First year apprentice

[JP490440]

I have 2 brand new guys working with me. I?ll tell you what I tell them. Get off the phone, learn to read a tape measure, don?t use my benders as hammers, Once again stranded wire has small hair like strands and solid wire is uhmm.........solid

Get a book on electrical theory, Mike holts book/ dvd is a good one. If you understand how electricity works in simple terms you can apply that to a lot of the things you do and answer your own questions.

Get a code handbook as opposed to a codebook. The handbook has lots of pictures and diagrams and is meant to be easier to understand.

You don?t have to understand everything right now, just keep busy and do a neat job. Sometimes your just not ready to wrap your head around something.

3 and 4 way switching is a simple thing. Typically there is a black screw on each 3 way. On one 3 way the black screw is the line (power in)
On the other 3 way the black screw will be the load ( light or whatever )
The other two (non green) screws are for the travelers they simply hook to their counterparts on the other 3 way switch just like the picture.

Travelers are two wires that do nothing except hook between the switches. Thats all they are for. Wether it?s 10 feet or a hundred. The black and red wires going between the switches in the diagram are travelers.

To add a 4 way or 10 4 ways you simply run your travelers from the first three way switch to your first 4 way, then run you travelers from that 4 way to your next 4 way or your 3 way.

You can have a whole bunch of 4 ways as long as there is a 3 way on each end.
4 way switches have 4 screws plus a ground two are marked input and two are marked output simply hook one set of travelers to the input and the other set to the output. It?s pretty simple once you get it. Buy a couple of 3 ways and 4 ways and make yourself a little 12v desk light with lots of switches.

 

[andyselec@aol.com]

Although I have never been a IBEW member , I would suggest you try to join them. Some of the most knowledgable electrician I have meet came thru their program. If you want to go the non-union route look at the local community college programs and make sure you take some basic business course because if you go non union you will probably be self employeed in the later part of your career , if you want to make a living wage. FYI the NEC is written on a grade 17 (one year in to a masters program) so it will confuse you at times.

 

[K8MHZ]

Although I have never been a IBEW member , I would suggest you try to join them. Some of the most knowledgable electrician I have meet came thru their program. If you want to go the non-union route look at the local community college programs and make sure you take some basic business course because if you go non union you will probably be self employeed in the later part of your career , if you want to make a living wage. FYI the NEC is written on a grade 17 (one year in to a masters program) so it will confuse you at times.

I came through the IBEW apprenticeship. Excellent triaining, but no guarantee of work. Also, there are only a limited number of spots. My class had 40. Now the classes are down to 4.

Our phone book is full of one and two man shops where the owner came through IBEW and after too many lay offs, started out on their own. Several of the IBEW shops have just shut down. Some shops that had crews are now down to just the owner and one apprentice.

Having worked side by side with non-union journeymen, I tended to notice that the union guys could 'do it all' whereas the non union guys only did one or two types tasks. I like the variety, so the IBEW was a good choice for me.

The union is great for some guys and not at all good for others. I have a friend that is non union and loves it. When all is said and done, his pay is about the same as union scale.

I don't mind working for several different contractors during the course of a year. I like the adventure of going new places and seeing how stuff is made. I like meeting new people and I like working with people from all over the world and learning from them. The IBEW has provided that for me. No work right now, but when there is, it's work I really enjoy.

My friend would never consider having different bosses throughout the year. He likes working at the same place every day and working for the same people every day. He would rather have lower on check pay and paid vacations. He is working when I (and half the people in my local) are not. Working non-union has provided that for him.

The suggestion to take business classes is a prudent one no matter if you decide to go union or not. When work slows down, there will be myriad new ECs popping up and the ones without business savvy will lose everything if they aren't careful.

 

[hillbilly1]

Not to Union bash, but unfortunately because of the lack of Union work, in turn, lack of people wanting to join Unions, they are taking anybody they can, and even with the excellent training they offer, they are not turning out nowhere near as many good electricians as they used to. I have come behind too many of their jobs that were screwed up, that shouldn't have been. It's sad that it has gotten that way. I think a lot of it is in the leadership's way of thinking, not the rank and file. If you can afford not to work a lot, or don't mind being on the road, their electrical training is excellent if you really want to learn, just don't be drug down by those there just wanting to make big bucks, but don't care about the work.

 

[K8MHZ]

Not to Union bash, but unfortunately because of the lack of Union work, in turn, lack of people wanting to join Unions, they are taking anybody they can, and even with the excellent training they offer, they are not turning out nowhere near as many good electricians as they used to. I have come behind too many of their jobs that were screwed up, that shouldn't have been. It's sad that it has gotten that way. I think a lot of it is in the leadership's way of thinking, not the rank and file. If you can afford not to work a lot, or don't mind being on the road, their electrical training is excellent if you really want to learn, just don't be drug down by those there just wanting to make big bucks, but don't care about the work.

Union guys like that aren't liked by most union electricians, either. My local called them 'slugs'.

No one likes to be associated with people that screw up. Some are more vocal about it than others.

Our local hires off test scores. We get way more applicants than spaces for them, so a test, mostly math, was created and seats are filled from the highest score down.

When there was tons of work, we were literally taking anyone with a pulse and still couldn't man all the jobs. So, at least here, it's the opposite of what you have described.

 

[ritelec]

than one more two wire from three gang in the mud room to the two gang by the side door. These are travlers?

You need 3 wires, 2 travelers and a return (either phase or neutral)

This is what you need know to wire 3-way switches:

The two travelers go from switch to switch only.
Line (hot from panel) goes to one switch.
Load (the light) goes to the other switch.
The odd color screw on the switch is for the line/load.

If you needed a 4- way as well, only the travelers are switched by the 4-way. It just reverses the two travelers.

What about that new code having a neutral at each switch location?

This is the most typical way to do 3 ways in a residential job.

I often run a 3-wire to a dead end three way switch and splice feeds and switch legs at the first 3-way box.
I think Dennis's picture best shows the way it should be wired for this new code concern.
Thanks Dennis.


To the OP...
Get a book that explains electricity (the fundamentals). (geez I was in this business for a while and really had no interest in it. Well I time came when I had to get an interest in it. My brother gave me a book. I read it and my eyes were opened (shin effect, ohms-law and a bunch of other stuff). He lent it to friend....never saw it again and can't find "that book" when goggling around...or in book stores..what a shame..)

Get the Handbook (with pictures)..Or Mike Holts Literature with pictures.
Put it by your toilet (don't sit too long (hemorrhoids))

Read the literature, it will help you out, but as mentioned in this post about reading about what you did today and what you will do tomorrow,,
You may have trouble with much of the reading unless you are able to apply it to something.


All the best with your future career.

 

[rt66electric]

old textbooks

old textbooks

look on ebay for AUDEL's handbooks. the were printed mostly in the 1910' and 1920's Its facinating how much has changed and how much is forgotten and how much is still the same. The books are much easier to read than modern textbooks. Audel's also printed machinist handbooks, carpenters bible, and such. I found it more interesting to read than romance novels.

 

[supra]

you being here is a big step IMO. all my apprentices want to know is when is payday. being passionate and having pride in your work will go a long way.

 

[JJWalecka]

Electrical contractor magazine Books: American electricians handbook, Practical Electrical Wiring
Mike Holt products
Tom Henry products

Know your place, pay dues, keep busy, listen, anticipate what is going to be needed next.
Don't do anything stupid like get hurt

Best of luck