# Best Free electrical design software?



## Majewski (Jan 8, 2016)

a writing instrument and piece of paper or anything with a surface that you can write on. if you can erase and redo, its a bonus


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## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

Majewski said:


> a writing instrument and piece of paper or anything with a surface that you can write on. if you can erase and redo, its a bonus


You mean the secondary graphite depositor and full spectrum planar graphite receptacle… yeah that’s what we use now. 


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## Majewski (Jan 8, 2016)

Flyingsod said:


> You mean the secondary graphite depositor and full spectrum planar graphite receptacle… yeah that’s what we use now.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


ehksacly


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## mburtis (Sep 1, 2018)

I've been playing with sky cad. It seems pretty nice from the standpoint of making schematics etc.


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## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

I haven’t come across that one yet. I’ll look into it. Thanks


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

I hadn't looked at this in a while but @John Valdez posted this one a while ago

MOTOR CONTROL schematic program needed ,, | Electrician Talk

I just took a look at their web site, it looks like the product is still active, and there's an online version now. If you want something simple, it's a step up from using a regular drawing tool, you can't go too far wrong for $99 for the installed version. 

Electrical Schematic Software (Relay Logic) (wadeinstruments.com)


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## AK_sparky (Aug 13, 2013)

In the past I've looked at Open Source alternatives to MS Visio for basic circuit/control diagrams that don't have any sort of intelligence for wire numbering, IO tracking, etc. I can't remember the pros and cons of them since it's been a while, but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head. Some of them (maybe all) allow you to make/download custom symbols.

Dia Diagram Editor
Libre Office Draw
Google Draw
Inkscape


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## joab (Dec 28, 2019)

I use SkyCAD for most of my diagrams.


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## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions. Power is out right now but I’ll be looking at them all eventually. 


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## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

splatz said:


> I hadn't looked at this in a while but @John Valdez posted this one a while ago
> 
> MOTOR CONTROL schematic program needed ,, | Electrician Talk
> 
> ...


Spending an hour with LibreCad made me realize I have no personal use for CAD. I def will not be spending my own time learning it. It’s also not in my companies interest to pay me for hours of learning time with it. I’m going to go with John’s (via your post) suggestion. 

Looks like the price structure has changed though. I couldn’t find an option to buy for 99bucks (which I would prefer). Rather it’s a $10 a month sub. Oh well. I’ll only need for a month at a time most likely. 

Thanks for passing this along. 


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## Majewski (Jan 8, 2016)

Flyingsod said:


> Spending an hour with LibreCad made me realize I have no personal use for CAD. I def will not be spending my own time learning it. It’s also not in my companies interest to pay me for hours of learning time with it. I’m going to go with John’s (via your post) suggestion.
> 
> Looks like the price structure has changed though. I couldn’t find an option to buy for 99bucks (which I would prefer). Rather it’s a $10 a month sub. Oh well. I’ll only need for a month at a time most likely.
> 
> ...


i miss the days when you could BUY an item and keep it.


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## CMP (Oct 30, 2019)

splatz said:


> I hadn't looked at this in a while but @John Valdez posted this one a while ago
> 
> MOTOR CONTROL schematic program needed ,, | Electrician Talk
> 
> ...


Thanks @splatz , @John Valdes and @wdestar for bringing this to my attention. It looks just right for the typical projects I do. I have several CAD programs but this looks quick and easy to make some simple prints without a huge learning curve time investment.

There is a upgraded version, that I didn't see mentioned that included new symbols and hydraulic symbols.
Upgrade version is $150 *EZ Schematics Pro* and is installed on your machine*, *I don't care for online programs, but there is one of those too.

Wade Instruments - Software Solutions

video tutorials for both EZ Schematics and EZ Schematics Pro


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## just the cowboy (Sep 4, 2013)

Majewski said:


> i miss the days when you could BUY an item and keep it.


I'm working thru this with Rockwell right now. They want you to buy it AND pay a yearly subscription. when I buy $100,000 in software I don't want to pay $15,000 a year also.


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## mburtis (Sep 1, 2018)

just the cowboy said:


> I'm working thru this with Rockwell right now. They want you to buy it AND pay a yearly subscription. when I buy $100,000 in software I don't want to pay $15,000 a year also.


I'm a newbie to the industry so I don't have the tribe loyalty of some of the older integrators. This is one of many reasons that I hate rockwell/AB. Your telling me I gotta spend 40k a year just to keep the liscense running and I gotta chip in another 10k if I want to be able to call you so you can not tell me how to fix my issue... go pound sand with your 1970s overpriced business model.


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Majewski said:


> i miss the days when you could BUY an item and keep it.


Dan's software was downloaded and it was buy and keep. I have not seen Dan around for a very long time. 2015 is the last time he was here. A really good guy and the software was simple to use. I have/had the Pro edition. I have not tried to download it again on this machine. And I'm not sure how either. So if you do do buy and download please advise. I might even have his number in my phone.
I hope he is doing okay?
Like anything it took a while to get it down, but I was able to do it all by myself without any help. Pure unadulterated ladder logic. Symbols and lines. I cut my teeth on this ****.


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## Forge Boyz (Nov 7, 2014)

John Valdes said:


> Dan's software was downloaded and it was buy and keep. I have not seen Dan around for a very long time. 2015 is the last time he was here. A really good guy and the software was simple to use. I have/had the Pro edition. I have not tried to download it again on this machine. And I'm not sure how either. So if you do do buy and download please advise. I might even have his number in my phone.
> I hope he is doing okay?
> Like anything it took a while to get it down, but I was able to do it all by myself without any help. Pure unadulterated ladder logic. Symbols and lines. I cut my teeth on this ****.


I have his software. About a year ago I got a new computer and tried to move the software over it. It didn't accept the license so I emailed them about it. I got a very timely response and got it ironed out quickly. They were glad to help me out. Great company.

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## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

John Valdes said:


> . So if you do do buy and download please advise. .


I was mistaken, there’s a web only version that is 10 bucks a month. 

Downloadable one is still available for 99 or the pro version for an extra 50. 

Their web ordering is borked so you have to contact them via phone or email. 


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## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

To whom may care, Dan is Doing fine and sends his regards to those that remember him. 

That software is really nice and very much worth the price for those of us that don’t want to learn a CAD program. 


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## sayedmhussein (11 mo ago)

I use QElectricteck as of now although it lacks some of the component.


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