Autocad Lt Vs Autocad Electrical

[Paulette Dzurilla]

I am needing to update my autocad from Autocad 2018 to a newer version. I want to switch to the Autocad Electrical because that is the type of drawings I am completing however I have never used it before. I am wondering if you can still use the base autocad on older customer drawings.

I completed my conversion in steps. The steps below aren't in perfect order, but it will give you an idea of how you can slowly advance your level to a full AE development process without being overwhelmed. These steps don't include everything and there was some overlap since conversion of WBlocks is the slowest process. My drawings included numerous older ACAD objects as I proceeded forward. Even now we have some older stuff get mixed into projects where we don't have time to convert everything.

3) I configured all blocks used in the active project to have all required attributes. This was done by editing the WBlock files directly. I used the Icon library for basic stuff (push-buttons, terminals, relays, contactors, etc.)

While I was doing all of the items above I slowly updated more and more blocks to meet attribute requirements and expanded into other areas on the reports and options to utilize the software capabilities.

EDIT* The main area where you have to be careful when you have some older objects is on reports. For example, an AE BOM will be missing items or have inaccurate counts. You can overcome this by exporting the BOM to Excel. You modify it and import it back into AE.

ACADE is really just ACAD with some stuff added in. It offers access to both sets of commands at the same time. So, if right now you're working on a true Electrical project, and then half an hour from now you have to deal with some non-Electrical regular ACAD, you won't even have to change the software.

THAT BEING SAID... it's not really advisable to switch back and forth until you become really familiar with the ACADE commands and how they do things. If you really have to, then it's important to remember this: When you're working in ACADE, only use commands in the ACADE ribbons and toolbars. Don't use any command from the 'Home' tab. Likewise, if you're working in a Vanilla drawing, go to the 'Home' tab and only use commands available from there.

If you're in a similar position to JAllen, where you're changing legacy drawings to ACADE drawings, be sure to pay attention to their advice. It's not always an easy transition, coming to Electrical from Vanilla, and there are many pitfalls to avoid. And for what it's worth, my recommendation is for you to make that transition. It's worth it, if you're doing lots of schematic drawings.

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed I have never worked with Electrical Cad, and think it would be very beneficial to the electrical I do. JAllen's post does help in the long run when I do or can convert older non standard projects to the new version.

They don't use the term much anymore, but a few years back they started this 'One AutoCAD' thing. Since then, base ACAD includes several toolsets. AutoCAD Electrical is one of them. There is no difference between this integrated toolset and what existed before. It has all the functionality it's ever had.

If you're serious about getting on board with ACADE, my recommendation is to begin with the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to AutoCAD Electrical', available in HELP. It's a great overview of how the software is meant to work. That and these forums will give you the best jumping-off point, especially if you come into it with previous experience on Vanilla ACAD.

Lately we've had several users post about how to work with older drawings and/or symbols, and how to integrate them into ACADE and make things work right. Be sure to browse around to see what's there. The 'Search' bar is your friend for that, lol.

I would never mix old style and new style wires. All of it should be either ACAD or AE. I suppose you could have all ACAD for wire type (480 VAC for example) and have newer AE for a different voltage (24 VDC for example), but this creates a problem on sheet line numbers unless you think it through to make sure neither gets you into trouble on the other when you possibly add a sheet at a later date.

We copy and paste components all the time. We do it from one project to another project and within a project. I haven't had problems with it. We mix old style components (vendor downloads or wblocks) with symbols occasionally too, but it screws up Reports causes a need for Excel edits to add items as Jim mentioned.

On wires one must be careful when using copy and paste or delete. I never copy and paste a partial wiring circuit into another existing partial circuit. I always either copy and paste the full circuit or redo the link wires where the pasted circuit connects to an existing circuit. Otherwise destinations (stretch wire) and loops over wires (wire gaps) don't always do what you expect. Unfortunately with so many people touching the same drawings at our company I get this type of issue all the time. It is fixable but you need to be prepared to redo some wires when things act weird on the connections or automatic wire numbering. I strongly advise that you play with wires offline a lot before you do a real project. Make yourself a test project. Learn how to set up the line numbers on some sheets to match how your company does it. Then practice using wires in all different situations (mix some AE and ACAD components together on the same sheet) because you will likely be stuck with a deadline at some point where you can't get everything done in new style AE form. Wires are what makes most people go bonkers.

One other piece of advice. Be careful on full project updates where AE goes through all of the sheets one by one on its on. We do title block and sheet page numbering updates for a full project, but never update wire numbers for an entire project using a single command. I have heard about some weird things occurring on this. We do component, signal, and wire number updates on a sheet basis and let it update the link on the other sheet when it asks to do so (signals, panel layout items, etc.)

So, you can just work from the Home menu tab and use vanilla AutoCAD commands to work on legacy drawings, or use commands/utilities from Project, Schematic, Panel, Reports to work with AutoCAD Electrical drawings.

Be careful not to rely very much on vanilla AutoCAD commands if you are working on a drawing that you intend to be managed by the Electrical data manager portion of the software - intending to use error checking, create an intelligent panel layout, and automatically generate reports.

The Conversions tab includes utilities that can help convert a legacy drawing to a point that the data manager can use it. Ideally, over time, you convert your legacy drawings to AutoCAD Electrical format and begin using them to begin future projects.

Hint: Long term, if you plan to use AutoCAD Electrical in a regular basis, create a "smart" drawing template that includes a title block that can be updated, wire types you will assign to lines, and the WD_M and WD_PNLM hidden blocks that the software references when making decisions, such as tagging format, ladder parameters, cross-referencing, PLC style, balloon style/size, and much more.

I have been using the migration command to copy my autocad electrical 2013 settings to 2015. I opened 2013 to check some profiles but for some reason it has opened as normal Autocad 2013 without any electrical characteristics?

Brad Coleman, Electrical Draftsman
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I've been working on autocad electrical 2015 for a few months, and I've found a weird behavior when using Item Balloons and Location Boxes. Sometimes when I insert a balloon, it is inserted as a group which means arrow, line and balloon are one group and the whole group can be selected by clicking in any of the 3 elements. The same happens with location box where text and box do the same. I like this behavior, but It does not happens in all my drawings and I don't know when to turn it on or off.

The object grouping setting offers selection by groups or not. Right-click at the command prompt and choose Options. Look for the check box labeled "Object grouping". (See the attached screen capture) If this box is checked and you click on a balloon the leader and arrow will also be selected.

Be aware that there are other check boxes related to selection by groups. There is a box labeled "Show single grip on groups". If this box isn't checked you will not be able to move the balloon, leader, and arrow as a group. If you click any entity within the group you will see all grips within the group. Whichever grip you select will be the object that you move. There is a another check box labeled "Show bounding box on groups". This places a temporary box around a group so you will know all objects that will be moved when you grip and drag the group.

Ok I can't find anywhere for how to set up reference inside projects. I just want my parent components to reference where it's child components are. Currently all I am getting is "???" I do have a custom title block but I tried opening a blank autocad title block and dropping some components in and it doesn't reference them either. I take it there is something that has to be set up but I just can't find it. I want the cross reference to mach my title block.

If it's part of the project you might try to use the Cross Reference Update in the schematic tab. There are cross reference formats you can set up in Project/Drawing properties. I attached those. If those don't help can you attach your symbols? Someone with more experience might know but I could try to insert them into one of my projects to test.

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