Want some help in order how to start?

[gaganbedi]

Hello,

I had just took some autocad classes and I am fairely new to autocad electrical. I had done some ladder programming and this is my new assignment but I dont know where to start this. Please if anybody can guide me that how should i proceed in designing this in autocad electrical that will be great. 

any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Hello There

Please excuse me if I seem a little concerned about your questions.  Or are you a student?

When you did AutoCAD did you cover attributes and blocks, drawing, creating a border, layers etc.  That is a start to ACE

Do yo have a copy of AutoCAD Electrical?  There are some electronic symbols in it.

If yes then do the tutorials on Title blocks and Symbols   Draw all your symbols. then do a drawing.

The first decision you need t make is what size sheet of paper and wire spacing.    I use A3 and 10mm.

Are you working with some one who knows AutoCAD electrical?   If no   You have one big mountain to climb.  If you are somewhere that has ACE set up and ready to go it will be easy for you.

Your question indicates to me that you do not.  I could be wrong.  One engineering company I worked for would throw new engineers from Uni into the deep end to see if they could swim.   IMHO not a good way to encourage new kids.

Go to Doug McAlexander's web site and read his story. www.ecadconsulant.com

All the best   John Q

[gaganbedi]

Thank You very much for replying. The class was for 3 days and in those three days we touch a little of everything and thst all. es I have autocad electrical 2013 and I am working in a company and the sad part is I dont have any senior who can help me in this because the only person who knows something about autocad left the company and now the company wants me do it and I dont have any senior whom I can go and clear my doubts.

Thats what I am dealing with here. Sorry if I am being foolish in asking what is ACE setup. I need to start this from somewhere if you can just tell me where to start and I will search for ACE and will know what it is and what I can do. 

Thank You again for atleast telling me this.

Have a great day!

[Anonymous]

Hi Gaganbedi,

ACE, is AutoCAD Electrical (most people hate typing it out in full, so its your main short form).

For the initial setup there are a lot of things to do; but your main priority should be a template.

I'm not taking just a drawing template, but a project template that includes several template sheets.

The project needs to be setup (using project settings) there are 5 tabs full of info (mostly toggles, and selection sets) that you need to fill in that presets any new pages that are created.

You also need to decide how you want to map your title block (which will be on your template drawings, you may have multiple page sizes,which means you will have multiple titleblocks).

There are two main methods for mapping title blocks, a customization files (WDT) or an Embedded attribute (WD_TB).  Both can use a second Customization file (WDL) to define descriptions.

This is no small task... being part of a reseller I have helped many clients.

the Drawing template needs; Layers (wire layers), a title block(as stated above), unit settings (Inches / mm), spacing (if you use it), text styles (if you don't like the WD text), and Preset blocks or ladders. (I'm sure I probably missed something, so feel free to add additional notes) 

If your company is willing to pay to train you, I suggest taking an Intro Level AutoCAD Electrical Course from your local Reseller (its a shameless plug I know... ). I would also see if your local Reseller has the resources to help you setup your templates (WDP, DWT), libraries (MDBs, XLS), and preferences (CUI, CUIX).

If that's not a option, explore the tutorials (some of them are great!), watch youtube videos, and ask on the forums! There are many experts / advanced users that view these Forums, and some one is bound to help you out.

Drawing Wise, if you have a template, use the insert ladder command so you get references.

You will likely want to split the drawing up on to multiple pages (for organizational purposes)

1. Start with the main power, and any branching power circuits (ie. 600V, then step down to 240V /120V, and then show the branch to 24 vdc for control purposes [PLC]).

2. Create the Controlled items (motors, lights, Sensors, Pushbuttons, etc) with wires waiting for destinations from the Inputs and Outputs. Depending on what you use, and how you control the system, you will see thousands of different setups here.  

3. Place the inputs (input plc card) on one page (Often it needs multiple pages) and route them using source and destination combinations.

4. Place the outputs (output plc card) on one page(Often it needs multiple pages) and route them using Source and Destination combinations. 

5. Create reports to attach to the Drawing set. (embed them in drawings or use external files, like XLS)

Anyway I hope this helps you get started.

Regards,

James Alger

SolidCAD

[gaganbedi]

Hello,

Thank You for your detailed reply and I know I understand that ACE is aotoCad Electrical. I have not learn short forms yet because my basic oncepts are not even cleared yet. In autocad I have done some ladder drawing my main dufficulty is the drwaing which they had given me , which is out of my knowledge If you please see the drawing and then if you can help me out like how can I atleast get started in the drawing that will be great. 

thank You

[Anonymous]

Hi Gaganbedi,

Start with the Power distrubusion (i.e. the plug), then go to the power supply you may want to make a custom one.

After that go to a ladder to feed out to the various locations. (you won't fit 32 inputs and outputs on one page...unless you use a custom print size). 

You will need to make a National Instrusments PLC (NI-6525), there isn't one in the PLC Database.

Then place the Input and output cards (not sure if this is one unit... I never worked with NI before), it doesn't make that much of a difference, in either case you need to place on the addressable points for the Inputs and outputs.

On the page that have the inputs and outputs, place your sensors, solenoids, etc.

I have inculded an image showing how I would start it.

Regards,

James Alger

SolidCAD

[gaganbedi]

Thank You very very much1 At least now I can start from somewhere and show something that I am able to do ! I appreciate it very much! I will try what I can do now!

Thanks alot