miamicanes
Active Member
I'm trying to create something resembling a formal wiring diagram for my bathroom so I'll be able to come up with a coherent shopping list for things like wire, boxes, etc... and have some future idea how it's all physically routed once the walls are covered up again and all I have to go by are my notes.
Is there any free/trial software that's particularly good for creating wire diagrams and enables you to convey information like:
* Color of wire insulation
* Wire gauge (12 or 14)
* Circuit
* physical path through specific conduit between specific junction boxes
etc?
Ideally, maybe a program that let you define your junction boxes and conduits, then create a wire, show where it originates (pigtail from a circuit, a switch, etc), then click your way through its route through pigtails and conduit until it gets to its final destination?
I've tried experimenting with various types of written annotations, like
* referring to boxes as @x, where 'x' is a number identifying the box (@0 is the main service panel, @1 is the switchbox in the master bedroom through which all the wires coming from the service panel to the second floor pass, @2 is a switchbox in the master bath, etc)
* referring to conduit as [x,y] where x and y are junction box numbers, so [1,2] would be the conduit connecting junction box #1 and junction box #2
* referring to circuits as 'A', 'B', 'C', etc, where each circuit originates from a specific breaker.
* referring to branches as Xn, where 'X' is the circuit letter, and 'n' is a unique number. So if I had a light connected through a 3-way switch to circuit 'D', its two traveler wires might be D7 and D8. This is approximately the point where my scheme starts to get ugly and break down.
Any suggestions, either for annotation strategies or software to make the job more straightforward?
Is there any free/trial software that's particularly good for creating wire diagrams and enables you to convey information like:
* Color of wire insulation
* Wire gauge (12 or 14)
* Circuit
* physical path through specific conduit between specific junction boxes
etc?
Ideally, maybe a program that let you define your junction boxes and conduits, then create a wire, show where it originates (pigtail from a circuit, a switch, etc), then click your way through its route through pigtails and conduit until it gets to its final destination?
I've tried experimenting with various types of written annotations, like
* referring to boxes as @x, where 'x' is a number identifying the box (@0 is the main service panel, @1 is the switchbox in the master bedroom through which all the wires coming from the service panel to the second floor pass, @2 is a switchbox in the master bath, etc)
* referring to conduit as [x,y] where x and y are junction box numbers, so [1,2] would be the conduit connecting junction box #1 and junction box #2
* referring to circuits as 'A', 'B', 'C', etc, where each circuit originates from a specific breaker.
* referring to branches as Xn, where 'X' is the circuit letter, and 'n' is a unique number. So if I had a light connected through a 3-way switch to circuit 'D', its two traveler wires might be D7 and D8. This is approximately the point where my scheme starts to get ugly and break down.
Any suggestions, either for annotation strategies or software to make the job more straightforward?