Recommend a software package for simple schematics?

[joth]

I had a heating/plumbing schematic drawn up last year that I'd like to redraw and adjust myself. Anyone got recommendations for a cheap (free) tool that's good for plumbing/pipework and control diagrams?

I see lots of P&ID packages by no idea where to start 

 

Years ago I'd have used Visio so a nice replacement for that might be enough

[SteamyTea]

Have you looked at Draw, it is part of the LibreOffice suite.

https://portableapps.com/apps/office/libreoffice_portable

[joth]

On 28/06/2020 at 08:27, SteamyTea said:

Have you looked at Draw, it is part of the LibreOffice suite.

https://portableapps.com/apps/office/libreoffice_portable

 

 I gave it a go, but really didn't get far - every time I try and import an image it hangs (beach-ball of doom on my Mac)

 

I played around with lucidchart.com yesterday and got quite far quite quickly. It's a bit annoying to connect the wires (pipes) to small components like valves, and the routing all goes a bit mental if you move things around too much, but for a free online app it's very usable.

 

(Still very much WIP, but gives the idea)

[Onoff]

At a push you could use Excel...or Word

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Onoff

[Blooda]

On 19/07/2020 at 09:41, joth said:

 

 I gave it a go, but really didn't get far - every time I try and import an image it hangs (beach-ball of doom on my Mac)

 

I played around with lucidchart.com yesterday and got quite far quite quickly. It's a bit annoying to connect the wires (pipes) to small components like valves, and the routing all goes a bit mental if you move things around too much, but for a free online app it's very usable.

 

(Still very much WIP, but gives the idea)

Sorry to raise and old thread. But did you get very far on this as it is something I'm looking at producing for our system.  

[Onoff]

The free version of nanoCAD is worth a look. If you're used to old style, 2D AutoCAD it's a doddle to get along with:

 

https://nanocad.com/products/nanocad-free/

[joth]

I didn't get much further back at the time, but did recently get an autocad licence and spent some time on YouTube training videos so I can at least make simple plans with it. Not sure I'd enjoy doing schematics with it  though.

I might try nanocad sometime 

[johnhenstock83]

I used librecad for my extension, it's a simple, free 2D cad package. very accurate, loads of tools, easy to get started, runs on any computer.

[SteamyTea]

15 minutes ago, johnhenstock83 said:

I used librecad for my extension, it's a simple, free 2D cad package. very accurate, loads of tools, easy to get started, runs on any computer.

And you can get it as a Portable App, so you can take it with you.

I have used Portable Apps in places I have worked. Gets around a lot of network and crap software restrictions, without involving the 12 year old that run IT systems.