Karl H
Senior Member
- Location
- San Diego,CA
Jimmy,
The questions you asked are valid questions.It's nice to see someone not just satisfied with just doing the labor of this trade and not inquiring into the actual process and reasoning.Jimmy we were all helpers once"except IWIRE he came out of the womb doing ambient temperature corrections."
When I first started 22 years ago I honestly did'nt even realize there were wires in walls.Dumb as dirt as some would say.The most important thing for you as a New helper is to show up ON time everyday,watch what the journeymen are doing and try to think ahead of them,ie if he is running conduit be ready to throw him a strap,coupling,or connector when the time comes etc. I f you don't have anything to do don't just stand around waiting for orders ask "what's next" or just start cleaning up until further instruction is givin.Save up and buy a CURRENT code book.Do not fool yourself and think your going to start on page one and read it like a novel,it will confuse you .Break it down to what you do today.After work if you've ran Romex go home and read Art.334 type NM,if you put in recpeptacles all day go home and read Art.406..That will help you get used to the wording and installling recepts all day will help you picture what is being said.Keywords Uses permitted,Uses Not Permitted.Always reffer to Art 100 for definitions never guess what something is. Your idea of a conduit body may not be the same as the NEC's definition of a conduit body etc. The most important is to never stop asking questions.In time you'll learn who to ask for the CORRECT answer and who not to ask.If someone tells you "This is the Code!" Go home and see if you can find it in the book.When you get more familar with the Code you will be surprised how unfamilar some Experts on the job are. You will not find a better resource than this forum.I wish I would have had an Electrical Forum when I was a helper.Maybe then I would'nt have dug so many ditches! lol Good Luck Jimmy!
The questions you asked are valid questions.It's nice to see someone not just satisfied with just doing the labor of this trade and not inquiring into the actual process and reasoning.Jimmy we were all helpers once"except IWIRE he came out of the womb doing ambient temperature corrections."
When I first started 22 years ago I honestly did'nt even realize there were wires in walls.Dumb as dirt as some would say.The most important thing for you as a New helper is to show up ON time everyday,watch what the journeymen are doing and try to think ahead of them,ie if he is running conduit be ready to throw him a strap,coupling,or connector when the time comes etc. I f you don't have anything to do don't just stand around waiting for orders ask "what's next" or just start cleaning up until further instruction is givin.Save up and buy a CURRENT code book.Do not fool yourself and think your going to start on page one and read it like a novel,it will confuse you .Break it down to what you do today.After work if you've ran Romex go home and read Art.334 type NM,if you put in recpeptacles all day go home and read Art.406..That will help you get used to the wording and installling recepts all day will help you picture what is being said.Keywords Uses permitted,Uses Not Permitted.Always reffer to Art 100 for definitions never guess what something is. Your idea of a conduit body may not be the same as the NEC's definition of a conduit body etc. The most important is to never stop asking questions.In time you'll learn who to ask for the CORRECT answer and who not to ask.If someone tells you "This is the Code!" Go home and see if you can find it in the book.When you get more familar with the Code you will be surprised how unfamilar some Experts on the job are. You will not find a better resource than this forum.I wish I would have had an Electrical Forum when I was a helper.Maybe then I would'nt have dug so many ditches! lol Good Luck Jimmy!
