Recommendations for 12v wiring diagrams / NMEA diagrams

[MattS]

Hi all, starting to draw up some schematics for my boat wiring / instrument network as I'm pulling it apart...

Are there any particular tools people tend to use for wiring diagrams?

In particular stuff that makes it easy to maintain and even better includes stock icons for various marine devices!

 

[ctva]

Other than using paper and pencil which I did, I used the shapes options in Excel which worked well.

 

[Kinsale373]

I have used "Inkscape" for a good few years. Its a free Drawing package similar to Autocad with lots of free tutorials and examples online. If you search the Web you'll find libraries of Electrical and Electronic Components and lots of mechanical stuff that you can copy into your drawings and use the bits you need.
Kinsale 373

 

[PaulRainbow]

I use Inkscape for panel design and Visio for schematics.

This does some nice N2K schematics: Maretron | N2KBuilder

 

[mikegunn]

I have used Windows “paint” since Windows 3.11 was published. It’s always been an inherent part of Windows, very easy to use, generally intuitive and hugely versatile. It’s very easy to cut ‘n paste images from almost any document and there’s a huge library that comes free with Windows called “character map”. If I can’t find a symbol I just draw one, pixel by pixel if necessary and then save the result along with many others as a single jpg file. That page can be kept open in a separate Window and any detail copied and pasted as needed.

 

[MattS]

For the benefit of the thread, I've settled on Libre Office Draw - it's free, works on all platforms, and provides equivalent functionality to things like Visio that you would need for something like this. Home | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft

If you want something that works across laptops and tablets, I've also found LucidChart to be very good Online Diagram Software & Visual Solution | Lucidchart

 

[Refueler]

I have used Windows “paint” since Windows 3.11 was published. It’s always been an inherent part of Windows, very easy to use, generally intuitive and hugely versatile. It’s very easy to cut ‘n paste images from almost any document and there’s a huge library that comes free with Windows called “character map”. If I can’t find a symbol I just draw one, pixel by pixel if necessary and then save the result along with many others as a single jpg file. That page can be kept open in a separate Window and any detail copied and pasted as needed.

I have to admit that I'm no good with CAD .. most graphic packages leave me with a headache ... so I scour online for drawings / illustrations that I then Prtscrn ... paste to PAINT ... and work on there.

I have two 3D printers .. and a Laser cutter ... so I do try to learn CAD .. but so far I can download near most I need.