Puzzelled?

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Re: Puzzelled?

What I find most irritating is the attitude that gets thrown around sometime, "you don't like my answer so #^$%@* to you!" What a bunch of crap. If you think someone is wrong then state your facts as to why, don't insult or attack them. Unfortunately dealing with the cloak of anonymity of this forum must provide courage for some folks. As others have more eloquently stated than I can, this forum is a tremendous resource for peer to peer exchange of information.

Never hurts to vent, beats what happens if to much pressure builds up :eek:

Tony
 
Re: Puzzelled?

I'm not an engineer but would be proud to have that designation on my business card.

I think some folks are lazy, other truly do not know and while some of the questions puzzle me for their simplicity and I usually ignore them. I've also felt that there are no dumb questions. In high school I felt embarrassed to ask questions as they might seem dumb to some. Needless to say my high school career was less than stunning.
 
Re: Puzzelled?

i agree with charlie b on the previous page.
i have a bs in electrical technology and was never taught any of the NEC rules. and for 13 years after college, i never dealt with the nec. as my work altered, i was required to learn the nec rules & regulations so that i may get my masters license and contractors license.

as a former college teachers assistant, i have always stated the only stupid question is the one never asked. while i was laughed at alot for asking those so called stupid questions, those questions helped me get through some of the most difficult courses i have had.

and now that the company where i worked closed its doors on monday, i find i need to be a licensed electrician in a lot of places in order to be considered for the job.

please forgive those of us who ask those simple questions. i have asked questions before. some of your answers agreed with my way of thinking, other times, i was incorrect and you showed me where by citing the code.
this is the best electrical forum i have found and i hope everyone will do their best to help others in their quest for futhering their knowledge.

regards,

p white
west tennessee
 
Re: Puzzelled?

pwhite: Feel assured, with your perspective, you will get the best treatment and assistance by the forum regulars.

You are the type that this forum is set up for. I am sure the others will agree with me.
 
Re: Puzzelled?

Maybe I have a suspicious nature, maybe it's because I know any search engine will bring anybody here, maybe it's because at the top of the forums page it says: This NEC? Forum is for those in the electrical and related industries. Questions of a "How-To" nature by persons not involved in the electrical industry will be removed without notice, maybe this is why I think that a lot of "consultants" and other titles (especially those who are new members) who post lame questions are not really legit.

Another problem is that sometimes the answer to a question needs to be tailored to that persons qualifications, position or experience. Most times you can't determine that from the question. I don't always look at the member profile though it doesn't usually give much to go on anyway. This has caused me to "shoot from the lip" a few times because I didn't know who I was talking to. My sarcasm doesn't help either.

Perhaps we need a better and more visible profile of who we are. I know some members include a little description of their job (like Dereck) at the end of their posts. Some (the original?) members were able to also include where they are from which automatically shows up in the line at the bottom of their posts. Location can have a great deal of importance in this business and in the crafting of an answer to a question.

It would be nice if everybody had a job description with title (and I don't mean anything as nebulous as "consultant") as well as their location included with their posts. I don't know if this software will support this, but a good place for it would be to the left of a post under the member number automatically taken from a more detailed profile.

I think that if a new member had to go into a bit more detail about who they are it would cut down on the DIYers and others who sneak in here.

-Hal
 
Re: Puzzelled?

sometimes the answer to a question needs to be tailored to that persons qualifications, position or experience.
Click to expand...
Hal, those are my thoughts too, and you said it better than I could.

Basic electrical principles are my area of interest, and many questions indicate a lack of understanding of such principles, however I would hesitate to offer advice to a bona fide engineer or consultant.

Another thing that "puzzles" :mad:

Ed

[ March 20, 2004, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: Ed MacLaren ]
 
Re: Puzzelled?

bennie,
thank you for your comments.
for those interested, i have a BS in electrical technology. my first job was in industrial maintenance and i then went to an electrical controls integrator. there i learned how to wire control panels, quote jobs, program plc's, design machines, pneumatics, hydraulics, installations, customer relations, and a great deal more. my dealings with the electrical code was limited.

now i am in the industrial contractor world and the nec is everything. that's why when i post such simple questions, many are suspecious.

my career has changed directions from small electrical controls to an industrial setting and i must admit that many times, i look to study guides, text books, and those of you on this forum for assistance and guideance.

once again, thanks again to everyone because without your assistance, many times i think i will never figure out the nec.

philip white
 
Re: Puzzelled?

By Ed: Another thing that "puzzles" me are the "time-wasters" - the folks who ask a question and are never heard from again. You don't know whether they ever got the advice or not.
Click to expand...
Maybe we could get Danny to set it up like the PM's are and if the poster has read the last post a note in the side pane will read "post read by author" or "post unread by author" At least this will remove some of the Alfred Hitchcock syndrome LOL :D
While I'm at it When is Danny going to update the dictionary for the spell checker as it wont recognize most of our electrical terms?

And YES having the qualifications and location of a poster in the side pane would be a big help to answering questions as every state has different codes and laws.

[ March 21, 2004, 12:17 AM: Message edited by: hurk27 ]
 
Re: Puzzelled?

Right on Roger!! I can't count the times where I have been asked question in a way such as to get an answer which they wanted to hear. I'm certainly not one who has unlimited experience but I have learned that you must step back and look at the entire picture and not get tunnel vision and be coerced into giving an incorrect answer.
One good example is when a product is misapplied of appears to not function properly as a nuisance tripping breaker of the contacts of a started of contactor welding together. One could easily conclude that these products were defective, replace them and have the same failure occur. They client then could conclude that your product is junk when it's not the product at all be the application which he may not have the foggiest idea of what it is.
 
Re: Puzzelled?

Inquiring minds like to:

I get a little disgruntled when someone request information about a problem and either doesn't like the answer (as mentioned above) or they never let me/us know if the suggested solution solved the problem.
 
Re: Puzzelled?

I have just found this site. I am the sole Electrical Engineer for a consulting firm. The only other engineers in the firm are Civil Engineers. I am from a construction background before college. I witnessed the attitudes toward Engineers as a Craftsman and vise versa. I have always respected every level of knowledge from the apprentice to the engineer. I have no problem with asking anyone for an opinion and never had. I can understand the attitude of an electrician, contractor, non-engineer being asked a question by an Engineer. Some people think that Engineers have all the answers, or should. The electrical field is all encompassing and no one person is capable of knowing all. Yes I feel that this site will become a sound board for me, I work with no one that has any electrical knowledge. Maybe those of you who have a problem with answering an engineers questions will understand. Electrical safety is the bottom line.

Thanks for the site.

Donald Sullivan, P.E.
Beaumont, Texas
 
Re: Puzzelled?

I am a PE. I do not know everything about the code. I know what I know from past jobs and the research I did for those jobs. There are many parts of the code that I have never used intimitaly. We just don't do that kind of design work. Most people that are not building code inspectors do not sit around reading the NEC for enjoyment. When we get a type of project that I have not done before, I start reading the applicable parts of the NEC. Then research the parts I am not comfortable with until I become comfortable. Some of that research involves posting questions here. As someone else stated, everyone on the board knows something that others do not, that is why the board is so powerful.
Keep up the good work. It is great to be able to draw on 100's of years of combined experience. That is powerful.
 
Re: Puzzelled?

if you feel the post is from someone who may not be qualified to post on this site, then just don't respond to the post! if you feel the post is weak for the person asking, dont answer....if you feel its dumb, stupid, and etc,,,,just dont answer it..move on to more productive issues.....thats my 2cents worth. thanks,
 
Re: Puzzelled?

I really appreciate this forum, I guess sometimes I have questions when I am reading these posts and want to ask them without thinking about them. To me the computer is like a real time conversation. So I might ask a lazy question, because it is on my mind while I am reading these posts. I may not have a code book handy at the time. But I shouldn't be wasting your time either. I thought I knew something about the code and electric until I started reading these. I have been to many code classes and was very heavy into the code for many years, but these questions and answers are very fined tuned and an excellent source of information and very thought provoking. thanks to you all.
 
Re: Puzzelled?

There are no 'dumb questions' only dumb people asking questions.

So what's the point?

Let he without any ignorance's cast the first barb.
 
Re: Puzzelled?

Thanks, I assume the above post is directed at me, you have described my point very well. No further explanation is necessary.
 
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