Electrician U

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join One of the things that many new electricians (even veteran electricians) struggle with wrapping their heads around is how a transformer works and what is the difference between the primary and secondary side is. Seems like it is just some voodoo magic! In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin dives in and gives some explanation to how it all works. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com A primary transformer is simply a piece of equipment that the utility company uses to step down their voltage to a usable level in a building. It could be any building- a residence, a 3-story commercial building, or a sprawling industrial site. The voltage that the utility uses is generally MUCH too high for us to be able to utilize in almost all building types and requires it to be stepped down to a usable range. Remembering from previous discussions that electricity travels in complete loops. Transformers are no different. The cool thing about transformers is that it uses the relationship between the electrons and magnetism to do its thing! At the utility plant there is some type of generator starting the process. Wires leave the generator (whether it’s a coal fired type generator, a wind generator, even a nuclear generator) goes thru one side of the windings of a transformer, and back to the generator creating a loop. The voltage that is operating at this stage is very high probably at the 150kv range! Within the first transformer (or transmission type of transformer) there is a secondary coil that isn’t necessarily touching the primary coil, but the electrons get moving by the magnetic fields caused by the first coil and a different voltage is produced on this secondary side- probably in the neighborhood of 7200v. this is considered a distribution voltage range. Still too high for normal mortals to utilize but can be run thru neighborhoods to distribute to either the pad mounted transformers on the ground (those green boxes you see when driving along) or the pole mounted transformers. But we are still not quite done yet! From those distribution transformers, again, there is a primary and a secondary coil in it. The primary coil is a complete loop between the previous transformer (the transmission transformer) and the secondary coil is a complete loop between the transformer and the building it is serving. As electricians, when we set a panel, we are simply putting it in the middle of that last loop! We don’t normally have the wires from the transformer going straight to the load, but rather have a panel in between the phases so we can control things and turn things on and off as needed. Again, electricity travels in loops, and once we understand that concept, things tend to become much clearer on how electricity works! A closely related question would be what is the difference between the pole mounted transformers and the green pad mounted transformers we see in newer or higher end areas. Nothing really- its just a different way for us to get power down to a useable level! The pole mounted transformer system is considerably cheaper and easier to install. Drill holes in the ground to slide the pole in, sling some wires in between the poles and voila! But you do end up with the unsightly poles/wires to be seen by everyone. The pad mounted type is much more pleasing to the eye but requires considerably more labor. The ground must be dug out or horizontally drilled, conduit must be installed, trenches must be backfilled and THEN the wire can be run in between. Again, considerably more labor intensive, but much more pleasing to the eye. In addition, it also keeps the wire out of the effects of weather and away from the general population! We hope this has been an insightful look into the primary and secondary sides of a transformer. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be. #electrician #electrical #electricity #primary #secondary #side #service

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Most electricians know how to use our meters to troubleshoot power issues by finding voltage and amperage. But what about using them to find Ohms or Continuity? And what are those values good for? In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin explains how to use your meter to get these values and what those values could be used for in the field. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com First, be aware that different meters will produce different value ranges. Most electricians in the field don’t carry our DMM (digital multi meters) with us everywhere. They are rather large and susceptible to damage, so are usually kept in the truck. Instead, we probably will have our Ampere Meter with us. An amp meter may read in thousandths of ohms whereas a DMM may read exactly what the ohms are. Something to keep in mind. Also, when using your DMM, make sure you are following the instructions for your particular meter and plug the leads in the correct ports on the meter. And finally, when using your DMM OR Amp Meter, do not check for continuity on an energized circuit. Most meters are fused to protect themselves, but checking for continuity or Ohms on an energized circuit will certainly blow that fuse. Some meters will have the continuity and resistance setting at the same place on the dial. Some are different settings. For continuity, look for the little speaker symbol. For ohms specifically, look for the Ohms symbol (or the Greek letter for Omega) which looks sort of like an inverted horseshoe. To check for either continuity or Ohms on either meter, simply turn the dial to the setting you want and place one lead on one end of the wire (or whatever you are testing) and one on the other. If your meter howls at you, it is sensing that a complete loop has been made. If the meter is on Ohms vs Continuity the meter should display the amount of ohms worth of resistance. But what are those values good for out in the field? Well, you could use the continuity setting to see if a fuse or filament type lamp (not a CFL) is good. Put one lead on each end and if there is continuity, then the fuse is viable (or the lamp is good). Or maybe you need to run wire to a piece of heating equipment that isn’t labeled as to its amperage. You could test across the heating element to see how much resistance it holds. Then using Ohms law, you can figure out how many amps it will draw and then you can base your wire size upon that. So, for instance if you had a 240 piece of equipment with a heating element of 5.77 ohms, by applying Ohms Law (Amps=Voltage Divided by Resistance) you will see that the equipment will draw 41.6 amps (plus any other items within the equipment like a blower motor). Another nifty veteran trick (its not really a trick!) to use resistance for is to check wire length. In Chapter 9 Table 8 of the NEC, it lists the specific Ohms for different types of wire. Simply pick the wire type you will be checking (the table has both solid and stranded- solid wire shows a quantity of 1 and stranded has all the others), coated or uncoated and aluminum or copper. The table shows the value per 1000’ of conductor. So say you have a roll of #12 wire in the shop and you need about 250’ for a run you are pulling. Simply put one lead on one end of the rolled-up wire and the other lead on the opposite end of the wire. 1000’ of #12 should be about 2 ohms worth of resistance. So an entire 500’ roll of #12 should read about 1 ohm and half a roll about .5 ohms. Super useful. You can also pull the same prank on wires that are installed. If you had a 120v pole light installed and needed to know the length of the run, with the POWER OFF, tie 2 of the 3 conductors together (say the hot and the neutral) at the pole, disconnect the wires from the breaker/bus bars and take an Ohms reading. Divide the value it gives you by 2 (since you used 2 wires) and bam, you have a length of wire! We hope this has been helpful in understanding how to take Ohms/continuity readings with your meter and what they could be used for! Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be. #electrician #electrical #electricity #how #to #test #for #resistance #continuity

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Most of us who have been in the skilled trades for any length of time, will come up with a list of tools that we really don’t like. That list varies widely from individual to individual, but generally center around the same types. In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin shows off the tools he really hates in the hopes that it will save someone the time and grief of trying these tools out. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Before we get into specific tools, the agony of owning/using tools that are awful can almost be summed up in one word. CHEAP!! Do yourself a favor and buy something made by a reputable manufacturer that will perform and will last. As electricians, Klein tools are the most preferred by our trade and are definitely the pinnacle of electrical tools. They are manufactured here in the US, are made with quality materials, and are geared towards the electrician! Whatever your trade is, use the tools that are made for your trade. See what everyone else is using, ask the guys at the supply houses, or do your research. End result- when it comes to stocking your electricians tool belt, get tools that will survive the rigors of being beat up all day and will perform properly. You may pay a little more up front, but will generally make you much happier in the long run! First up of tools Dustin hates are cheap tape measures. Ones with cheap plastic cases, skinny/flimsy retractable tape blades, or blades that automatically stay extended. You are going to drop your tape measure. Its gonna happen, trust me! Flimsy cases just won’t stand up to any abuse. Skinny blades also are a scourge. When measuring out in the field, many times we are trying to measure distance TO something and need a tape that will stay extended and not flop down at 3’! Magnetic tips are helpful when measuring for electrical items (as many of our materials are metallic in composition), and having something stick to that metallic object comes in handy. Milwaukee and DeWalt make some of the best tape measures around and seem to be the ones most tradesmen (and women) prefer. Hammers are another item that you should skimp on. Leave a non-claw hammer out of your tool bag. If it looks like the hammer your mom had in the kitchen drawer while you were growing up, leave it there! Instead grab a hammer with a straight blade, one that has a little heft to it (between 22-24 oz. seems about standard) and a metal handle (it will last a lot longer and helps to balance the hammer). Estwing makes quality hammers and are readily available, but other brands like Stiletto make phenomenal products using light materials and are ergonomic in nature. Reasonably expensive, but so worth it! Screwdrivers should be of superior quality and made with the electrician in mind as it is one of the tools you will have in your hands most frequently. Again, the trade standard seems to be Klein Tools as they manufacture the best hand tools in the electrical industry. Use screwdrivers that have a large cushioned handle and preferably a magnetic tip- at times if feels like we are installing a screw like we would thread a needle and a magnetic tip comes in very handy. Same can be said for your screw gun tips and bit holders. Don’t use the non-magnetic ones. Even though you will spend less, the aggravation you will experience will severely outweigh the dollars you spend. When it comes to the most common tool for an electrician- the Linesman Pliers- again consider looking towards Klein Tools. Choose a 9” with some type of cushion grip. This is the tool that you will grab most often. Pliers less than 9” have less leverage to assist you cut things and inevitably use it as a hammer (sorry Klein, all of us electricians do, even though you tell us not to!). Choose the pliers with the options you want on it (crimpers, fish tape pullers, etc.). We hope this has been a good look into the tools you SHOULDN’T buy. Are there tools on your list of tools you hate? Leave us a comment in the comment section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be. #electrician #electrical #electricity #don't #use #these #tools

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Most electricians in the skilled trades have come across time clocks (24-hour electrical timers or dawn to dusk) in their careers at least once. But what are they used for and how do they work? In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin tackles this question. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com In essence, a time clock is a big switch that turns on & off electrical equipment (usually lights, but can be used to actuate any electrical equipment really) at certain times of the day. The time clock differs from a standard switch, however, and does the switching between on/off without the need for someone to actually flip the switch. The clock mechanism is electrically run and the on/off times are manually set upon initial installation of the clock on the clock dial itself. These on/off actuators are referred to as “trippers”. The installing electrician puts the respective on/off trippers on the clock face at the times they want the load being controlled by the clock to come on and go off. As the clock spins around, those trippers move a mechanical lever that either closes the contact (and power goes to the load) or opens the contact (and power goes off to the load). So once the clock is installed, the on/off times are set, and the loads installed/wired, the time clock is relatively self sufficient and requires no external input from anyone. Time clocks are available in single pole or two pole and are available in a few different voltage ranges. Again, they are most often used to control some type of exterior light fixtures, but can be used to control any load you want to come on/go off at a particular time. Regardless of what you are using it to control, make sure you check the clocks rating vs. the load you are trying to control. If you need to control several circuits worth of lights/equipment or large equipment, consider using the time clock to control a contactor (or rather the control circuit that controls the contactor). Another way you can link the timeclock with some other type of control would be to use the clock to control a photocell. That way if its not dark yet when the time clock says to come on (for instance in the summer when its lighter outside longer), the photocell wont send power to the equipment until its dark enough. Another thing that can be done is to put multiple trippers on the dial face. So, your lights will come on at say 700 when your employees are leaving, turn off when they have all left by 800, stay off all night as the buildings unoccupied, then come back on at say 0500 when they are returning and back off again at 0700 when its light outside again. A tip to save some aggravation. Make sure you tighten the trippers to the dial face really well as the spinning action will tend to make them come loose over time. Another point to keep in mind is that mechanical timeclocks will need to be reset to account for time changes and also adjusted periodically. There are also digital timeclocks available. Same concept without the mechanical clock spinning around! Some of these models can be programmed with several different on/off settings and can also account for time changes, so they don’t need to be adjusted as frequently. BMS (Building Management Systems) or Lighting Control Panels can also be used as a time clock of sorts and some of these can even be monitored remotely via ethernet and can turn lights on/off without having to be at the building itself!! We hope this has been helpful in understanding how time clocks work and what they are used for. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be. #electrician #electrical #electricity #what #are #timeclocks #and #how #do #they #work

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Most electricians, heck even most PEOPLE, understand that actuating a light switch will result in the lights turning On and Off! That works great for inside of a room, but what about parking lots or the entire exterior of a building? In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about Photocells- what they are and how they work. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com In essence, a photocell is a light switch, just with more moving parts. When you buy it off the shelf, a photocell is in a Normally Closed State. Normally closed means that with no external help, the circuit within it is closed and electron flow can happen. For reference, with a Normally Open device, without any external influence, the circuit is open and electron flow CANOT happen. With both of these, the control circuit operates a coil, that when energized, will change the state of the device to the opposite of what it is when it’s just sitting there. For most photocells, there are 3 wires- a black, a white, and a red. The white is the neutral for the control circuit, the black being the incoming hot of the control circuit, and the red being the switch leg. The photons from the sunlight act as the catalyst here. During daylight hours, the photons change the resistor inside the photocell and it provides so much resistance that current cannot flow and the circuit stays open and the lights off. When the sun goes down, the resistance lessens in the resistor, current can flow and the lights come on. Something to be aware of is that photocells have ratings- both to voltage and amperage. This means if you are attempting to have the photocell directly control a light fixture(s) that you have to match it with the circuit it is attempting to control. If you are controlling several fixtures (say a parking lot full of pole lights or an entire building exterior), having the photocell control a contactor may be necessary. Contactors generally have a much larger amperage rating than a photocell alone. In this type of scenario, the photocell is still controlling something, but it is now controlling the coil of the contactor. Same result, just more fixtures are able to be controlled. There are also several different types of photocells to choose from. Your standard photocell, a photocell that has a knuckle so it can be precisely aimed, even small photocells that can be mounted IN a fixture (or right next to it in a bell box) and are hardly noticeable. Since photocells have “moving parts” they are susceptible to failure over time (much like GFCI receptacles or motion sensors). A great tip to troubleshoot a lighting circuit to see what the issue is would be to trick the photocell into thinking its dark outside forcing the lights to come on. To do this, simply use black electrical tape and completely cover the sensing eye of the photocell. If the lights come on, then it may be something other than the photocell being the problem. If the lights stay off, then the photocell is probably your issue. Another way to sort of test this theory would be to bypass the photocell from the circuit and see if the lights come on. If they do, then its probably a photocell issue. Photocells must also be aimed properly in order to operate correctly. The sensing eye should be in full ambient sunlight (maybe not directly pointed at the sun!) during most of the day so those photons will continue to bombard the photocell and keep the lights off. So, watch out for shady areas, bushes/trees, etc. and move the photocell if needed. We hope this has been an insightful look into photocells and their usage. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed here on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comment section and let us know. please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be. #electrician #electrical #electricity #what #are #photocells #and #how #do #they #work

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join As electricians, we commonly use voltage to test circuits and to make things work in general. But what is it and how do we test for it? In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about what voltage is, how we can test for it, and what equipment we SHOULD/SHOULDN’T be using to test for it. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com A good analogy for voltage can be pressure. For instance, pressure in a water hose. The more pressure, the harder the water comes out. Same with an electrical circuit. Or a Slinky toy. If you were to pull it apart, the pressure waiting for that Slinky toy to snap back into place can be thought of as voltage. Voltage in an electrical circuit is a difference in potential between 2 different points. In an electrical setting, once energized, we SHOULD have a voltage reading between certain things and we SHOULDN’T have voltage between other things. So, in a 120 type circuit, we SHOULD measure (nominally) 120v between hot and neutral and hot and ground. In a 3-phase environment, we should have a voltage reading between the HOTS AND a voltage reading between HOT and neutral and HOT and ground. We SHOULD NOT have any voltage readings between Neutral and Ground under any circumstances, as these two items are bonded together at the service point and are in essence on the same point. If you DO measure voltage between Neutral and Ground, something is off in the wiring between neutral/ground or there is a faulty piece of equipment somewhere in the system, which either requires some attention! There are many pieces of testing equipment available to us electricians, and they all vary in what they can test for and how much you want to pay for them! A non-contact voltage tester (also commonly referred to as a tic tracer) is probably the most basic of the bunch. It glows and/or squeals at us when it is near a source of something energized. However, these types of test equipment are historically inaccurate and test via capacitance. You just have to get it close to the wire/buss/etc. It also can’t tell you how much voltage is present, only that it is. All this type of equipment will show you is if something IS energized only, and the circuit testing should be verified by a proper meter. A plug tester will also light up and show you that voltage is present, and will also tell you if you have wires backwards and a few other options. There are even new plug testers on the market that WILL tell you the voltage that is present. However, this type of testing equipment will only work on receptacles! Great if you are working on a receptacle, bad if you are attempting to test in a panel or J Box! We should be using a multimeter to test for voltage. There are many options/manufacturers available. A meter should be of high quality (you are trusting your life with it after all!) and have the options that you will be using frequently. If there are any doubts as to what type of meter you should buy, talk to your veteran co workers and see what types they own/use. To test for voltage, spin the dial to the appropriate setting (voltage) and put one lead on the neutral wire and one on a hot. If energized, the meter will display the voltage present. You should also be able to put a lead on the ground and one on the hot and get close to the same voltage as you did between hot and neutral. In a 3-phase environment, you can also test between 2 hots and get a reading, although it will be a higher number than a single hot. We hope this has been an insightful look into HOW to test for voltage and some of the equipment used. Remember, when in doubt on what you should be reading on your meter, ask a veteran electrician! They are an invaluable source of information! Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be. #electrician #electrical #electricity #how #to #test #for #voltage

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join ⚡⚡ SPONSOR: Polaris Taps ⚡⚡ https://www.polarisconnectors.com/ We all know to use wire nuts to splice small loose wires in a junction box. But what about the larger ones? What to do there? In today’s episode, Dustin explores one of our shows sponsors- Polaris Connectors- and the multitude of options they provide for the larger wire terminations. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com In years past, to splice large wires, we had to use a Kearney (split bolt) connector to join the wires, then apply rubber insulating tape around the entire thing, before wrapping the entire thing with a high grade electrical tape. You may have a need to simply splice a set of wires or have a need to tap off of a larger feeder wire with smaller wires to feed different equipment. Labor intensive and time consuming for sure!! But thanks to Polaris Connectors, they have developed high grade termination blocks that are completely surrounded by a non-conductive rubberized coating. These terminations drastically cut down on installation time and much hated frustrations by the installing electricians! The Polaris connectors are arranged by size of conductors, quantity of conductors, application needs, and installation environment. First, you choose the size of conductors you are going to be using. They are made with a wide range of cables in mind- #4-#14 on the smaller end, 3/0-#6 somewhere in the middle, up to 750kcmil-250kcmil on the larger end. Wire quantity is also to be considered when using these types of taps. You don’t want to just order the largest (which can be over 12 conductor capacity, although they do offer different options if space is an issue) as the taps are not overly small in size. Pick the quantity of conductors you are working with (add additional spaces if there is a possibility of future expansion) and order accordingly. Another item to consider is the application itself. The connector can be ordered with the connection ports on one side if you are looking to splice conductors that enter/leave on the same side of the enclosure. They also offer a splice with the connection ports on opposite sides of the connector to be used if the wires are entering/leaving on opposite sides of the enclosure or if you are using it as a butt splice of sorts. If space is an issue in your scenario and you are needing to splice say 6 wires, they even offer a stacked connector that still provides spaces for 6 cables, but the ports are stacked on top of one another in lieu of all on the same plane. In other words, in lieu of 6 ports in one row, you can get them in 2 rows of 3. There are even models that have bolt down holes so you can bolt the splice to the back/bottom of the enclosure so your conductors can be trained out of the way and not just flopping around! While most of our splicing needs are in a dry environment, there are instances where we would need a splice that is capable of living in a damp environment. Polaris Connectors offer a line of connector that is rated for wet/damp environments as well as a series that is capable of being used in a direct burial option. A few tips to help when splicing wires that are larger in size. Make sure that you are not over stripping your conductors as this could leave you with exposed conductors that may lead to shorting. You also want to make sure to strip enough insulation from the wires, so the binding screw is in complete contact with the conductor and not insulation. Another tip is to plan where your taps will go within the enclosure ahead of time, and then cut/bend/shape your incoming/outgoing conductors to fit where you plan them to. It also helps to stagger your splices and not pile them all in one place in the enclosure as the splice point itself takes up more room than the conductor alone. The bolt down option of splice keeps your conductors where you place them! Lastly, make sure you are torquing your splices down to the manufacturers recommended torque values. We hope this helped to show some of the options that are available when it comes to splicing wires. Do you have any tips you use when splicing large wires. Leave us a comment in the comments section and share them. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join ⚡🔨SPONSOR: PENN ALUMINUM🔨⚡ https://www.pennconduit.com/ Installing conduit is one of the primary tasks of a commercial/industrial electrician. Without it, wire can’t get from one point to another! And bending a 90 degree bend in conduit is one of the first skills learned when starting to bend conduit. Most of us electricians start out learning to bend on steel EMT conduit. But what about Aluminum EMT conduit? Is there a difference? In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin Stelzer talks a bit about the pros and cons of each as well as the necessary steps to successfully bending a 90-degree bend. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com First let’s talk about Penn Aluminum, todays sponsor. Penn Aluminum produces some of the best Aluminum EMT conduit available. But why use aluminum EMT instead of steel? Its considerably lighter than its steel counterpart and easier to bend, which results in much less stress on the installing electrician and leads to much greater productivity. In todays market, aluminum EMT conduit is anywhere from 10% to 20% cheaper than steel EMT, which can add considerable cost SAVINGS to a project. However, one of the downfalls to using aluminum EMT is that it IS harder to pull wire into. It just seems that the wire (or the wire pulling apparatus) gets hung up on the inside of the pipe. Penn Aluminum has developed a special coating for the inside of the conduit called Blue Lightning. This coating acts much like Teflon making the inside of the pipe super slick and wire goes in much easier even than standard steel EMT. Check out Penn Aluminums website- they have a ton of products that will certainly meet your conduit needs! Great company! The first step in bending a 90 in conduit is to establish a length. Once a length is established, you will need to mark this on the conduit- lets say 36”. The next step in the process is to apply the deduct (this is the length required where the conduit will actually SWEEP and that will need to be considered in our calculation). Standard deducts are ½”- 5”, ¾”- 6”, 1”- 8”. Subtract this distance from your original mark- for our 36” 90, we will make another mark on our conduit at 30”. Hook the bender onto the conduit with the open end of the bender FACING the direction you hooked your tape measure on. Place the ARROW on the bender handle on the 30” mark (distance needed for 90 MINUS the DEDUCT). A very important step in the bending process is to apply FOOT pressure, not just PULL with your arms. So, step on the bender shoe, while pulling on the bender handle until the measured portion of the conduit is vertical in the air. Using a torpedo level, continue to adjust the vertical portion until it is at 90 degrees. That’s it! Bend completed! Not to worry if you OVERBEND, just step on the portion of the conduit still on the ground and PUSH the vertical portion of the conduit AWAY from you until it is at 90 degrees. A variation of this bend technique can be used. There is a star marking on the bender shoe that signifies the BACK of a 90-degree bend. If you had a longer 90 degree needed- say 8’ in lieu of our 36” mentioned earlier, make your initial measurement, turn the bender around and hook it on the conduit facing AWAY from the side you measured from, place the STAR on your mark, and then bend the conduit as normal! This keeps you from having the short part of the EMT on the ground and 8’ of pipe flailing around in the air!! A few tips- use a PENCIL to make marks on conduit and erase them once the bend is completed. It just looks better! Also, carry a level with you so your bends are accurate. Use constant foot pressure (don’t just pull with your arms) so your bends don’t kink. If you are having trouble with the conduit sliding around on you, consider putting your tool pouches on your hips to add some weight and/or put the long end of the conduit on the ground up against something non moveable (a wall for example) so it won’t slide. We hope this has been an informative look into Aluminum EMT conduit and 90 bending techniques. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join As electricians, we supply power to many water heaters. But for most of us, it’s a simple connection and that is all we know about them. In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about the heating elements within the water heaters and some different wiring/voltage used for them. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Water heater connections are generally not overly difficult to understand. Just know that there are several different ways they can be connected and several different types. First, there is a single element water heater. Simple and straight forward, it relies on a single heating element to heat the water in the tank. This can be problematic if the tank is rather large or the demand is great as it could take a long time to heat that volume of water. A dual element water heater still has a single source of power, but splits that source between 2 elements which are controlled by a thermostat. As the hot water will RISE in the tank, and considering that the outlet pipes going TO your plumbing system are on the TOP of the tank, the top element will be used first. Once the water towards the TOP of the tank is heated to its set point, power will transfer to the BOTTOM element to heat the remainder of the water. A dual element water heater is generally much more efficient. On larger commercial systems, you may see simultaneous heating elements. These require 2 separate feeds- one to each element. While there is still a thermostat controlling overall tank temperatures, these feeds come straight from the breaker and do not swap back and forth, like a dual element water heater, depending on usage. Remember from previous videos, electricity travels in loops. Water heaters/heating elements are no different. Current leaves the breaker on one hot, travels thru the load (in this case a heating element), and returns on the other hot completing the loop. You may also see single phase (lets say 240v) or 3 phase (maybe 208v) or even 3 phase 480v in some larger commercial settings. Many water heaters are also dual voltage. This means that they can operate on more than one voltage, depending on what voltage is present at the site. Since we are attempting to keep the same rating regardless of voltage being used, if we raise the voltage, we need to raise the amount of resistance to keep the same KW rating. If we run at a higher voltage (say 480v in lieu of 240v) we can hook up the water heater to use 2 elements (doubling the resistance since we doubled the voltage) and the water heater will act the same as if it was running on 240v. This is much the same as multivolt motors where we just use different (or a combo of) leads. It’s not overly difficult once you understand the relationship between higher voltage and the resistance required to keep the KW rating the same. You honestly just need to know what voltage you will be applying and then refer to the wiring diagram provided with the unit to see which elements you are going to jumper and in what sequence. We hope this has been an insightful look into different water heaters and the heating elements located within them. Do you have any tricks/tips for hooking up water heaters? Leave us a comment in the comment section and let us know. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Again, leave a comment in the comments section and let us know! please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly adding new content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join For most of us electricians, there comes a time when we are no longer considered an apprentice. This comes around after we have had 4 long years in the trade, and then signed up for and passed our Journeyman’s exam. WOO HOO! Now what?? In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about some of the downsides about becoming a journeyman electrician. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com The moment you pass your exam, you are considered a Journeyman Electrician and things change. Instantly! You are now looked at as a moneymaker, no longer an apprentice whom just costs the company money. You are the one sent out to projects now and expected to return profits to the company. And with this comes responsibility. The job you are in charge of is now YOURS. And by YOURS, I mean good or bad. If things go right- atta boy! But if things go wrong, even if YOU didn’t specifically do the wrong doing yourself, its your fault! You will be expected to manage your teams performance. A tip- take ownership. Recognize that your team is not going to accomplish everything perfectly and will make mistakes. Replace the term “I” in your vocabulary with the term “WE”. If mistakes are made, just correct mistakes, teach the proper way to do it with your team, learn from it, and then move on to the next action. Another downside to being a Journeyman, is the fact that you cant seem to get YOUR work tasks done! You are constantly having to answer others questions and the task you are working on, once again, goes unfinished! Your boss/GC will call wanting answers on something or an apprentice will have questions they need you to answer/something they need you to see. While frustrating, it helps to understand that your company is no longer paying you JUST to put in the work, they are also paying you to manage the job and make sure that your SUBORDINATES are putting in the work! Once you receive that Journeyman’s card, you are now expected to be a teacher. It is your responsibility to teach the newer electricians how to install their work. Your employer/customer no longer wants (or generally won’t accept) the “I don’t know or I don’t understand” mentality. You are expected to be faced with problems/issues and either have or have the ability to go out and find the answers! And remember earlier when we said everything is on you? That includes the going back to correct a situation on a job. Even if you just got home after a super long day with an hour and a half commute. For instance, if a panel cover was left off in a customers home, and the customer calls and complains about it, you are expected to jump right back in the truck, drive back out there, correct the deficiency, and then drive back home! You are expected to care more. Be more dependable and knowledgeable. Get to work early to make sure the work got done as you explained it and stay late to verify that it did get done properly as well as to get prepped for the next days work. Remember that once you receive that Journeyman’s Card, you are expected to be a leader. Which means that the electricians underneath you will be looking to you for direction. They will mimic what you say and what you do. You will be looked at as an example, so make sure it’s a positive one! If you preach safety to your team(s), make sure that when YOU are working, that you are doing it in the same safe fashion you expect from your teams. Quickest way to earn disrespect among your team is to have a do as I say, not as I do mentality! We hope this has been helpful in recognizing some of the downfalls/challenges to being a Journeyman Electrician. Do you have any to add? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? again, leave a comment in the comments section and perhaps Dustin will make a video on it. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join As electricians, it goes without saying that we all got our start somewhere. I mean, we didn’t just roll out of the womb as awesome Sparky’s! In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin answers a question from a follower in Canada about how to get into the trades right after high school. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Before we get too far, there are a few things to keep in mind here. In the US, our electrical installations are to be installed with the most current version of the NEC (or National Electrical Code). In Canada, the Canadian Electrical Code is used (also known as the CE code or CSA C22.1). There are certainly differences between the 2 documents and what might be allowed in the US may not be allowed in Canada. Also, depending on where you are intent on working in Canada (or for certain electrical contractors), there may be requirements for apprenticeship and/or trade school. Having said all of that, the path to becoming an electrician can be quite similar regardless of whether you are working/living in the US or Canada. As far as finding a contractor to work for, there are a couple of options. Union or Merit Shop, and there are benefits to both. With the Union (or IBEW), things are generally a bit more structured. Pay increases are given on a time basis, not necessarily on performance. Here in the US, there is also a 5-year apprenticeship if you choose to go union with schooling in the evenings after work. Union shops tend to work on the larger projects (government, hospitals, etc.) and there may even a wait list to get into the Union itself (some locals have a YEARS long wait list). Merit shops are the other option as far as electrical contractors go and cover the vast majority of the contractors out there. Merit shops are a bit more fluid, and promotions/raises are based upon the individual’s performance, not necessarily just time in grade. The overall type of work done by open (merit) shops covers the entire spectrum from residential to commercial to industrial. There may or may not be requirements for a formal apprenticeship, but that is generally based upon the contractor. Trade schools are another way to get into the electrical trade. In lieu of going to work for a contractor and doing an apprenticeship (earn while you learn type), think of a trade school more akin to college. You will be in a classroom setting during the day to learn the ins and outs of the trade. The time frame needed for trade school can range from say 6 months to a couple of years depending on the courses you take. While an apprenticeship gives you the hands-on experience needed to perform as an electrician by working on the job, a trade school will provide you with the book knowledge and a limited amount of actual hands-on training both in a classroom setting (the hands-on portion limited by the schools/instructor’s budgets, curriculum, etc.). A bit of advice when it comes to trade schools- make sure the training you are receiving counts towards your overall time needed to receive your Journeyman’s license. Most employers (contractors) tend to hire based upon experience, not necessarily a certificate. Regardless of where you desire to go to work within the trades, just make sure you do your research. Check the reviews for contractors and listen to word of mouth from other electricians, customers, etc. Also, check your local municipalities to see if there are any apprenticeship requirements as well as trade school requirements. We hope this has been an insightful look into what starting out in the trades may look like for you. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly adding new content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join If you have been in the trades for any length of time (let’s say anything longer than one day!!), you will certainly have noticed the immense hatred between Electricians, Plumbers, and HVAC installers. Why is that? In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin explains why this phenomenon takes place and a couple of items to mitigate the issue. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Now, lets preface our conversation by saying that maybe an Immense Hatred isn’t the right statement! Maybe a better one is a Strong Dislike. And this isn’t on every single job across the nation. It seems to be more prevalent on the smaller residential type projects. On the larger custom type homes and large commercial projects, the teams of workers generally tend to be much more in synch with each other and/or tend to get along with each other. Also, by hatred we don’t mean electricians are lurking around the corner hoping to inflict pain on the plumber/HVAC tech! We just mean that we generally just wish the other two trades weren’t currently on the project we are working on or that they would just leave each other’s work alone. Quite a bit of the animosity between the 3 trades comes from the act of building something itself. Let’s face it, there is A LOT of work going on in a compressed space. A LOT!! So many systems and so much material gets put into a small (relatively) space. Add to this that building schedules are getting shorter and shorter, leaving the trades even less time to put in more stuff! Of the three trades, electricians tend to be on the project the longest and have more work/materials into every single area of the project. While plumbers/HVAC certainly have a considerable amount of work to do, they can generally be in and out of a house being built within a few days and then come back at the end to trim the project out and test their systems. Electricians on the other hand, have so many systems (lighting, power, the smoke detectors/fire alarm stuff, audio/visual, etc.) and those systems are in EVERY room within the house. Wires must be run to EVERYTHING to link the items together also. In a perfect world, us electricians would rather the plumbers/HVAC show up and do their work and then leave, and then we would have the project to ourselves to install our work. Alone. But scheduling is the GC’s domain, and all the different trades must be choreographed in just such a manner so we are not just crawling over each other trying to install our work. But sometimes certain crews aren’t available on the most convenient days for the electrician. Not to mention that there is still the overall schedule to consider, and that generally cannot be pushed out (not without costing $$!). Respect (or lack of) for another trades work/tools/materials is another reason why there is much animosity between the trades. Borrowing (that is read as TAKING WITHOUT ASKING) ladders and not returning them promptly can be a frustration. And when they are given back, they are generally covered in HVAC mastic! Removing someone’s work to install your own is another problem. While this isn’t always a huge deal if done with respect, the problem is when another trade just destroys a can light to fit in their own work. Or someone just chops out our wire because it is in their way AND they don’t mention it to anyone. Simple respect would help tremendously here. If something needs to be moved, just ask us! Its much easier for us to move an offending piece of electrical equipment simply by uninstalling it as opposed to having to remove a destroyed piece of equipment or wait until the drywall is up and painted before we discover it! We hope this has helped to solve the riddle of why Electricians, Plumbers and HVAC techs have a strong dislike for one another. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Whether you are an apprentice, a Journeyman, or even an electrical contractor, if you choose to live the exotic life of an electrician, there are going to be things that you just don’t like about the trade! Don’t get me wrong, while there are plenty of things that we LOVE about the trade (otherwise we probably wouldn’t be doing it!!), there are certainly things that we don’t like. In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin discusses a few of the things that he HATES! 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com First on the list are the early mornings. Most of us start our work shift at 0700 (or earlier) and will be working that early for most (if not all) or our careers. Heck, sometimes we must be to work earlier than that! And unless you are the type to get up much earlier and get prepped for your day (get coffee or breakfast, workout, etc.) then that leaves you screeching into the parking lot with minutes to spare (if any at all). To make things easier, set your alarm early, get up when it goes off (in lieu of hitting snooze), get prepped for your day, and get on with it! However, a bonus for having to be to work at some ungodly hour of the morning means you generally will be off early, so you can do the necessary things that need to be done then. The next thing has got to be the worst. Digging! I think we can all agree that digging trenches/holes with a shovel is a hot, laborious, and backbreaking task. And if the power isn’t being taken from overhead, that only leaves us with underground. And if you live anywhere near central Texas (I am sure there are other locations out there that are close in soil composition), that means you are living ON a rock making the task that much worse!! Let’s face it, digging several hundred feet of trench in the dead of summer would make anyone HATE it! A necessary evil, but one that no one likes. Having to work in attics has got to be closely behind digging. Most electricians despise crawling in attics and will do most anything to avoid it. Why do you think the apprentice usually gets this lovely task?! Most attics are not overly spacious (in fact many can be quite claustrophobic), are usually very warm in temperature (here in central Texas, attics can approach 150 degrees in the summer!) and are generally FILLED with itchy insulation. But again, the same as with having to install conduit underground, we can’t WISH the power to get from point A to point B, so we have to put it somewhere! To make the attic work a bit easier, plan ahead, take up everything you need to get done, and just slog through it as quick as you can. It also helps to plan said attic work for earlier in the morning when temps are a bit cooler. Working at heights is nightmarish for many electricians. And considering that our conduits or light fixtures won’t install themselves at the ceiling level, a task that needs to be done, like it or not. The fear of working at heights can be exacerbated by using rickety ladders or equipment that doesn’t feel very stable. However, it’s been my experience that the fear DOES lessen with time, and several years into your career, it should be a bit easier. A big piece of advice is to let your journeyman know if you have a huge fear of heights, so they can watch out for you and assist if you freeze while working up high! While most of us LOVE new tools (or just love tools in general), the quantity of tools needed to perform at/above the journey level can be the bane of many electricians. Seems we have a separate tool for every task! And considering ALL the different tasks us electricians perform, that equates to a van/truck FULL of tools. This leaves a whole lot of equipment to keep track of, to take care of, and can be quite expensive. These are the things that Dustin hates about being an electrician. What are some of yours? Leave a comment in the comment section and let us know. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Also leave a comment and let us know what you would like to have Dustin discuss. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join As electricians (or any trades really), we all do not start off at the top- running things! We start off at the very bottom and work our way up. So, what should someone expect when they first enter the electrical trade? In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin shares his perspective on what a brand-new electrician should expect to be doing as well as a few tips regarding work ethic. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Let’s face it; there is so much to learn to become a journeyman electrician, that that amount of knowledge needed can be a daunting task to grasp. To be a great electrician, you must start soaking in that knowledge early on in your career AND continue to learn the entire time you are working in the trades. So, upon entering the trades, this learning starts day one. It may not feel like it, but it’s happening. For the first several months, a green apprentice (or helper) will be expected to be HELPFUL but not necessarily feel IMPACTFUL, and you should learn to be OK with that! You will be expected to do the mundane tasks of cleaning, organizing, and bringing parts/tools to those electricians above you. Part of the reason is because those tasks still need to be done, but the other reason is to learn. There are tons and tons of electrical materials/tools, and an electrician will need to know what those materials/tools are. So, by being asked to go find, restock, or deliver those materials/tools you get the repetitions in by searching for them and handling them. You may also be asked to do many seemingly mundane tasks like doing nothing but putting the three wires on a receptacle, but not being allowed to screw it into the box. By doing an entire house of installing 3 wires on a receptacle, after several houses, you will become proficient at the task. At some point, your journeyman will recognize your proficiency, and will take the next step at letting you put those receptacles into the box and properly install the cover plate. Its all learning and repetitions! Even something as simple as sweeping up or cleaning. While this seems like something so easy to understand, you are actually learning attention to detail as well as learning how different journeymen want those types of tasks done, as each journeyman is different! Trust me, what works for one may NOT be the way another one wants it done!! You will undoubtedly be the one whom crawls in the attics or under houses. Almost all our work as electricians is hidden from view (with the exception of where the electricity will be utilized like receptacles, light fixtures, panels, etc.) and you will need to know how to get from point A to point B. in addition, veteran electricians have been in so many attics and under so many houses, that we no longer want to get in those spaces! Enter the apprentice!! Something worth mentioning is WORK ETHIC. Construction work is hard work, and the electrical trade is no different. Show up to work EVERY DAY ready to put in 120% effort into the tasks you do. While not necessarily on day one, be willing to jump in to help when the need arises. Watch how other electricians do things and try to replicate those tasks. Phones can be a powerful tool when it comes to looking up information or things of that nature but can also be a huge distraction. And considering that those electricians who are above you are from a generation that sees them as a tool and not a source of entertainment, you should learn to not be attached to your phone while at work. Leave it in the truck if you have to but recognize that you are there to work and learn, not be entertained! If there is a reason for you to have your phone handy in case someone NEEDS to reach you (a relative is sick or your wife is about to go into labor or something like that), let your journeyman know the situation and they will most assuredly understand and accommodate you. We are not MONSTERS after all!! We hope this has been an insightful look into what the early days of your apprenticeship would look like. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Troubleshooting can be one of the most daunting tasks an electrician can face. There are usually just so many variables to consider when trying to figure out what went wrong or when something isn’t working. In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin answers a follower’s question regarding the difference between Short Circuits & Ground Faults and the values you should see on your multimeter when testing for them. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com While the terms Short Circuit and Ground Fault seem to be used frequently and interchangeably, they are in fact quite different from one another. Think of a Short Circuit as a Short Cut, removing the load from the equation, and providing a path for the circuit to make its completed loop to the source of power. By doing this, it generates more amperage than the breaker is rated for, and the breaker trips. A ground fault is simply where a hot conductor has come into contact with something that is specifically grounded (maybe the grounding conductor itself or the case of a piece of equipment that is grounded, or a box/conduit that are grounded) and providing a return pathway to source. Either way, both of these scenarios happen BEFORE the load and in doing so, result in much higher amperage than the breaker is designed to withstand so it trips. A great way to diagnose your power issues is to use your multimeter. There are two functions of said multimeter that would be helpful in this situation. You could use the OHM setting to check for resistance in the circuit. However, if you did not know the EXACT wiring of the circuitry, this would not be the most helpful of the functions. If you were to check between a hot and a neutral, you would most likely get the same values as checking from hot to ground. This happens as the grounding conductor AND the neutral conductor are run in the same conduit and have roughly the same length. A better choice would be to use the continuity function of the multimeter. If you are measuring before the load, you should not have continuity between the hot and either ground, neutral, or another hot. Once you figure out which two wires are completing the circuit, then you have found your problem! Another great journeyman’s tip when troubleshooting is to gather as much information as you can about the situation and find out as many KNOWNS as you can. How much amperage is it supposed to draw? Has it done anything like this before? What exactly happened when it faulted (was there a shower of sparks, or a loud boom, etc.). A great one to ask is “did anyone perform any work on it recently? And if they did, are those folks available to speak? If something used to function, someone performed some type of work on the system, and now it doesn’t work, usually means the malfunction is either located within the work they did or is a direct result of the work they did. So, be a detective of sorts and gather as much information as possible. Use those KNOWNS to mark off the UNKNOWNS and it will narrow down the areas you will be looking in. It is also helpful to pull back and get a higher altitude look at the situation, then dive down into the details. Doing this in multiple areas of the whole system will help you eliminate possibilities, so you aren’t chasing demons throughout the entire system! Also, remember that breakers don’t just randomly trip, and fuses don’t just randomly pop! There is a reason that they do. So, it isn’t prudent to just attempt to continue cycling the breaker until the equipment stays on or replace the fuse with a higher rating (or bypass the circuits protection entirely!). Something has happened and the breaker/fuse is just doing what it was intended to do! The appropriate action would be to diagnose the problem and then correct it! We hope this has been helpful in understanding the difference between a Ground Fault and a Short Circuit and given you some useful information for troubleshooting an electrical problem. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Let’s face it, not everyone is an electrical contractor, nor do they live the exotic life of an electrician! While some of us find many of the tasks we do rather mundane (since we have performed them countless times), others may not know how to do them. In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin explains how to properly change a receptacle and the tools required to tackle this task. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Before we actually get to the steps of HOW to change a receptacle, lets discuss a few necessary items first. When performing ANY electrical work, make sure the power is OFF. Unless you have been PROPERLY TRAINED in working something live AND the situation dictates that the power be ON, turn it OFF. There are 3 basic pieces that are a must for this. First is a plug tester. Simply plug the tester into the receptacle. If it lights up, then the circuit is on. A plug tester has 3 lights on it and depending on which ones are lit up, it will also tell you if it is correctly wired or mis wired. There is a legend on the top of it explaining the different light sequence. To verify power is off simply leave it plugged into receptacle and turn OFF breakers until the lights on the tester go OFF. The second type of tester is a NCV (non-contact voltage) tester or in terms of the trade, a Tic Tracer. While it lights up (some of them also have an audible function) when voltage is present, one must be careful as it won’t tell you WHAT voltage is present (120 vs 240), just that something is energized. Use it in the same way as the plug tester; turn off breakers until the light goes off. Finally, a multi meter (there are many, many types available) should be used to verify the absence of voltage. Turn the meter to the appropriate voltage setting and insert the leads into the slots of the receptacle. Always test hot to neutral and hot to ground. Now, once the power is OFF, the change out can commence. Remove the plate, remove the screws holding the receptacle to the box, and pull the receptacle/wires out of the box. You should have a green/bare wire on the green grounding screw, a white wire on the silver screw, and either a black/red (or perhaps a blue if you have 3 phase power available) on the brass-colored screw. Loosen the screw on the hot wire first (the brass-colored screw), followed by the neutral (the silver screw) followed by the ground wire (the green screw). Using a pair of needle nose pliers, remove the wires from the screws and discard the old receptacle. You can now install the new receptacle. To install the new receptacle, simply repeat the above steps (in reverse). A couple of items to note, however. Once you place the looped wires on the receptacle, make sure to use the needle nose pliers to close the loop of wire around the screw. Make sure the open end of the wire is on the right side of the screw, so it won’t unwind as you tighten the screw. It is also prudent to tighten the unused screws so there is no chance of them coming into contact with the box. If the box is metal, most electricians wrap electrical tape around the device itself, covering the screws, so the next person to work on the device won’t hit the box with the exposed screws. Once all the wires are back on the screws and tightened, simply screw the receptacle back into the box making sure the ears of the receptacle are tight to the drywall. Use caution not to overtighten as this can cause issues getting the plate to seat against the device/wall properly. You may also use a level to make sure the plate is plumb. Once this is done, turn the breaker back ON and verify the device is working by using your meter or plug tester. We hope this has been an insightful look into the proper way to replace a receptacle. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Troubleshooting a non-working 3-way switch can be a reasonably large pain in the rear for any electrician or electrical contractor. In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin gives some Journeyman’s tips (well a Master’s tips really!!) that will make the process easier. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com So, you have a 3-way switch that only works from one side when the other switch is in one position or the other. In other words, if one switch is in the up position, the other switch will turn the light(s) on and off. But if you flip that other switch to the down position, the light(s) won’t actuate at all. This generally means that you have the travelers crossed and either the incoming hot or the outgoing switch leg on the wrong screws. A relatively easy fix once you can understand how a 3-way works and can visualize the process. PSA- always turn the power OFF before working on any electrical installation! First, put on your troubleshooting/service electrician hat (figuratively of course!). A good tip- as you are unscrewing the device and pulling it & the wires out of the box, do it gently and slowly. A non-working 3-way may not be a miswiring issue as the source of your power issues but may in fact be loose wiring connections. If you pull something out to fast, you can change the state of the wiring and end up chasing ghosts! When you do get the device/wires pulled out of the box, check the connections on the device to make sure they are nice and tight. When putting switch/wires back in box, be careful not to pinch wires and make sure the bare ground wire doesn't come into contact with any of the screws on the device (with the exception of the green grounding screw of course!). You may also want to check the wiring colors attached to the different color device screws. 3-way switches have 4 screws. A green one for the ground, a black/dark bronze one for either the incoming hot or the outgoing switch leg, and 2 brass/gold-colored screws for the travelers. Try to keep in mind that you will be bringing IN the power in one switch box and OUT to the fixture in the other box. Either of these locations will generally be done in a single 12-2 or 14-2 cable. The travelers (the wiring going in between the switches) will generally be done in a single 12-3 or 14-3 cable. So, the cable with the single black wire will go to the black screw on the device and the cable with the red and black wires will go to the brass/gold-colored screws. If you happen to see the single black wire attached to a brass-colored screw, then the travelers are crossed and that will generally be the source of your problem! Depending on length (either the homerun or the traveler length in between the 2 switches) you may have to run the incoming hot and the travelers in #12 but the final switch leg up to the fixtures can be run in #14 (if it is a 15-amp circuit). So, another tip can be to look at wire size. If you look into the switchbox that is being used as the last box before it goes up to the fixture itself, if you see a #14 wire attached to a gold-colored screw, chances are you have something crossed. In addition to the internal composition of the switches, you may notice that a 3-way switch does NOT have an ON/OFF label on the switch. Due to the alternating nature of the switches and being able to actuate from 2 different locations, they will change position each time you go in/out of different doors. We hope this has been helpful in understanding how a 3-way switch works and some of the troubleshooting techniques to correct a non-working installation. Do you have a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know! please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

The time has arrived for the results of the Holiday Giveaway 2022! In todays episode of Electrician U, Dustin will be announcing the winners of the giveaway. Listed below are the winners, along with the time stamp of when in the video your name is mentioned. Winners - email support@electricianu.com with your address so we can send these out to you. Double-check before you send, you wouldn't believe how many people mistype their own addresses and don't get packages. Contest Winners and time stamps: 3:21 - Joshua Mitchell 4:34 - Jzalva 5:37 - Owen Skurdal 7:18 - Brad Snow 9:24 - Colten Breaker 10:12 - Robert Rotelli 11:41 - Sunny Galli 12:24 - JanetteL 12:43 - Ryan McAllister 14:29 - Ryan Wilkes 15:41 - Derek Ortiz 17:12 - Trevor Wyatt 18:14 - IrishManDan0027 19:21 - AserA 20:15 - Epistemophiliac 22:16 - JacTheRipper87 24:29 - Angel Almanza 25:05 - Hellbound 1906 26:23 - Just'Sosaa 27:13 - Chris 29:03 - Fival West 31:10 - Tri-ing For Life 32:50 - Brody 33:27 - rRickyRhino 33:45 - David Salinas 34:23 - Tyler Frank 36:31 - sXeeD 37:49 - Thomas Luciano 38:38 - Joshua Vasquez 39:45 - Matthew 39:57 - Rewpert 40:19 - Reallunacy 41:10 - Tyler Loveland 43:20 - Jose Salinas Campillo 45:15 - James Ryan 46:10 - Andrew Griffith 46:25 - Michael Guppy 46:45 - Robert 47:01 - JL Game Design 47:21 - William Oro 47:39 - Good ol Sparky 48:19 - Michael R 48:35 - Dalton Turner 49:47 - Magdiel Basoco 50:09 - Skillet 50:19 - Gage Dykes 50:28 - Ryan Graham 50:43 - LXZmartinez2000 51:35 - DISCORD - undisputed_athlete 52:41 - DISCORD - Zombie Hedgehog 54:02 - DISCORD - elc2k 54:24 - DISCORD - Marko_jelec87 54:55 - DISCORD - Ladderman 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com If you are one of the winners, please email support@electricianu.com with your address so we can send these out to you. A big thank you to our sponsor, Klein Tools, for donating the items to be given away! And a big thank you to our followers as well! Without you, none of this would be possible! #electrician #electrical #electricity

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Its that time of year again! Christmas and New Years! That means it is time for the holiday giveaway 2022 and this year is over the top!! 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Klein tools, our gracious sponsor has donated TONS of items this year. Klein tools Multimeters, Kneepads, Screwdrivers, electricians tool bags with tools, and too many more to list (including hammers. Who knew Klein tools even made hammers??!!). The giveaways are further expanded by items from Greenlee, wiha, and others. This year our Holiday Giveaway is HUGE!! To win, simply leave a comment in the comments section to this video and let us know your favorite Klein Tool. Be specific; reasons WHY you like the tool or some cool/wacky story regarding said favorite tool, and a part number for the tool. The cutoff to enter is 12/23/2022 at midnight. Winners will be chosen on Christmas and will be announced in Mondays video. So, enter the giveaway and watch Monday to see if you won! Good luck! #electrician #electrical #electricity

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join When it comes to a complete house rewire, or even just a simple circuit installation, installing 3-way switching can be difficult for many new electricians (and even some seasoned ones!!) and can be the source of some power issues. In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin explains the process so it’s easier to understand. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com So, you are doing a remodel and need to put new devices in. but, low and behold, once you are done, the 3-way that WAS working, is now not working, or is working only when the switch is in one position. What happened? Chances are you got the travelers crossed with either the hot incoming wire or the load wire going to the light. Something that is relatively easy to do and pretty common but is easy to understand once you know how a 3-way switch works. Let’s discuss first some of the items that are on a 3-way switch and how a 3-way switch works. There are 4 screws on a 3-way switch. A green screw, a black (or bronze) colored screw, and 2 brass-colored screws. The green screw is the grounding screw just like any other device. The black screw is either for the incoming hot (at the box where power is being taken from) or the load wire (at the box where power will be taken up to the fixture/fixtures). The other 2 brass-colored screws are for the travelers that link the switches together and allow power to be applied to a single fixture/fixtures from 2 separate locations. The hinging mechanism is attached (on the inside of the switch. You can’t see it unless you take apart the actual switch!) to the black screw and the other side of that hinge plate is touching the terminals of one of the two brass-colored screws, depending on which way you have actuated the switch. A 3-way switch is sending power constantly to one of those 2 brass screws, it just depends on which direction the switch has been placed in. So, if you are in a remodel situation, the best way is to put the wires on the screws of the new device EXACTLY as you found them on the original. If the previous electrical contractor properly installed the device and it was working, then you are just replacing the wires on the device one for one. The incoming hot/outgoing switch leg goes on the black screw and the 2 travelers going on the brass ones. There are a couple of tips that can help. First, unless its absolutely necessary, do not pull any more wires out of the box then you have to. The switch box could potentially be used as a junction box for something else and you don’t want any additional wires in the mix to confuse you. Another super good tip is to look at the sheathing on the cables themselves in the box. The cable that has a single black wire is either the incoming hot or the outgoing switch leg, while the cable that has a black and a red together are going to be your travelers. Especially in a residential installation, be mindful of the bare copper ground wire is not touching any of the other terminal screws or you will end up with a ground fault (and probably a lot of sparks!!) Always turn the power OFF when working on a 3-way switch so you do not get shocked. In addition, make sure the screws are tight on the device and provide the necessary torque with a torquing screwdriver (if the torque values are provided with the device). We hope this has been helpful in understanding the process of installing a 3-way switch. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join I comment recently came in from one of our followers asking the question “Can you please point to the code section that requires upgrading to AFCI breakers when changing a panel”. In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin answers this question along with giving some advice surrounding the topic of upgrades in general. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Article 210.12 of the NEC governs the installation of AFCI devices and article 210.12(E) covers branch circuit wiring extensions, modifications, or replacements (this is where the information covering the question asked above resides). In a nutshell, if you replace, modify, or extend a branch circuit in any of the areas requiring AFCI protection, and it isn’t present before you start the work, then you are required to install it. However, there is an exception that is very pertinent to this type of scenario. Article 210.12(E) exception states that “AFCI protection shall NOT be REQUIRED where the extension of the existing branch-circuit conductors is not more than 6 ft AND does not include any additional outlets or devices, other than splicing devices. This measurement shall not include the conductors inside an enclosure, cabinet, or junction box”. So, if you added a circuit, a receptacle to an existing circuit, or added wire longer than 6 feet, you would be required to AFCI protect that circuit. But, if you were just replacing the panel and not adding any receptacles to the branch circuit or extending the wiring for the existing branch circuits more than 6 feet, then you would not be required to add any AFCI protection to the installation. Having said that!! The NEC is a document; a set of guidelines to follow for electrical installations. These guidelines are meant to provide as much protection as possible for personnel and property when it comes to electricity. In addition, the NEC (of which the 2020 version is the most current) generally speaks in minimums & maximums and shall & shall nots. You can always go above and beyond what is listed in this document, but never install a lesser product/installation than required. In fact, the municipalities that govern the local area that we do our work in have the final say so in whether it is allowed or not. So, it falls on the electrical contractor to adhere to the local AHJ’s version of what they want to see. So, some areas may want you to install the AFCI breakers when replacing a panel, and it is certainly within their right to request that. Make sure you know the requirements of your local jurisdiction before performing (or even giving an estimate for) the work. You should also answer your customers questions and/or let them know exactly what you will be doing and why. They are not in the business of understanding the NEC or the local AHJ and by explaining exactly what you are doing and why (along with the associated costs that go along with it!!) will at least help to avoid some sticker shock when they get handed the bill!! It also pays dividends to know of the code changes between the last code version and the current code (we do have a new code cycle looming around the corner so be ready for the NEC code changes 2023) as they change every 3 years, and you would have been installing/understanding of the prior 3 years code. There are books available that list the changes, in addition to the changes being noted within the new code book by symbol. We hope this has been helpful in understanding the requirements of adding AFCI protection in an existing panel. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly adding new content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join When installing circuitry into a residence, it is important to refer to the NEC to determine exactly what types of protection are needed. GFCI protection and AFCI protection being among them. But what about dual function breakers? In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin brings to light what a dual function breaker is and where would be the places to install them. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Let’s discuss the difference between the standard GFCI breaker, a standard AFCI breaker, Combination breakers, and Dual Function breakers so there isn’t confusion with terminology. A standard GFCI breaker senses the difference between what’s going OUT to the load and what’s coming BACK and interrupts the circuit if there is a big enough difference to cause damage to personnel. There are 2 kinds of standard AFCI breakers. A Series AFCI breaker will sense if there is a break in a single wire (where there would be an arc from one side of that wire to the next) and will interrupt the circuit. A parallel AFCI breaker senses a small amount of arcing between a neutral and a hot of the same circuit (not enough to be a dead short but smaller arcing) and interrupts the circuit. A combination breaker has the capability to protect from BOTH Series AND Parallel arcs. And lastly, a Dual Function breaker will protect against Ground Faults AND Arc Faults. The installation of a GFCI breaker isn’t specifically lined out in the NEC, just that GFCI protection for certain devices is required. Remember, GFCI protection is generally limited to the device, whereas AFCI protection is required for the entire circuit. Considering both the need to keep cost down AND convenience for the end user, a single GFCI breaker could take the place of several GFCI receptacles within a circuit or negate the need to run a large distance to protect the next receptacle in line of the GFCI device protecting it. In other words, a GFCI breaker will protect ALL the receptacles on the circuit. An AFCI breaker will do exactly the same thing, just from an Arc Fault standpoint in lieu of a Ground Fault. Article 210.8(A) of the NEC covers GFCI requirements in a residential installation while article 210.12(B) covers AFCI requirements of the NEC. If you were to look in the code, you would see that several of those areas are required to have BOTH GFCI and AFCI protection. Enter the Dual Function Breaker. Take a residential kitchen for example. You could put a dual function breaker in several of the circuits in the kitchen, thus negating the need for an AFCI breaker AND a GFCI device. A laundry room could be done the same way as the requirement is there for both forms of protection. It potentially could save the contractor/owner/GC money by combining several forms of the required protection into one device and will certainly save the homeowner/contractor some aggravation by trying to figure out what exactly has tripped. A single breaker would be the source of turning the offending circuit back on (after troubleshooting it to figure out WHY it tripped!). Another reason to use a dual function breaker in lieu of both a breaker for AFCI protection and a GFCI device for protection is that the breakers tend to be a bit more robust and will fail less frequently than a device. Especially the WR GFCI breakers installed outside as they are constantly exposed to the elements. This, overtime, could amount to significant savings in replacement. As always, refer to the current version of the NEC to find the protection requirements for your situation as codes are reworked every 3 years. Also, it may be work answering customers questions as to why you would install a Dual Function breaker or individual devices. It certainly pays to help them understand why we install things the way we do. We hope this has been helpful in understanding the specifics of Dual Function breakers. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters are relatively newer technology. And at the pace the electrical industry is changing and adapting, there may be confusion on WHAT AFCI is and WHERE we need to place them. In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin demystifies AFCI’s. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Before we get into WHERE AFCI’s are required let’s talk a bit about WHAT an AFCI does. An AFCI device detects both types of arcs that an electrical circuit can provide and interrupts the circuit (much like a GFCI breaker does) protecting it from the harmful effects of said arc. A SERIES arc fault is where the wires are broken (or cut) and there is an arc from one side of the wire to the next (in series with one another). A PARALLEL arc fault is where a hot and a neutral wire are not quite directly shorting out, but rather arcing between themselves. The technology for combating these types of arcs is located in the protecting device itself and can sense which type of ARC is present and protect the circuit accordingly. Devices to protect against Arc Faults come in the same forms as GFCI devices. You can get them in breakers or devices. Breakers protect the ENTIRE circuit, while the devices protect anything downstream from the device. Breakers also come in a C AFCI flavor, which is a combination breaker capable of protecting against both series arcs and parallel arcs. The technology we have today allows us to also have DUAL FUNCTION breakers, which protect against Arc Faults AND Ground Faults. Article 210.12 of the National Electrical Code is the section that governs AFCI protection. For the most part, AFCI protection is required for most residential applications. As stated before, the protection can come in the form of a breaker or a device in the wall, may require different types of wiring methods, and must be installed in a readily accessible location (just like GFCI’s). Worth mentioning is the requirement for CIRCUIT protection. Whereas GFCI protection typically covers the DEVICE, AFCI protection is designed to protect the CIRCUIT, not just the device. For dwelling units (210.12B), AFCI is required in Kitchens, Family Rooms, Dining Rooms, Living Rooms, Parlors, Libraries, Dens, Bedrooms, Sunrooms, Recreation Rooms, Closets, Hallways, Laundry Areas, and Similar Rooms/Areas. In essence, it is the ENTIRE house, with the exception of bathrooms, garages, and the exterior of the home. 210.12C covers dormitory units (same general dwelling unit categories, just in a smaller footprint) and 210.12D covers other occupancies (guest rooms of hotels/motels, sleeping rooms of nursing homes, and sleeping quarters of first responder type stations). Basically, any place where a person could be living/sleeping needs to have AFCI protection. There are a couple of exceptions in dwelling units where circuits in one of the above-mentioned areas do not need AFCI protection. These are for circuits supplying a fire alarm system (although it requires the circuit to be in some form of metal raceway) and for circuits supplying an outlet for arc welding equipment (although this exception is currently only until January 1st, 2025) as this by nature is an arc making machine!! As always, make sure you are referencing the latest edition of the NEC, as the code is constantly evolving between code cycles as technology/installation methods/types of equipment/materials are changing rapidly! We hope this has been helpful in understanding what an AFCI device is and where they are required to be installed. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join GFCI protection has been around for quite some time now. But, as the NEC is ever evolving and changing as situations dictate, its worth revisiting to explain where they are required. In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about where we need to be installing GFCI protection in a residential application. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com Every 3 years, the NEC comes out with a new edition to follow. This is done to allow the installation/utilization of new equipment, materials, and installation methods. Every code change tends to be reasonably extensive, and the 2023 National Electrical Code changes are no different! Always make sure you are installing your electrical work per the newest version of the NEC (2023 NEC being the most current!). Before we get started into what the code says regarding GFCI, lets explain what a GFCI device is. A GFCI receptacle senses the imbalance between what is going out and what is coming back on an electrical circuit. Any difference means that something has gone where it shouldn’t and poses a danger to personnel. If that imbalance is within a few milliamps, then the breaker (or receptacle) trips and cuts off any source of power and protects the people working on our using the circuit. GFCI are required to be installed generally in most places where exposure to water can exacerbate the problems of using an electrical outlet. Having said that, GFCI protection is usually limited to non-lighting circuits, as lighting circuitry is generally overhead and the potential for you having to be standing in a puddle of water while actually working on a light fixture is considerably lessened. Article 210.8 of the NEC is where we can find requirements for GFCI protection and we will be speaking mostly from a residential standpoint today (article 210.8 B, C, D, E expand on GFCI protection in other than dwelling units. Article 210.8 (A) says ALL 125-250v receptacles installed in the following locations shall be GFCI protected: 1. Bathrooms 2. Garages and accessory buildings tha have a floor located at or below grade level not intended as habitable rooms 3. Outdoors 4. Crawl spaces- at or below grade level 5. Basements 6. Kitchens 7. Areas with sinks and permanent provisions for food prep, beverage prep, or cooking 8. Boathouses 9. Bathtubs or shower stalls- where receptacles are installed within 6 ft of the outside edge of the bathtub or shower stall 10. Laundry areas 11. Indoor damp and wet locations So, we can see that the requirements (for a DWELLING UNIT) require GFCI protection really anywhere where there is ready access to water sources or where water could possibly be near any electrical outlet. There are a few exceptions listed, one of which being a receptacle supplying power to a security system as the possibility of nuisance tripping of the circuit could cause further problems. Also worth of note here, is the requirement that ALL of the receptacles in a kitchen now be GFCI protected. In recent years, the requirement was only for receptacles serving the countertops as well as those within 6 ft of a sink, the new 2023 NEC now requires ALL receptacles in kitchens to be GFCI protected (much like kitchens in other than dwelling units). We hope this has been an insightful look into GFCI protection in a dwelling unit. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed here on Electrician U? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg/join ⚡⚡SPONSOR: Schneider Electric - https://www.se.com/us⚡⚡ As we have mentioned before, as electricians, we work in an industry that is on the cutting edge of technology and is a constantly changing environment. In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks with the folks at Schneider Electric, at NECA 2022, about some of the new items that they are launching into the field. 🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘 JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get: FREE Continuing Education every year FREE Practice Exams FREE Monthly Video Courses FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter Premium Members-Only Content Private Discord Channel Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats Sign up here --- https://www.electricianu.com/electrician-u-membership/ 🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧 https://www.facebook.com/descantmv 🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬 https://www.daverussoart.com First up is Schneiders Square D Easy UPS. First, lets discuss what a UPS is. Normally when you lose power to your building from the utility, there is (or can be) a generator/ATS that will fire up and transfer power until the utility comes back online. But what about that period of time from when the utility fails, and the generator comes fully online? THAT is where a UPS comes in. It essentially is a bank of batteries and some sensing equipment that will carry the load until the transfer happens from the generator. So, there is no loss of power at all! Some UPS are large enough to be able to handle the load WITHOUT a generator and can carry the load for a reasonable long period of time. There are a few great items that set Schneiders UPS apart from the standard UPS systems. First, it is centered around the customer/electrical contractor to have a more hands on approach to its design/purchase. You can select the functions/sizes you need and then just put it in for order! They also are much easier for the contractor to install and the owner to maintain. There is one box on the back side for all the line/load/grounding connections making installation a breeze. Additional battery banks are available if you have the need of a larger system. Schneider has also come up with meter/main panel. This new panel will replace the traditional need to set the meter separately then pipe over to your main panel. It is built with the 2020 code in mind and carries the necessary items to be code compliant. This encompasses the labeling on the outside for first responders to be able to locate the main and shut power off, barrier between the meter section and the load section, the barrier on the line side of the main breaker (so the layman doesn’t stick their hands where they shouldn’t!!), among many others. It is set up with the new style of plug on neutral bussing, which can also handle the requirement for a surge protector inside the panel. And to further better the panel, you can just swap the breaker out (on a 200a rated setup) if you needed to have a smaller breaker, thus negating the need to have several different types/ratings of panels. There is space to install their smart monitoring product WITHIN the panel, as well as room to install the necessary components to bring in generator back up or solar power. Schneider currently is manufacturing this for underground feeds only, but an overhead service type is being researched! A great product that will cut down on install time. Finally, Schneider has continued to refine their Flex Set style of switchboards. While these have been around for a couple of years now, they are now able to offer them up to 2500a! The idea of this product is a modular type set up that allows the electrical contractor to basically design/purchase the modular components to fit their specific needs and then assemble the components while maintaining the necessary UL Listings! This is something that will drastically cut down on our current lead time issues as factories are still severely behind in production of finished components. There are almost an endless variety of options for this newer style of gear from mains, secondary breakers, monitoring, etc. as well as a new style of bussing jumpers that allow the installation of multi section switchboards to be installed much faster and more efficiently! Looking forward to seeing more of this product in the future. We hope that this has been an insightful look into some of the new products being manufactured by Schneider. Is there a topic you would like to see a video for? Leave a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.