Industrial controls education

[OK Sparky 93]

Hello all! After 25 years doing electrical work, I am looking for a bigger cut of the pie.

Any direction for getting educated on the industrial side of things?

Commercial and residential, is fine but everyone. Does that. I figure if I can make a transition to the industrial side, I will put my self in a better position to move into the future.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I have had a brief course in motors and controls years ago, but through my years of being employed, it has set on a shelf in my brain and gotten dusty.

Thanks Mike

 

[hillbilly1]

For some reason industrial doesn’t pay as well, at least back in the 80’s. A company I worked for back then did commercial and industrial. They said I would have to take a pay cut if I went over to the industrial side.

 

[Besoeker3]

Hello all! After 25 years doing electrical work, I am looking for a bigger cut of the pie.

Any direction for getting educated on the industrial side of things?

Commercial and residential, is fine but everyone. Does that. I figure if I can make a transition to the industrial side, I will put my self in a better position to move into the future.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I have had a brief course in motors and controls years ago, but through my years of being employed, it has set on a shelf in my brain and gotten dusty.

Thanks Mike

Industrial is quite a diverse field. Most of the guys I worked with were involved with large scale equipment. Petrochem, paper mills, pumping stations and the likes. My own field was power electronics. If that's to your liking I could maybe help some.

 

[petersonra]

Often times, industrial electricians end up being instrument techs as much as electricians. Most places of any size there are plenty of control issues that pop up that need fixing, along with the regular calibrations and maint that a lot of things need to keep them going.

You might be able to find some courses at a local jr. college that are helpful.

 

[OK Sparky 93]

For some reason industrial doesn’t pay as well, at least back in the 80’s. A company I worked for back then did commercial and industrial. They said I would have to take a pay cut if I went over to the industrial side.

You would think it would be the opposite. I consider what I do the most to be commercial. Don’t deal with a lot of control work. I would think that the control work install/ troubleshooting would call for more money.

 

[petersonra]

You would think it would be the opposite. I consider what I do the most to be commercial. Don’t deal with a lot of control work. I would think that the control work install/ troubleshooting would call for more money.

One would think that since it requires a much smarter and better trained person to do the work. You never really know though if what an employer is telling you is really true or not. They might have told him that because they didn't want him to switch to a different part of the company. Or it could have been that the industrial part of it was mostly pipe and wire and that's pretty straightforward. Just about any journeyman can do that. A lot of commercial stuff is not quite as simple cuz there's a lot of different stuff.

 

[OK Sparky 93]

I’ve got a friend that does hydraulic / mechanical repair all over Oklahoma and then some. He is telling me I should get into the industrial side of things. Some places he winds up in, he says that what electricians there are that are more industrial side have a hard time keeping up. IDK.

I would consider oil field to be industrial, I’d feel like a fish out of water.

Where is the line drawn between commercial and what would be considered industrial?

 

[acin]

Gas station pump repair and installation is pretty good. special license i think

 

[__dan]

Hello all! After 25 years doing electrical work, I am looking for a bigger cut of the pie.

Any direction for getting educated on the industrial side of things?

Commercial and residential, is fine but everyone. Does that. I figure if I can make a transition to the industrial side, I will put my self in a better position to move into the future.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I have had a brief course in motors and controls years ago, but through my years of being employed, it has set on a shelf in my brain and gotten dusty.

Thanks Mike

You could try bidding for the job and if you get hired, then you will see what they have that they want you to work on. Having the job would put you a step up from the guy who is studying but not professionally employed. It would be impossible to guess what the duties would actually be prior to getting hired.

Most companies (around here) and they all mostly play from the same playbook, they have eliminated the "licensed industrial plant electrician" job title. Only 1 out of 10 around here has an active spot for a license required guy. Cost cutting would be my guess, so they hire an unlicensed guy right off the bat, technician job title is common, and the duties include the mechanic's work (mechanic job title was also eliminated in favor of technician).

Guys I have seen successful in the position were former flat rate auto mechanics. The technician's job is usually open at the plant. Rarely does the job title say electrician (licensed).

Either way, if you have the job or not, I always recommend 2 year community college minimum. For me, I am hoping the bs is less from a guy who went to school, and you can tell when they feel that way also.. Big difference between the guys who have 2 years college and the guys do not. If you study something good like programming or networking, again the plant may not have a full time job for a specialty high level skill (and pay), but you could travel in there as a specialist as needed.

I am looking for a bigger cut of the pie.

There's a lot of money in oil and gas if you have that work in your area. The technical skills required are a lot but you have to go where the demand is. Try to get hired and study for the work you are bidding for.

 

[petersonra]

Most companies (around here) and they all mostly play from the same playbook, they have eliminated the "licensed industrial plant electrician" job title. Only 1 out of 10 around here has an active spot for a license required guy. Cost cutting would be my guess, so they hire an unlicensed guy right off the bat, technician job title is common, and the duties include the mechanic's work (mechanic job title was also eliminated in favor of technician).

A lot of companies I deal with just hire an EC if they need licensed work done. Most of the time when you need a licensed electrician you need a lot of it for a fairly short time and it is not practical to hire enough help to do the work internally.

Most of the work done inside is not really what you would think of as electrician work and is not something that a typical licensed electrician would do real well. It is mostly troubleshooting and repairs to control systems, and replacing light bulbs. Very little in the way of pipe and wire type work.

Some places have gone to what they call multi-skilled technicians who are trained in more than one area. They may be electricians who can replace a small electric motor without getting a millwright involved, or a millwright who can replace a motor without needing an electrician. Some places just call these guys "maintenance men". Some places they call them electricians but they are closer to instrument techs than electricians.

It is all about what is most efficient to keeping the plant running.

Many of the plants I deal with still use the electrician title but the electricians they have would do a very sorry job of running pipe and wire. But if they need to debug a control problem, calibrate some instruments, or add a few lines of code to a PLC program they are really good at that.

 

[hillbilly1]

You would think it would be the opposite. I consider what I do the most to be commercial. Don’t deal with a lot of control work. I would think that the control work install/ troubleshooting would call for more money.

I would think so too, maybe commercial jobs have more money to throw away than industrial? I have one industrial customer that has a lot of old electromechanical equipment, very few plc’s, and had a hard time getting things fixed. He pays me very well because the young industrial techs don’t know what to do without a PLC! LOL! (No wiring diagrams left on the equipment either, you have to figure out how the machine works and build your own)

 

[petersonra]

I would think so too, maybe commercial jobs have more money to throw away than industrial? I have one industrial customer that has a lot of old electromechanical equipment, very few plc’s, and had a hard time getting things fixed. He pays me very well because the young industrial techs don’t know what to do without a PLC! LOL! (No wiring diagrams left on the equipment either, you have to figure out how the machine works and build your own)

You found a good niche.