Schematic from PCB drawing

[solo2racr]

I have never done this and was wondering if anyone had any tips to make this as easy and accurate as can be.

 

[(*steve*)]

It's non-trivial.

Have a good clean image of the board and both (or all) layers. Then identify the componets and try to untangle the connections. It's often useful to identify the "main" part -- an op-amp, or a microcontroller, etc, then draw everything around it in a way that looks sensible.

You need to be very careful that you haven't missed a connection. It may be useful to colour them in as you go.

After you've drawn it once, see if you can untangle it and make it look nice.

Then check for obvious errors and refer back to the PCB to see if you made a mistake.

 

[solo2racr]

So, work it out in segments as opposed to trying the sort it out in it's entirety. I was thinking to start, trace out the ground path. Then work from the +/- voltages from there.

 

[(*steve*)]

I guess that you need to have some sort of system. I'd agree that tracing power and grounds is a good thing, but they're often easier than the signal path because you know that they are going everywhere (usually).

 

[Rleo6965]

Before I use paper and pencil to draw the schematic diagram while tracing the pcb. Now , I use schematic drawing software . It's easier to draw lines , edit and drag components to its proper place for easier analysis. I use DesignSparkPCB5 software.

You can use simpler schematic drawing software if you want.

 

[KMoffett]

As Steve said make good images of both sides. Highlight over each PCB trace on the paper image as you replicate it on the paper/CAD schematic. This makes sure that you don't leave connections out.

Ken