EC&M Article

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jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
December issue of EC&M had an article on efficiency, written by an executive of what I assume is a consulting company, not sure. He made a few good points about efficiency but got a little crazy on a few things too. Article gave his e mail so I messaged him & asked what he was thinking on a few issues. He sent a generic thanks without answering a single question. Just what we need in this business. Another busybody finding fault but offering no real alternatives & can’t even explain his thinking.

1 example: He made reference to seeing 2 people carrying a pipe. Yes, that’s overdoing it for a stick of 1/2” EMT. Entirely reasonable for a stick of 4” rigid. I asked him how much pipe he had ever carried.
 

texie

Senior Member
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado
Occupation
Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
I read that article as well and was left wondering what has happened to the trade mags. I'm all for efficiency but this guy was clueless. I've noted a number of articles like this in the trade mags in recent years that are completely useless fluff.
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I read that article as well and was left wondering what has happened to the trade mags. I'm all for efficiency but this guy was clueless. I've noted a number of articles like this in the trade mags in recent years that are completely useless fluff.

Glad I’m not his only critic! There may be a bit of hope. 😀
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I was turned off by EC&M around 20 years ago. I submitted a photo of something I came across that I had nothing to do with other than discover it.

They published it in their "what's wrong here" segment, and changed the story to something that would be a little better candy for the readers.

Shortly after that issue comes out, director of state AHJ sends me an email asking which one of his inspectors passed that installation. Had to tell him it likely wasn't inspected at all and probably been in place at least 20 years or better (at that time), and most of what was written wasn't really true.
 

garbo

Senior Member
40 years ago EC&M was a very informative magazine with articles on construction and maintenance. I used to clip and save articles. Now it's a thin magazine with little content, a quick read.
You are so right about EC& M. used to read my dads copy back in the 60's. Used to spend well ov
er a hour going thru it. Used to send in the post card for new product info. Stopped spending the 4 to 5 minutes going thru it. Mike Holt and maybe 1 other articles inly goid things left. Catching up with the dying newspapers.
 

Fred B

Senior Member
Location
Upstate, NY
Occupation
Electrician
40 years ago EC&M was a very informative magazine with articles on construction and maintenance. I used to clip and save articles. Now it's a thin magazine with little content, a quick read.
It is the same with Popular Mechanics, used to have useful DIY info, now just an advertisement magazine.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
I read that article as well and was left wondering what has happened to the trade mags. I'm all for efficiency but this guy was clueless. I've noted a number of articles like this in the trade mags in recent years that are completely useless fluff.
Many of the old trade magazines are dying off. They often started out well but over time became overly dependant on a handful of advertisers and the editorial content started getting slanted towards those advertisers' needs.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
He made reference to seeing 2 people carrying a pipe. Yes, that’s overdoing it for a stick of 1/2” EMT. Entirely reasonable for a stick of 4” rigid. I asked him how much pipe he had ever carried.

When I was an apprentice my big hospital job received a large delivery of 4" rigid. The foremen called a dozen guys over to carry the pipe down a flight of stairs and into a large basement where it was to be installed. I and another apprentice did a two man carry and received significant razzing from the J-men who each carried a pipe by themselves. One toxically-macho dude carried two pipes, one on each shoulder.
 

ATSman

ATSman
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Occupation
Electrical Engineer/ Electrical Testing & Controls
Yeah I agree with all the comments on EC&M mag. I subscribe to Electrical Contractor mag now. I've won first prize, TWICE for sending in the attached idea for meter probes in their Pro Tips column:
 

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