Basic IEC Electrical Design Practices
The graphical appearance of the IEC schematic symbols in AutoCAD Electrical are based upon IEC60617, which is correct. IEC60204-1 governs the safety of machine design and is the main source for wire color standards for electrically controlled machinery. IEC61346-2 is the standard for component tagging or device designation identifiers. These three make up the main body of documentation you should follow for CE compliance.
Attached is a sample IEC Project I use when I teach a custom AutoCAD Electrical class. This project uses X and Y coordinates for tagging but could just as well use X zones only, if desired. This is set under the Drawing Format tab in Drawing Properties. I just tried to show as many options as possible with this project. You will notice a previous and next sheet number in the title block. This can be filled in for you automatically by AutoCAD Electrical if you have the correct string of code in the WD_TB mapping attribute in each drawing template, plus the tbnp.lsp file that Nate Holt made. I think it is available from his Blog page.
This project also has a drawing list page that can be generated automatically by AutoCAD Electrical, in addition to the automatically generated parts list and wire list. The parts list and wire list were both added at once with the Automated Report Selection tool.
The wire numbering for the attached project is set to sequential, though many Europeans don't insert wire numbers anyway. It is optional but I prefer wire numbers for troubleshooting purposes.
The wire colors in this project are based on the British Standard BS7671, which is derived from IEC60204-1 and is now the adopted standard throughout Europe. It became mandatory in England as of April 1, 2006, requiring the British to drastically change their phase and neutral colors. The phases are now officially colored as follows:
L1=Brown
L2=Black
L3=Grey
Earth ground is 50/50 Green/Yellow +/- 20%.
Neutral is Blue. However some Europeans use Sky Blue (light blue) for neutral and a darker, Royal Blue for DC control circuits.
AC control voltage is typically Red. Foreign or unknown potential is Orange.
The attached project includes IEC wire layers and even a .wdw file, which supports the wire color/gauge labels in the format explained previously. IEC drawings typically use a two-letter abbreviation on the drawings to indicate wire color, such as "bn" for brown, "bk" for black, "gy" for grey. However for light blue you can use lt-bl. For DC control voltage blue use use "bl".
As for component tagging, the attached project is tagged per the default tagging format contained in the stock IEC library folders which ship with AutoCAD Electrical. These are actually based upon the DIN (Deutsche Industrie Normative) standard from whence we get the term DIN rails. Actually IEC61346-2 stipulates a different tagging convention, adopted in 2000. I will attach a PDF of the standard to a separate post. You can create a wd_fam.dat file, a simple text file, and load it with the conversion. For example "H" was the DIN standard for a pilot light, such as -1H1 for a pilot on page 1. Under IEC61346-2 the "H" is now "E" for an element that produces heat energy. IEC61346-2 has consolidated the tag designations immensely. The syntax for a custom wd_fam.dat file is as follows:
H,E
The first letter is the one you want converted, followed by a comma (no space) and the new designation letter. Just add as many as needed, one conversion per line, and save the file as wd_fam.dat. Place this file in the project folder. AutoCAD Electrical will look for the existence of this file during symbol insertion and retag operations and, if found, it will automatically reference it for the device identifier. You don’t even have to think about. Below is a more complete list that can convert the AutoCAD Electrical IEC symbol tags to IEC61346-2 compliance.
H,E
N,K
L,R
V,R
Z,V
T,K
Okay, so that is a quick overview but I hope it will help you get started. I have been designing to DIN and IEC standards since 1988. I believe it represents a very simple-to-read approach - placing a great amount of useful information on the drawings without leading to confusion. Note: The use of angled wire symbols versus node dots is very dominant in IEC drawings. It serves to clarify where two wires must connect to the same component. The dot leaves that decision to the wiring technician.
Copyright 2009 Douglas R. McAlexander
Edited by: dougmcalexander on Apr 8, 2009 5:36 PM
Edited by: dougmcalexander on Apr 8, 2009 5:41 PM
Doug McAlexander
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