SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D - Exercise 4

In this exercise, you prepare the assemblies to route the cables and wires in the 3D layout.

This exercise builds on the files from Exercise 3. If you have not completed that exercise, download the Exercise 3 electrical project, unzip it to a local drive, then unarchive it.

Modifying the Cabinet

Before you route cables and wires, you must modify the existing assemblies. In the cabinet assembly, you add cable glands to the three holes at the bottom of the cabinet.

To modify the cabinet:

  1. In SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D, open the Cabinet assembly.
  2. On the Assembly tab of the CommandManager, click Insert Components .
  3. In the dialog box, browse to open and insert the gland files from the SOLIDWORKS Electrical data folder at ProgramData\SOLIDWORKS Electrical\SOLIDWORKS\sldPrt. There are three holes at the bottom of the cabinet. Insert two 14 cable glands (Cable_gland_14.SLDPRT) into the two outer holes and a 20 cable gland (Cable_gland_20.SLDPRT) into the center hole. Click after you insert each gland and repeat the process. See the video for details.
  4. On the Assembly tab of the CommandManager, click Mate and create concentric mates between the glands and the holes.

Handling the Pump Unit

Now you associate the symbols to the components and insert the cabinet.

To handle the pump unit:

  1. From the SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D project, open (480.SLDASM.
  2. On the Assembly tab of the CommandManager, click Insert Components .
  3. Browse to \ProgramData\SOLIDWORKS Electrical\Projects\nn\PUMP\EW_PUMP_TANK_PANEL_SUPPORT.SLDASM and insert the pump unit () into the graphics area.
  4. In the SOLIDWORKS Electrical Manager, expand L2 Pump Building.
  5. In the graphics area, right-click the bottom component and select Hide Components so you can access the components behind it.
    You then associate these three components to the electrical symbols.

  6. To associate components to the symbols:
    1. In the Electrical Manager, right-click B1 and select Associate.
    2. In the PropertyManager, for Associate component, in the graphics area, select the upper green component as shown in the video.
    3. Click .
    4. In the Associate Electrical Component dialog box, click Associate with the 3D part.
    5. Repeat steps 6a through 6d to associate the B2 sensor symbol to the lower green component and the PU1 symbol to the motor.
  7. In the FeatureManager design tree, show the bottom component that you previously hid.
  8. To insert the cabinet, in the Electrical Manager, right-click Cabinet, select Insert, then click .
  9. Drag the cabinet into the graphics area then click to position it approximately as shown in the video.
  10. Use the Mate tool and coincident mates to place the cabinet into the assembly.

Defining the Origin and Destination of the Cables

Now you run three cables, W1, W2, and W3 from the glands to the sensors and the pump motor.

To define the origin and destination of the cables:

  1. Hide the bottom component of the assembly to display the sensors.
  2. On the SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D tab of the CommandManager, click Set Origin / Destination of Cables .
  3. In the PropertyManager:
    1. Click .
    2. In Select cable to route, click .
    3. In the Select a cable dialog box, expand IEC_Pump Training, select W1, and click Select.
      The columns 3D Origin and 3D Destination display the connections to help you check your work.
    4. In the PropertyManager, for Select cable Origin component, select the upper green sensor as shown in the video.
    5. For Select cable Destination component, select the leftmost gland at the bottom of the cabinet.
    6. Click .
    7. Repeat steps 3b through 3f with these selections:
      Cable to Route Origin Destination on Cabinet
      W2 Lower green sensor Rightmost gland
      W3 Pump motor Center gland
    8. Click .

Creating Routing Paths

The ducts contain specific lines called routing paths. You sketch lines then use SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D to convert the lines into routing paths.

To create routing paths:

  1. In the cabinet model, create a plane that is parallel to the door and offset by 33mm, which is the distance between the component connection point and the inner surface of the door.
  2. Use the 3D Sketch tool to sketch the lines as shown in the video.

  3. Exit the sketch and hide the plane that you created.
  4. On the SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D tab of the CommandManager, click Define Routing Path .
  5. In the PropertyManager:
    1. Under Action, click Convert sketch.
    2. For Selection, in the graphics area, select the 3D sketch you created.
    3. Click .
  6. In the pump unit assembly, create a 3D sketch as shown and use the Define Routing Path tool to convert the sketch to a routing path.