Hire freelance electrical schematic drawing services for your company

On-demand electrical schematic drawing services 

If you work with electrical systems, chances are you’ve seen or worked with an electrical schematic drawing at some point.

Also known as circuit diagrams, electrical schematic drawings are crucial for mapping out the entire layout of an electric circuit. Freelance engineering design services and technicians rely on electrical schematic drawings to build and operate different systems. Without these drawings, they would be completely lost. Having a team or department to work on them is crucial.

However, many designers are already working hard to support the rest of their firm’s operations. As a result, outsourcing this task might be the best way to go for your company.

Cad Crowd has a vast network of freelancers that can work on any project. By matching your team with one of our thousands of pre-vetted designers, we can ensure you’re given the precise and accurate schematic drawings you need.

Industries that rely on circuit diagrams

Electrical schematic drawings are used in a variety of industries and projects, including:

• Industrial design services
  
• Construction
  
• Design for manufacturability (DFM) experts
• Electronic product manufacturing
• Automotive design services
• Aerospace engineering services
  

No matter what industry you’re in, acquiring a precise and accurate electrical schematic drawing is crucial for building and maintaining various systems. Every circuit must be drawn with complete accuracy to prevent any inconsistencies or mistakes from occurring later. 

Benefits of electrical schematic drawings

Electrical schematic drawings offer a variety of attractive benefits for companies. Industrial, mechanical, and electrical engineers all rely on them to determine how to connect a circuit system's components.

A clean and carefully drawn-out diagram can help electrical engineering services identify and fix different problems in a system effectively and efficiently. Working with electrical schematic drawings can also help your team significantly reduce development time, improving productivity.

Circuit diagrams are also effective in building and maintaining a safe work environment for employees. Should an accident occur, your electricians can consult the system’s electrical schematic drawing to help them resolve any trouble that may have been caused.

Working with electrical schematic drawings

An electrical schematic drawing might look like a jumbled mess of nonsense to the untrained eye. But upon further inspection, you’ll find that a schematic drawing is quite logical in its layout.

Different symbols, arrows, and lines are added and arranged throughout the diagram to represent certain parts of the system. Together, they show viewers how a circuit’s components are connected electrically.

Schematic symbols may be used for components, such as a:

• AC Voltage Source
• DC Battery Supply
• Digital Ground
• Fixed Resistor
• Selector Switch
• Timing Relay Contact
• Fixed Value Capacitor
• Iron Core Conductor
• SPDT Changeover Switch

These symbols are typically accompanied by one or two letters that confirm the identity of the component they represent. For instance, R’s usually represent resistors, and S’s are used for switches.

If you see a number next to a letter, multiple versions of the same component are in the circuit. For instance, you would label multiple resistors as R_1, R_2, R_3, etc. When you read a schematic, you’ll see different lines connecting the symbols. Nets and nodes are used to represent the relationship between different components in a circuit. The nets are straight lines.

Sometimes, an artist may distinguish a net from other lines by assigning a unique color. Nodes can be found at junctions and are created when wires split into two directions. Drawn as dots, nodes are placed at the intersection of different wires to show they are connected. If no dot is drawn, there is no connection between the wires. They are just passing by each other.

Designs do vary in complexity according to the specific project. Alternative symbols and variants may be used across different companies. For instance, the International Electrotechnical Commission and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers use different symbols to represent the same components.

 That’s why all team members must know how to assess and analyze an electrical schematic drawing. Otherwise, you may suffer from miscommunication and other issues that could delay the launch of your project.

Familiarizing yourself with different types of diagrams can also be highly beneficial to you and your team:

• Schematic Diagrams: Schematic drawings focus on different circuit elements and their relationship to each other. They are especially useful for troubleshooting systems. Rather than focus on the actual physical location of a component, schematic diagrams emphasize the logistics behind how components connect. Therefore, you shouldn’t use them to determine where different components of a system are located.
• Circuit Diagrams: A circuit diagram is a simplified drawing of an electrical circuit. Designers typically use basic symbols to represent different components of a circuit, such as its inductor or resistor. A designer may draw a pictorial circuit diagram or a schematic diagram. While they vary slightly from each other, both diagrams show the connection between various components of a circuit. That said, the arrangement of different interconnections in a diagram does not represent their physical locations on a completed device.
• Component Wiring Diagrams: Component wiring diagrams are typically used to build and repair circuit devices. Someone might need a component wiring frame for a car or home repair. A component wiring diagram will show the viewer how different wires and components are connected in a system. If someone wants to confirm where the location of an outlet or light fixture, they will want to consult a component wiring diagram. 
• One-Line and Three-Line Diagrams: One-line diagrams offer viewers a bird’s eye view of an electrical system. All of the important system components, like the fault current and system voltage, are included in a one-line diagram. Three-Line diagrams offer a more detailed view of a system than one-line diagrams. They expand upon one-line diagrams by showing different phase relationships and transformer connections.

Software

CAD designers are typically well-versed in several different software programs. The most popular programs used by designers and firms include:

●     TinyCAD: TinyCAD is a free, open-source program for drawing circuit diagrams. This popular program runs under Windows. It encourages sharing and collaboration by inviting designers to upload useful symbols that may benefit others in their drawings. You can find a support forum, symbol search, and various tutorials on their website. New versions of TinyCAD are also installed regularly and can be downloaded for free.

●     SmartDraw: SmartDraw is another free online CAD drafting software suitable for beginners and experts. Many designers find it to be extremely user-friendly. With the program’s provided set of smart CAD tools, designers can easily adjust the dimensions and angles of different spaces in their diagrams. Within minutes, you can build a drawing using one of the templates and examples provided for free. An extensive symbol library is also available for designers. Working with a big team? Your designer can easily share their work via Dropbox®, GoogleDrive®, Box®, or OneDrive®.

●     Scheme-it: Scheme-it offers the resources and tools your team needs to build a proper electronic circuit diagram. The program includes an electronic symbol library and a Digi-Key component catalog. Designers can also keep track of different parts used for a design with the program’s built-in materials manager. Scheme-it can be run on any major web browser without downloading any plug-ins. However, you must register for a membership to share and save designs.

●     AutoCAD: AutoCAD is another popular design software for creating 2D and 3D drawings. Users can download a free trial of the software. However, you will have to pay for the program monthly or yearly. A 3-year payment option is also available and offers the best value for buyers. AutoCAD allows you to draft and design various 2D geometry and 3D models, automate tasks like counting or comparing drawings, and add apps and APIs to enhance its use further.

Cad Crowd's freelancers can help

An electrical schematic drawing is an essential blueprint for many types of projects. You want to ensure your schematic drawing is finished correctly and on time. Our pool of pre-vetted designers and artists will help you jumpstart your project.

We’ve worked with companies of all sizes, from small businesses to corporations like Tiffany C. and PepsiCo, to confidently hire vetted CAD designers and freelance engineers. Get a personalized quote for your project today!