How do you draw an electrical circuit diagram?

Visualize a ladder with the two main members on the side and rungs across from one side of the main members to the other side to the main member. The left member is usually the "hot" side and the right member of the ladder diagram is the neutral side. The devices are drawn in on the rungs of the ladder diagram. The end of the rung on the right is where the load of the rung is drawn in. Without a load in every rung there would be a short circuit when the power is applied to the circuitry. The European version of an circuit diagram has the ladder turned to the horizontal position. The "hot" rung is on the top and the neutral rung is on the bottom.

These types of circuit diagram are called an electrical schematics but are sometimes refered to as ladder diagrams.

Electrical schematics are an electricians road map. When troubleshooting electrical faults in control circuitry, upon opening the control panels door you are faced with a massive amount of wiring that seems to go everywhere. The schematic has a pictorial assessment of where each and every wire goes and what it is connected to. It allows you to trace circuit voltages without having to physically start at one end of the wire and see where it goes to. Reading the schematic you can read what the circuit is designed to do and where the voltage path should go if the system is working properly. A schematic is the main tool for troubleshooting electrical control circuitry. Without it troubleshooting can take up to four times the length of time it takes to find the fault.