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DIAGRAM 16

Electrical Symbols — Switches and Relays

In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can break an electrical circuit, interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The mechanism of a switch may be operated directly by a human operator to control a circuit (for example, a light switch or a keyboard button), may be operated by a moving object such as a door-operated switch, or may be operated by some sensing element for pressure, temperature or flow. A relay is a switch that is operated by electricity. Switches are made to handle a wide range of voltages and currents; very large switches may be used to isolate high-voltage circuits in electrical substations.

Electrical Symbols — Switches and Relays

Pic. 1. Switches and Relays Library

ConceptDraw DIAGRAM is a powerful software for creating professional looking electrical diagram quick and easy. For this purpose you can use the Electrical Engineering solution from the "Industrial Engineering" area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

Electrical Engineering Solution for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM provides the stencils libraries of ready-to-use predesigned 926 vector symbols, templates and samples that make your electrical drawing quick, easy and effective.

26 libraries of the Electrical Engineering Solution of ConceptDraw DIAGRAM make your electrical diagramming simple, efficient, and effective. You can simply and quickly drop the ready-to-use objects from libraries into your document to create the electrical diagram.

Electrical Symbols

Pic. 2. Electrical Engineering symbols

Electrical diagram software will assist you in drawing your electrical diagrams with minimal effort and makes it very easy for beginners. Electrical symbols and smart connectors help present your electrical drawings, electrical schematic, wiring diagrams and blue prints.

Electrical Symbols — Switches and Relays *

Pic. 3. Electrical Symbols — Switches and Relays

Most of the electrical symbols can be changed in their appearance, styles and colors according to users' requirements. Electrical symbols are used to represent various electrical and electronic devices in a schematic diagram of an electrical or electronic circuit.

The following table lists some switches and relays electrical symbols in our electrical diagram software.

Symbol Meaning
Electrical Symbols — Switches and Relays
SPSTSPST
SPDTSPDT
DPSTDPST
DPDTDPDT
Make contactMake contact
Break contactBreak contact
Two way contactTwo way contact
Passing make-contactPassing make-contact
Spring returnSpring return
Stay putStay put
Limit switchLimit switch
Circuit breakerCircuit breaker
Spring return 2Spring return 2
Spring return 3Spring return 3
Limit switch n/oLimit switch n/o
Limit switch n/cLimit switch n/c
2 position switch2 position switch
3 position switch3 position switch
4 position switch4 position switch
Manual switchManual switch
Pushbutton makePushbutton make
Pushbutton breakPushbutton break
Pushbutton 2-circuitPushbutton 2-circuit
Selector switchSelector switch
Shorting selectorShorting selector
Proximity limit switchProximity limit switch
Time delay makeTime delay make
Time delay breakTime delay break
Time delay make 2Time delay make 2
Time delay break 2Time delay break 2
Safety interlockSafety interlock
Flow actuatedFlow actuated
Liquid level actuatedLiquid level actuated
Liquid level actuated 2Liquid level actuated 2
Gas flow actuatedGas flow actuated
Pressure actuatedPressure actuated
Temperature actuatedTemperature actuated
ThermostatThermostat
Temperature switchTemperature switch
Inertia switchInertia switch
Mercury switchMercury switch
Mercury switch 2Mercury switch 2
FuseFuse
Switch disconnectorSwitch disconnector
IsolatorIsolator
Change-over contactChange-over contact
Relay, alternating-currentRelay, alternating-current
Relay, magnetically polarizedRelay, magnetically polarized
Relay, slow-operateRelay, slow-operate
Relay, slow-releaseRelay, slow-release
RelayRelay
Relay, high speedRelay, high speed
Relay, mechanically latchedRelay, mechanically latched
Relay, permanentRelay, permanent
Relay coilRelay coil
Relay contactsRelay contacts
Pilot lightPilot light
Pilot light, push-to-testPilot light, push-to-test

A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to mechanically operate a switch, but other operating principles are also used, such as solid-state relays. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a separate low-power signal, or where several circuits must be controlled by one signal.


How to Create an Electrical Diagram Using Switches and Relays Library

  • Open ConceptDraw DIAGRAM new document page.
  • Select libraries from Electrical Engineering section.

    Libraries from Electrical Engineering section

  • Switches and relays library contains objects, identified by a blue tile in the library pane. Such objects can be edited by using the Action button menu. To open the menu select an object and click the Action Button button in the upper right corner of the object. Action button menu
  • Select the Smart Connector tool Smart Connector. To connect elements using this tool, drag the connector from one connect dot to another.You can use Layers to place connections on different layers.
  • Result: Circuit Diagram.

    Electrical Diagram







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Flowchart Maker →

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Electrical plan is a document that is developed during the first stage of the building design. This scheme is composed of conventional images or symbols of components that operate by means of electric energy. To simplify the creation of these schemes you can use house electrical plan software, which will not require a long additional training to understand how to use it. You only need to install the necessary software ant it’s libraries and you’ll have one less problem during the building projection. Any building contains a number of electrical systems, including switches, fixtures, outlets and other lightening equipment. All these should be depicted in a building electrical plans and included to general building documentation. This home electrical plan displays electrical and telecommunication devices placed to a home floor plan. On the plan, each electrical device is referenced with the proper symbol. Electrical symbols are used for universal recognition of the building plan by different persons who will be working on the construction. Not all possible electric symbols used on a certain plan, so the symbols used in the current home plan are included to a legend. The electrical home plan may be added as a separate document to a complete set of building plans.House Electrical Plan Software
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Picture: Electrical Symbols, Electrical Diagram Symbols
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Electrical Symbols — Terminals and Connectors →

An electrical connector, is an electro-mechanical device used to join electrical terminations and create an electrical circuit. Electrical connectors consist of plugs (male-ended) and jacks (female-ended). The connection may be temporary, as for portable equipment, require a tool for assembly and removal, or serve as a permanent electrical joint between two wires or devices. 26 libraries of the Electrical Engineering Solution of ConceptDraw DIAGRAM make your electrical diagramming simple, efficient, and effective. You can simply and quickly drop the ready-to-use objects from libraries into your document to create the electrical diagram.Electrical Symbols — Terminals and Connectors
Picture: Electrical Symbols — Terminals and Connectors
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Basic Flowchart Symbols and Meaning →

While creating flowcharts and process flow diagrams, you should use special objects to define different statements, so anyone aware of flowcharts can get your scheme right. There is a short and an extended list of basic flowchart symbols and their meaning. Basic flowchart symbols include terminator objects, rectangles for describing steps of a process, diamonds representing appearing conditions and questions and parallelograms to show incoming data. This diagram gives a general review of the standard symbols that are used when creating flowcharts and process flow diagrams. The practice of using a set of standard flowchart symbols was admitted in order to make flowcharts and other process flow diagrams created by any person properly understandable by other people. The flowchart symbols depict different kinds of actions and phases in a process. The sequence of the actions, and the relationships between them are shown by special lines and arrows. There are a large number of flowchart symbols. Which of them can be used in the particular diagram depends on its type. For instance, some symbols used in data flow diagrams usually are not used in the process flowcharts. Business process system use exactly these flowchart symbols.Basic Flowchart Symbols and Meaning
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Picture: Electrical Symbols — Power Sources
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Picture: Electrical Symbols — Transmission Paths
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Electrical Symbols — VHF UHF SHF →

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Picture: Electrical Symbols — VHF UHF SHF
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Picture: Electrical Symbols — Composite Assemblies
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