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How to untangle Kicad schematic without associated Kicad PCB?

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ogulpal:
First time using Kicad.

I have painstakingly drawn the schematic from an existing board by hand-tracing all the connections using two pictures of the PCB and the actual PCB.

The result is a tangled mess of a schematic and no associated PCB in Kicad.

Moving symbols around and rotating them is a nightmare because it breaks existing connections and creates new, non-existent ones...

How do I untangle the mess so that the schematic is actually readable without traces crossing each other?

See attached for what the schematic looks like.

ataradov:
First of all, start with replacing power and ground lines with corresponding power ports. This will eliminate a lot of the mess.

Then use labels going in and out of the small functional blocks. Then you can move the blocks without creating more mess. Rearrange components within the blocks. Then either restore the labeled wires, or keep them as is, if it makes more sense.

ogulpal:
Thanks. I can’t really tell functional blocks because I don’t know much EE. I don’t know what blocks I’m looking at or where they’re delineated for the most part.

Part of why I went through this exercise is to attempt to identify the discrete blocks in that system… But it’s proving hard to do, even more so with the tangle.

I’ll update the power, do you have any practical advice for identifying the blocks? How could I describe them to a search engine based on the components I see to get a typical example schematic of one and its name? Kind of like a reverse search.

ataradov:
It is really hard to describe.

Even without identifying anything, you can start cleaning up this schematic as is. Start with placing inputs on the left and close together (AC neutral is in the middle of the mess). Output go on the right. Then move components until you get a minimal number of wires intersecting. This alone would make the schematic better.

Make sure that wires don't go through the components. Moving the wire that goes though D1 out of the way will make things much better right away.


Your RAY1 is missing some connection as well. And C6 is not fully connected.

Benta:
The "G" hotkey is your friend (drag instead of move).
That will keep the connections as you move parts around.

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