Basic Electrical Controls & Diagram Reading

Learn the basics of industrial motor control systems and electrical diagram reading.

This introductory course provides an overview of electrical industrial motor control and basic electrical diagram reading.

The course is designed for students or techs that want to work in the industrial control field and are seeking an overview of what makes up an industrial control system.

An overview of industrial electric motor control wiring, schematics and single line diagrams is provided in this course.

Students will be introduced to industrial control concepts and methods used for the control of electric motors in industrial control systems.  You will recognize symbols used in electrical wiring and schematic diagrams. A student will be exposed to IEEE/NEMA and IEC style electrical schematics and gain understanding of the difference between each schematic.

Learn the relationship between power and control circuits within an electrical schematic set.  A student will learn about motor control circuitry such as: motor overload protection, 2-wire and 3-wire control, reversing and non reversing starter diagrams, and mechanical & electrical interlocking.

This course gets you up to speed in the basics of industrial electric diagram reading:

• Read basic industrial control electrical diagrams.

• Interpret the three main types of of diagrams: wiring diagram, schematic diagram and single line diagram (SLD).

• Recognize the difference between wiring diagrams and schematic diagrams.

• Recognize common electrical symbols used in schematic diagrams.

• IEC 60617 symbols are covered and a reference document is provided.

• IEEE standard symbols are covered and a reference document is provided.

• Understand the two main standards applied to electrical schematics: IEEE/NEMA and IEC.

• List the differences between IEC and IEEE/NEMA style diagrams.

• Understand wire and device numbering systems.

• Understand page coordinate and ladder wire and device location cross references.

• Learn how parent and child components in multipage schematics are cross referenced.

• Understand the purpose of electric motor control.

• Read schematics containing DOL starters, VFDs, soft-starters and PLCs.

• Recognize timing relay coil and contact symbols and understand how they work in industrial control systems.

• Understand the role of a programmable logic controller (PLC) in industrial control systems.

• Learn how PLC input and output wire numbering works in industrial control systems.