SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic - Exercise 6

In this exercise, you manage equipotential numbering and wire the terminal strips.

This exercise is based on the electrical project that you created in Exercise 5. If you did not complete it, you can download this electrical project file and unarchive it in SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

For reference while following this exercise, open, or download and print this PDF document.

Inserting Symbols from the Panel

In this exercise, you create a new scheme drawing, draw wires, and place indicators using the list of components in the panel.

To insert symbols from the panel:

  1. On the Documents panel, right-click 1 - My Book and click New > Scheme to add the scheme 05 to the file.
  2. Right-click scheme 05 and click Properties.
  3. In the dialog box, under Description, for Description (your language), type Signaling, and click OK.
  4. Click Schematic > Draw single wire .
  5. On the Command panel, pin the Electrical wires tab, and draw two horizontal and two vertical wires as shown in the video.
  6. On the Components panel, under L3 - Control panel:
    1. Right-click =F1-H1, click Insert symbol , and in the graphics area, click to position the symbol on the leftmost vertical wire.
    2. Repeat step 6a for symbol =F1-H2 and place it on the rightmost vertical wire.
    3. Close the Command panel and review your work.

Placing Multilingual Text

In this exercise, on drawing scheme 05, you place two instances of translatable text, Motor 1 On and Motor 2 On. Multilingual text is better than basic text because the app stores it in the electrical project database.

To place multilingual text:

  1. Click Draw > Multilingual text .
  2. In the graphics area, click under the leftmost vertical line to place the multilingual text.
  3. On the Command panel:
    1. Under Text, for English, type Motor 1 \P ON.
    2. Under Format, clear Use project configuration.
    3. Under Main language (your language), select Arial for the font.
    4. Specify the text Height as 6 and the Color as Blue.
    5. Under Justification, select Middle Center.
    6. Click .
  4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 to type the text Motor 2 \P ON for the rightmost vertical wire.

Placing Polarity Origins and Destinations Between Drawings

In this exercise, you place the polarity origins and destinations between drawing schemes 03 and 04.

To place polarity origins and destinations between drawings:

  1. Open the document 03 - Electrical scheme.
  2. Click Schematic > > Origin-destination arrows .
  3. In the Origin - destination manager dialog box:
    1. Use the Previous and Next tools to open the 03 - Electrical scheme document in the left tile and 04 - Command in the right tile.
    2. Click Single insertion and in the left tile, select the end of the top wire for the origin and then in the right tile, select the end of the top wire for the destination, as shown in the video.

    3. In the left tile, select the end of the second wire from the top for the origin and in the right tile, select the end of the bottom wire for the destination.

    4. Click Close to return to the document 03 - Electrical.
  4. To verify that you correctly specified the origin and destination, right-click the top origin arrow for 04-2 and click Go to > 04-2 Destination arrow.

    The destination arrow 03-10 opens in the 04 - Command document. If not, check your work.

Equipotential Numbering

In this exercise, you renumber wires and modify text.

To perform equipotential numbering:

  1. Open the document 03 - Electrical scheme.
  2. Click Process > Number new wires .

    When prompted to renumber new wires without modifying the existing numbers, click Yes.

  3. Zoom in to the upper-left corner of the scheme, box select the four wires shown, right-click and click Edit wire mark .

  4. In the dialog box, under New, enter the new wire mark numbers and click OK.
    Old New
    L3-1 T
    L2-1 S
    L1-1 R
    N-1 N

    Next, you modify the numbering formula of the 48V DC wire.

  5. Zoom in to the upper-right corner of the document.
  6. Click Project > Configurations > Wire styles
  7. In the Wire style manager, in the left pane, under Group 0, select 48V - Control and click Properties .
  8. In the dialog box, under General, select Equipotential formula and at the right side of the row, click Formula .
  9. In the Formula manager, select Number 3, File mark/Equipotential counter, click Replace forumula, and click OK.
  10. Click OK and Close to return to the document 03 - Electrical scheme.

    Next, you update the drawing numbering without losing the manual numbering that you made.

  11. Click Process > Renumber wires .
  12. In the dialog box, under Number wires, click Recalculate the wire numbers, clear Recalculate manual numbers, and click OK.
  13. At the warning prompt about recalculating the existing wire numbers, click Yes to continue.

    Next, you manage the text position and visibility. See the video starting at the 1:28 time point.

  14. Click Schematic > Align texts .
  15. As per the video, box select the text, draw a horizontal or vertical line, and click to align the text along that line.
  16. Click Schematic > Show texts > Show / hide wire marks and box select the text shown in the video to hide it.

    Finally, you edit the wire marks and specify the origin and destination arrows.

  17. Open the document 05 - Signaling, zoom in to the upper-left corner, right-click the end of the wire, and click Edit wire marks.

  18. In the dialog box, under Equipotentials marks, for New, type 03/5.

    When prompted about duplicated marks, click Yes, then click OK.

  19. Zoom in to the bottom-left corner, right-click the end of the wire, and click Edit wire marks.

  20. In the dialog box, under Equipotentials marks, for New, type 03/6.
  21. When prompted about duplicated marks, click Yes, then click OK.
  22. Click Schematic > Origin - destination arrows > Automatic insertion.

    A dialog box displays the arrows used for the origin and destination.

  23. Select Connect all equipotential with the same mark (not shown in the video), and click OK.

    This automatically connects the wires that have the same number.

  24. View the selected origin and destination arrows in documents 03 - Scheme and 05 - Signaling for the two selected wires.

Wiring and Editing Terminal Strips

In this exercise, you place the terminals and wire them using the cables reserved in the line diagram. You then generate drawings into a folder.

To wire and edit terminal strips:

  1. In the document 05 - Signaling, right-click the leftmost vertical wire as shown in the video and click Associate cable cores.

  2. In the dialog box:
    1. In the top panel for Cables, under Description, expand F1 - Main function > W4 and select item 1.
    2. In the bottom panel for Wires to associate with cable cores, select Wire 05/2.
    3. In the menu, click Associate cable cores and click OK.
  3. Right-click the rightmost vertical wire as shown in the video and click Associate cable cores.

  4. In the dialog box:
    1. In the top panel for Cables, under Description, expand F1 - Main function > W4 and select item 2.
    2. In the bottom panel for Wires to associate with cable cores, select Wire 05/7.
    3. In the menu, click Associate cable cores and click OK.
    The associated wires change color in the graphics area.

  5. Box select the two wires as shown in the video, right-click and click Associate cable cores.

  6. In the dialog box:
    1. In the top panel for Cables, under Description, expand F1 - Main function > W4 and select items 3 and 4.
    2. In the bottom panel for Wires to associate with cable cores, select Wire 05/5 and Wire 05/10.
    3. In the menu, click Associate cable cores and click OK.

    Next, you edit the terminal strips to associate cables with them.

  7. Click Project > Terminal strips .
  8. In the Terminal strips manager, under Mark, select XBJ1 and click Edit .
  9. In the Terminal strip editor, select the top two cables on the right side as shown in the video.

  10. On the Advanced tab, click Associate cable cores .
  11. In the dialog box:
    1. In the top panel, for Cables, under Description, expand F1 - Main function > W5 and select brown and blue.
    2. In the bottom panel, for Wires to associate with cable cores, select Wire 05/4 and Wire 05/3.
    3. In the menu, click Associate cable cores and click OK.
  12. Repeat steps 9 through 11 to associate the bottom two cables 05/9 and 05/8 with cable core W6 brown and blue wires.
  13. Close the Terminal strip editor and the Terminal strip manager.

    Next, you wire the M2 motor using the Terminal strip editor.

  14. In the document 03 - Electrical scheme, click Project > Terminal strips .
  15. In the Terminal strips manager, under Mark, select XM1 and click Edit .
  16. In the Terminal strip editor, select the three cables on the left side as shown in the video, right-click and click Associate cable cores.

  17. In the dialog box:
    1. In the top panel, for Cables, under Description, expand F1 - Main function > W2 and select items 1, 2, and 3.
    2. In the bottom panel, for Wires to associate with cable cores, select the three wires.
    3. In the menu, click Associate cable cores and click OK.
  18. Close the Terminal strip editor and the Terminal strip manager.

    Next, you wire the M1 motor using the Terminal strip editor.

  19. Box select the lower-left wires as shown in the video, right-click and click Associate cable cores.

  20. In the dialog box:
    1. In the top panel, for Cables, under Description, expand F1 - Main function > W1 and select items brown, black, and blue.
    2. In the bottom panel, for Wires to associate with cable cores, select the three wires.
    3. In the menu, click Associate cable cores and click OK.

    Finally, you generate terminal strip drawings in a folder named Terminal Strips.

  21. Click Project > Terminal strips .
  22. In the Terminal strips manager, under Mark, select all four items under Mark, and in the menu click Destination folders .
  23. In the dialog box, click New Folder .
  24. In the Folder dialog box, under Description, for Description (your language), type Terminal Strips, then click OK twice.
  25. In the Terminal strips manager, click Generate drawings .

    A progress dialog box appears and then a summary dialog box.

  26. Close the summary dialog box and the Terminal strips manager.
  27. On the Documents panel, expand 1 - Terminal strips and click each item to check your work.