Any good troubleshooting books available?

[LadyDi]

Hello all,
I will be applying for a job soon that will require a lot of troubleshooting type work. I have several years experience in residential and light commercial electrical work. My trouble shooting skills are definitely lacking. Can anyone direct me to a online course or possibly a good troubleshooting book? Any information is appreciated.

A voltmeter is susceptible to false readings due to capacitance from energized conductors, while a solenoid tester requires enough current to bring down induced voltage. They're also good GFCI testers.

Great tip! Thank you.

 

[LadyDi]

Hello all,
I will be applying for a job soon that will require a lot of troubleshooting type work. I have several years experience in residential and light commercial electrical work. My trouble shooting skills are definitely lacking. Can anyone direct me to a online course or possibly a good troubleshooting book? Any information is appreciated.

I also believe that understanding bonding and grounding is essential. Of course, Mike Holt's Bonding and Grounding series is fantastic, so to is Electrical Grounding by Ronald P. O'Riley.

 

[LarryFine]

Great tip! Thank you.

You're welcome. Here's another one:

When troubleshooting a bad circuit, carry around the female end of an extension cord that is plugged into a known-properly-wired, non-GFCI-protected receptacle, like a laundry outlet.

That gives you a ground, a neutral, and a hot reference to test the inoperative circuit against with the tester. It's a great way to determine whether you're missing the hot, the neutral, or both.

 

[kwired]

A voltmeter is susceptible to false readings due to capacitance from energized conductors, while a solenoid tester requires enough current to bring down induced voltage. They're also good GFCI testers.

However there are digital meters with a low Z function these days and those work as well to load the circuit enough to eliminate ghost voltage readings.

 

[zbang]

Hence the recommendation in post #16 (and Larry's in #14).

 

[LadyDi]

You're welcome. Here's another one:

When troubleshooting a bad circuit, carry around the female end of an extension cord that is plugged into a known-properly-wired, non-GFCI-protected receptacle, like a laundry outlet.

That gives you a ground, a neutral, and a hot reference to test the inoperative circuit against with the tester. It's a great way to determine whether you're missing the hot, the neutral, or both.

Nice! Shazamm! Thank you.