How to Read Industrial Wiring Diagrams
Learning to read industrial wiring diagrams can help ensure that you don’t make a costly mistake when dealing with industrial electronics. Industrial wiring diagrams use slightly different symbols than ordinary wiring diagrams. The symbols within a wiring diagram indicate which components should be placed in which positions, and are therefore vital to the correct functioning of the circuit. Industrial wiring diagrams are also more detailed than many ordinary wiring diagrams. For example, in industrial wiring diagrams, there are specific symbols for circuit breakers with magnetic ol and with thermal ol, as opposed to one all-encompassing circuit breaker symbol.
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Instructions
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Recognize circuit breaker symbols. The basic circuit breaker symbol is a collection of three lines, broken up by three closed parentheses symbols linked by hyphens -- “)-)-).” Underneath this, circles represent thermal ol and jagged lines represent magnetic ol. Both represent a mixture of the two.
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Look for two circles linked or not linked by a line to find a switch. The specific properties of the linking line determine the type of switch. For example, a line with a wedge at one end represents a limit switch, and its position indicates whether it is ordinarily open or closed. Recognize a switch with an “L” shape attached to it as a foot switch. Push buttons are shown in a similar way, except with a “T” shaped line either linking or not linking the circles.
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Read the letter encased in a circle to determine the type of meter it represents. An “A” represents an ammeter, and a “V” or “VA” represents a voltmeter. A “W” sign represents a watt meter and a “WH” represents a watt-hour meter. Pilot lights are also circles, but they have four diagonal lines extending from them to indicate light. The letter can be used to determine the color of the light.
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Find a symbol made up of rounded ridges to find an inductor. Air core inductors are simple shown by a series of bumps, and iron core ones have two horizontal lines over them. Remember that inductors have five bumps, and transformers have four. Air core transformers are shown with two sets of bumps facing each other.
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Look for a rectangular box with “res” written in it to find resistor. If it has lines extending from the bottom of it and a jagged line above it with lines extending from the bottom, it is an adjustable resistor. This is the symbol for resistors adjustable with fixed taps. One straight line at the end of a wire symbol, followed by a gap, and then a curved line before the wire continues represents a capacitor.
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References
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