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Component Wire Numbering
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I want to be able to asign each end of a wire with the component name and terminal number IE: CR1-A1 AND TB1-1.
These numbers need to be positioned at the end of the devie they are connected to. I have used Nates otherend.lsp routine but this places NON-Intelligent text as wire numbers and assigns the number from one device to the end of the second device it is connected to.
This method is not giving me the results I need as indicated above. Also the replaceable parameters for wire numbers does not allow the specifying of the TAG1 or TAG2 values along with the Pin number of the given device.
Any Thoughts or suggestions???
Re: Component Wire Numbering
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You won't be able to do this with automation, other than using something like Nate's lisp. The purpose of a wire number is to identify an electrical node (a.k.a. network) by potential. You can consider it a potential number to be precise.
Americans make use of this "wire number" primarily for troubleshooting purposes. It allows a technician to test a circuit without removing wire duct covers to trace the wire physically. So, the purpose of a wire number isn't to call out the connection of the wire, but the potential of the wire. The panel shop connects the wires from component to component by referencing a wire From/To list. They mark the exposed ends of the wire with the potential number so the technician who will later troubleshoot the panel will know that any wires marked with the same number should all measure the same potential, if using a voltmeter to test the circuit or an ohm meter to test continuity.
Having worked primarily with DIN and IEC standards myself, I can see both sides of the argument. Europeans haven't typically marked wires with a potential number. They mark the wire on the schematic drawings with the colour and size, and that's all, no wire/potential number. They do not typically wire from a wire list. Technicians who have risen through an apprenticeship program wire the panel using the schematic and panel layout drawings as a reference. As they connect each wire, they mark it with the component ID (tag) and the specific wire connection (A1, A2, etc.) where each end of the wire will connect to its respective component. The purpose of this type of wire ID is for component replacement. When a failed component is replaced, the technician can connect each wire to the replacement component according to the markings on the wire label.
Having appreciated the advantage of both the American and the DIN/IEC style of wire marking, I have the panel shops print the wire labels with two lines, the first line contains the wire number, and the second line contains the component/pin ID (i.e. -1K12:K1 DIN/IEC or CR105:K1 JIC/NFPA).
With this background in mind, what I would like to see added to Electrical is the ability to generate a wire label report that contains both the wire number and the component tag/pin for each end of the wire. Currently we have to copy and past the information from the wire list into the label maker software.
But to reiterate, the wire number itself should remain the same for both ends of the wire, since it is naming an electrical node, or potential.
Doug McAlexander
Electrical CAD Industry Specialist
Independent Consultant/Instructor/Mentor
AutoCAD Electrical, VIA/WD, Toolbox/WD, ecscad, promis-e, RSWire
Web site: www.ECADConsultant.com
E-mail: ECADConsultant@gmail.com
Phone: (770) 841-8009
Re: Component Wire Numbering
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Does anyone have a lisp routine that will create a to from wire number based on the component designations/Terminals?
See sample Drawing file...attached
Thanks,
Dave

