAL --  Thanks for the examples.  I stumbled across the NECA document earlier.  I guess I just didn't spend enough time with it to realize it had most of what I want.  
 
@Pete_C -- luckily I've lived in one of the apartments for 10 years and the 2nd apartment we're merging in is a mirror image.  So I know the guts pretty well, having already buried 3000 feet of wires in the walls of the first apartment.  There should be few surprises on the LV end.
 
Three questions I'm left with from the docs.
  * How do you indicate the # and type of wire being run ?  I plan on drawing in rough paths for the cable runs.  But how do I indicate the # and type of wires ?  Or is that getting too specific?
  * How do you indicate the variety of keystone's/punch-downs for a given jack (ex: 4 Ethernet, 1 coax, and 3.5mm for IR )?
  * how do you indicate certain specifics ...say an in ceiling speaker in a small space that is stereo ?
 
Best,
-eric
 
For much of the wiring, I suspect that it is assumed that the person running the wire knows the appropriate wire to be used.  e.g. 14-2 romex for a 15A circuit.  But for low voltage wiring, I can see where there will be circumstances where you want, say 14-2 wire for some speakers rather than 16-2 or 18-2.
 
I guess this is where I would improvise and mark the wire type on the drawing next to the jack or wall box location.  Or, perhaps use different colors or line types for different types of wires. As long as you provide a key that specifies the meanings, you should be ok.  And hope your contractor isn't colorblind! :)
 
My personal preference would be to avoid using too many different colors or line types.  It's easier just to read off a specific wire type next to the jack on the drawing than to figure out whether a line is orange or red when the lighting is poor.
 
You could also provide a table of specifications that contains instructions such as "All speakers to be wired with 14-2"  etc, if the rules are simple enough and apply to all cases.
 
I'm not sure I understand your question about speakers in a small space.  Why wouldn't you mark a location for each speaker?  Or are you asking about what to do if the space is so small on the drawing that you can't fit two speaker symbols in?
 
RAL said:
I'm not sure I understand your question about speakers in a small space.  Why wouldn't you mark a location for each speaker?  Or are you asking about what to do if the space is so small on the drawing that you can't fit two speaker symbols in?
Click to expand...
 
I read it as using a single speaker that has stereo connections (e.g. dual tweeter speakers have this capability).
 
Having said that, I think the easiest way to handle LV wiring, would be to only put like cabling on each sheet; do one sheet that is only network working (e.g. Cat5), do another for speakers, and another for alarm, etc. I wouldn't try to mix them all together in a single diagram.
 
Fair enough points.  The poor schmoe who's going to have to decode this is me.   My contractor would do the LV, but I'm the the one who has to live with it  So I'm going to get my hands dirty.  The plan is really for for the sake of, well, planning  and future reference.    I'm also going to be leaving a lot of locatoins bundled in the walls for future projects,  so I'm going to be taking a lot of photos of where the dormant cables lie.
 
I've seen a circle with SPK inside of it, for speakers.  Maybe an S? or SP?  Put it in the legend.  Maybe DSP inside a circle, for Dual Voice Coil Speaker.
 
1772519_image008.jpg

 
 
Cable list may be useful (not mine, found online)
slide-10-728.jpg
 
@bucko  - That's a great diagram.    It actually makes me blush a little .... maybe i'm running too much wire:-)
 
I've spent some time with the NECA doc,  looked at the examples.    I did a first pass by hand on a 24x36 print -- to be kind, my effort needs a few revisions.  It did, however, point out a few important things:
   * where I'll have a mess of symbols and wires. 
   * all the different types of notes I want to include
   * the need for a cross tabulation/inventory so I can back out my parts order.
 
I think  I'll do my next pass in Viso and see how forgiving the tool is.
 
For my kitchen renovation, when revising the lighting control, I used a single number on the layout diagram/floor plan at each switch location.  For each switch location, I had a separate numbered 'call out' sheet, providing details.
 
I don't know if Visio can provide this 'call out' - but I bet it would.
 
D-Tools is the pro version of what you want, that adds a call-out function, bill of materials, cost estimates, and proposals.  http://d-tools.com/whats-new-in-six-2013/drawings/  It's priced for professional use, ridiculously expensive for personal use.
 
Edit:  It's currently on end of year special, $2249, normally $4500.
 
Visio does do call outs. I find it to be the best software, especially for wiring layouts. 
My diagrams are very clear to understand and use. If I can get a group of non English speaking Chinese workers to understand it, it must be good!
I use layers to separate the LV wiring into four layers. Security, audio/video, lighting controls, and data. I can then print out 4 sets of drawings detailing wire ID's and routing, clear as a bell.
 
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