Reading schematics
Contents
Background information
This page covers how to read electric Schematics of a device that you may have located earlier. Having the data is completely useless if you can't read it or learn anything from it,
so being able to comprehend and understand how a device functions often allows you to spot a problem quicker and come up with a fix easier.
While this information will not be correct 100% of the time , butthe following are industry standard ways of creating schematics.
- Positive supply terminal on top
Standard inputs on the left-hand side, outputs on the right-hand side
Negative supply terminal on the bottom
- Components such as amps, filters are typically separated to aid troubleshooting efforts later.
- All components are typically given symbols alongside listing the exact size and type, including the power rating of the components
- Large values tend to be abbreviated, for example 100,000 kilohms would typically be written as 100KΩ
- Ic's tend to have their pin numbers on the outside and the name of the IC on the inside of the symbol
- Circuits where the waveform is critical to the function of the circuit typically have it listed where it is important to the circuit
- Power supply connections to op amps and digital IC's are typically implied and aren't listed in the schematic
- Wires that join are typically marked with an X at the junction point, where wires that simply cross do not
- Information about the circuit such as the circuits name, the name of the designer and board revision number are typically listed in
a box in the bottom left of the schematic
Software
board viewing software such as Flexbv5(free version), openboard view and DZKJ are great for viewing schematics in formats such as bvre which is a typical format used within forums such as Badcaps
Personally I prefer Flexbv5 as it the successor software to openboard view and works well with bvre files were as openboardview does not.
Step-by-step guide with images
Insert step-by-step walkthrough with images and summary text here
Flow chart of order of operations
Insert a flow chart of steps and actions for each task (create using diagram)
Troubleshooting/tips and tricks
Fixes to any common issues that were encountered or could be easily encountered
Related Topics
Topics such as desoldering to chip off or firmware dumping for disk PCB repairs
Further reading
External references in wiki references can just be cited through the keyword link
- Reference 1: flexbv5 manual
- Reference 2: electrical symbol guide
- Reference 3: electronics for inventors, fourth edition (pages:556-558 (paid)