How the socket and switch are indicated in the diagram: decoding of images in the drawing

To lay electrical wiring in the room, you need to understand how sockets and switches are indicated on the diagram. This is a very important point, since not only the general aesthetics, but also the safety of people will depend on their correct installation. The wiring diagram is a drawing with all the wiring nodes, as well as taking into account the scale and layout of the room. You can start work only after the scheme has been fully worked out.

The need for a scheme

Many apartment owners in new buildings are faced with such a problem as replacing electrical wiring. Old apartments, where such work is simply necessary due to the obsolescence of communications, does not bypass this topic. Therefore, residents definitely need to think about how the switches and sockets will be located according to the layout.

First, you need to decide on the location of furniture and appliances, sketch out a rough diagram by hand and conventionally designate all the points. After that, you can invite a specialist to transfer a sketch with the exact designation of sockets and switches to the drawings. Thanks to this, the foreman and the owners will be able to determine how much material needs to be purchased, what monetary investments it will require, and how the work will proceed as a whole.

Regulation of designations in the drawing

The designation of switches and sockets on the diagrams was developed and approved by GOST back in the distant Soviet times. This is necessary to maintain all the necessary engineering documents when laying electrical wiring in the premises. Since then, the symbols that denote all the points have not undergone any changes, they are still used today.

The designation of the outlet on the electrical diagram, as well as the switch, occurs using elementary geometric shapes - lines, circles, semicircles, points, squares, rectangles. All of them are connected in different ways to each other in the drawing, so they can denote not only the outlet or a switch, but also different mechanisms and devices in electrics, and also indicate their principle management.

Sockets and switches

In the documents regulating the installation of all points in the wiring, you can clearly see how you need to draw the sockets. There are also formulations of the basic concepts. For example, the socket is part of the plug connection, a communication device that is needed to connect the devices to the network. It always works in tandem with a fork.

Any outlet is indicated on the diagram in the form of a semicircle with the convex side up, from which the lines depart. The number of these lines always indicates the type of the device itself. There are two ways to mount the sockets:

1. For open wiring, external devices are installed, which are attached directly to the wall and protrude on it. In the drawings, they are indicated in the form of a semicircle, from which one line extends upward. There are no additional signs inside it.
2. For closed wiring, internal devices are used that are mounted directly into the wall itself. To do this, a round hole is made in it, where a special socket is installed. This designation of the outlet on the diagram looks like a semicircle, inside which a straight vertical line goes upward, extending beyond it and crossing it in the center.

Double sockets can often be found in modern apartments. It is convenient and practical for a modern person, since two electrical appliances can be connected to them at once. Their designation on the diagram is made using the same semicircle, taking into account the wiring (closed or open):

• a double closed wiring apparatus looks like a semicircle with two vertical lines extending from the surface of the circle;
• a double open wiring device is the same semicircle with two vertical lines extending from its surface and one vertical line inside it in the center.

Today, sockets with grounding are very often used in everyday life. They are needed not only to ensure the long-term operation of electrical appliances, but also for the safety of people when using electricity. Such sockets also have their schematic designation in the form of a semicircle with vertical lines (depending on type of wiring and the number of blocks), as well as a horizontal line, as if lying on the surface of the convex part Images.

Some modern electrical appliances do not need a single-phase, but a three-phase power supply. These include electric stoves, boilers or water heaters that require a voltage of 380 V. In this case, installation requires three-pole sockets with five contacts: three phases, neutral contact and ground. On the diagram, it looks like this:

• a semicircle with a horizontal line on the surface - grounding;
• three lines extending from one point in the center of the semicircle surface are phases and zero contact.

There are also completely moisture resistant devices equipped with a protective cover. In the drawings, they are indicated by the usual semicircle and lines (ground and contact), but only the first is completely painted over in black. They are also designated by two English letters IP, indicating the very fact of moisture resistance, and two numbers, indicating the degree of protection against dust and moisture.

The switch is a communication device with which you can control the lighting fixtures in the room. When it is turned on and off, the electrical circuit closes and opens. In the diagram, the switch is indicated by a small circle, from the surface of which a long line departs. Another small line that looks like a hook departs from it. The number of these little hooks indicates the number of keys on the switch. If there are two hooks from a long line, then there are two keys, and so on.

Just like sockets, switches can be external or internal. If this is an apparatus of the first type, then it can be schematically depicted as a circle with a line and hooks extending only in one direction. The indoor appliance will be indicated by hooks that extend to either side of the line. Moisture-resistant switches in the diagram are indicated by filled circles. They are also marked with the English letters IP and two numbers.

Often there are mirror images of switches in circuits, where two lines with hooks extend from the circles (one on top and one on the bottom). This means that the switch makes it possible to control the same lighting fixture from different places in the room. Such devices are often installed in long corridors or staircases.

Block image

For greater convenience in rooms, sockets and switches are not installed separately from each other, but in a block. It can be used, for example, to control electricity and lighting in bathrooms. It also needs a special schematic designation. Any block in the drawing will have a base in the form of a semicircle., from the base of which the lines depart and intersect the surface of the circle:

• one dash indicates a socket;
• the second line points to the switch, there will also be key hooks;
• the third horizontal line is ground;
• the mirrored arrangement of the hook lines indicates the versatility of the switch.

All such devices necessarily have one base: the socket is a semicircle, the switch is a small circle. A shaded base indicates moisture resistance. Outgoing lines indicate contacts, and the point from which they come indicates the type of device (internal or external). All designations are extremely clear for drawing up a diagram, even for a person without special education. The rest of the details can be clarified with the master, who will perform all electrical work.