Wiring/Cabling diagram for electric car.

[wirewire]

Hello,

I have just been asked to do a wiring diagram for every wire and cable in a new electric car.

I have not long been at the company and don't have any idea of the wiring inside this car , also i have never seen any of the circuit diagrams, -My job here so far has been to just order equipment for the company from suppliers when told to do so.

It has been suggested that i use Microsoft Visio for this wiring diagram.

Do you think that this is the best package?

I've no idea where to begin but this has been done before and there must be good protocols available about car wiring/cabling.

I would greatly appreciate any advice/thoughts.

 

[itsmoked]

Well... Not sure. Car schematics are some of the most obscure and horrible pieces of cr@p I have ever seen. If you are expected to do the standard thing.. Then you need to get a few car schematics and study them, and start down that road.

Otherwise you can do actual nice schematics.

I recommend that you try to block out the entire system and produce B size pages of sub systems.

Fore instance, one page of lighting. One of accessories. One controls. etc etc.

Car schematics are a little strange as they are not pure schematics per se. They often have pictures of the various devices instead of schematic symbols. Like a light bulb instead of a lamp symbol. Visio would work as it will handle that pretty well.

I recommend that you hand draw all the schematics roughly first as you will consume huge amounts of time if you try to go noobie into schematics and learning a tool at the same time.

Do a hand drawing of some sub system then try entering it.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[VEBill]

One NICE thing about car wiring schematics is that they typically avoid the common shortcut of using ground symbols without showing the actual circuit (wire) to the grounding point, and also clearly indicating what other circuits share the same ground point. They usually also tell you exactly where the ground is located ('Gnd #17, upper left fender, front near headlamp').

Having such information eliminates much of the mystery and magic when 'grounds' get disconnected from ground.

Also, the ones I've seen are usually broken up into sections such as lighting, engine, entertainment, etc.

There are quite a few car schematics on the web. Some .ru site or similar.

 

[Skogsgurra]

The OP says "electric car". I guess that it is more about the power circuits than the classical ignition/starter/light circuits. Or did I misinterpret the OP?

I have never seen a diagram of the installation in an electric car. I hope that such circuit diagrams do not develop like the cr@p Smoked is referring to.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

--------------------------------------
100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Pick up the Chilton's Manual for any car at your local auto store to see how it's basically done. If you're required to show more of the electronics itself when it comes to motor control, battery charging, etc., you'll need to spend some more time looking at how electronic schematics are drawn, not just wiring charts.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[MadMango]

There's a big difference between "wiring diagrams" and "wiring schematics", at least in my experience. Make sure it is clear as to which you need to create.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the be

 

[waross]

I ran across an old text yesterday and I was browsing "Car Wiring"(I love collecting old text books). According to the text, "Car Wiring" referred to the power wiring of a street car, as opposed to "Lighting Wiring" And "Heating wiring".
The book was published in 1908! (Street car: Light rail transit).
No, I'm not really that old but I have some old books.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[roydm]

Wirewire,
I get the impression your company is making an electric car, ask around, someone there must have some diagrams or sketches. Once you get a look at those talk to the guys doing other drawings. In my company we just sketch out the wiring and hand it to one of the autocad guys, It would take too long to learn how to draw when they are already skilled.
On the other hand if you don't have a drawing group there are lots of simple packages out there, I use EazyDraw on my Mac. I found that simple to learn.
Regards
Roy

 

[Thedroid]

I would think that there would be huge collection of prints for an electric car if it had already been built. I would like to see a good schematic also, especially if it is an electric car I would be working on.

Cement Plant Electrician and
Instrumentation Technician