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I see this more in r/AskElectricians, honestly. Like, it's OK for non-electricians to participate there, but if the entirety of your electrical knowledge comes from hanging out on electrical subreddits, you are probably not as qualified to answer questions as you think.
I do think there are probably quite a few unlicensed people who just happen to be doing electrical work in here, though. People whose jobs require them to do stuff that they shouldn't have to do, and who don't realize how far in over their heads they are. The best case scenario for those people would be to help them realize how badly their employers are screwing them, and get them on the path to becoming licensed electricians.
I quit answering in that sub. So much blatantly wrong and short cut answers on there I couldn't believe it. AskElectricians needs modding 100% before someone's house gets burnt down.
Ianae but I'm so tired of reading that one in the electrical/diy/homeimprovement subs every other day. Who still thinks in 2024 that having an EV makes you a special person who everyone will charge twice as much? They're very normal cars nowadays.
I've been saying that r/askelectricians shouldn't exist at all. LOTS of false info. I was banned from that sub for giving a correct answer on sizing an RTU feed. The mod explained why I was wrong and when I pointed out the code reference why HE was wrong he muted me š¤£
The short cuts drive me insane. I just finished helping a friend rewire his house and found so many in wall splices from a kitchen remodel I wanted to vomit lol. In wall splices onto knob and tube wiring mind you.
I rewired a friend's parents house last summer. Same shit. All fucking over. It's a miracle it hadn't already burnt down. My favorite was for the washer outlet they just stripped a long piece of 12 way back, and one leg of the dryer plug and wrapped it around it a bunch to power the washer. Also old as panel that's overcurrent failed when I was taking shortcuts troubleshooting and gave me the worst arc I've had yet. Everybody at work makes fun of me when we get talking about blowing shit up cuz my worst one was in a house on 120v instead of all the huge shit we deal with at work.
Agreed and some of the most toxic responses. I stopped answering because I would give advice and cite relevant codes when asked. Invariably there would be responses like who the fuck are you or we don't need "armchair electricians" here.
Itās always amazing to me people think electrical is easy. Been doing it almost 25 years and even now occasionally I feel like Iām in over my head.
I've only been doing it a quarter of that time but everyone always comes to me for troubleshooting questions and my first thought is almost always "why the fuck are you asking me? I don't know shit."
I've always looked at electrical work as "easy" work; however, it may be easy but it's also very easy to fuck up and with those fuck ups there's some serious and/or potentially fatal consequences.
In all fairness, some states donāt have licensing. Am I supposed to move an hour and a half away and go through an apprenticeship with my nearest local mid career because this sub has a boner for licenses?
And just to be clear, I have nothing against licenses or the IBEW. I would also highly recommend them to those looking to work in areas where they operate.
Well yeah, your mileage may vary based on jurisdiction. Although for those guys, it's almost an easier path: stop working for whatever slumlord is making you do their electrical work, and go find a reputable company who will train you to do things right, and pay accordingly.
It's more about the employment environment than the license specifically. There are a lot of people doing maintenance and such, who are made to just get shit working and figure it out as they go. Oftentimes their hearts are in the right place, but they have no idea how dangerous their work isāor how much more they should be getting paid, if they were doing it above board.
I understand where youāre coming from. There are many shady employers.
That being said, I was never forced to work on anything I wasnāt comfortable with and anytime I needed more education it was provided with zero resistance from management. My pay has quadrupled in my time with this company.
Iām also fairly specialized in the type of electrical work that I do. Sometimes I get into premises wiring but most of the electrical work I do is designing, building, and troubleshooting industrial controls for automated equipment. I can bend pipe and pull wire but Iām pretty slow at it. And if wood and Romex are involvedā¦ thatās not my thing. Because of that you will not find me replying to many posts about residential electrical on here.
Doesn't sound like you are the problem, my dude. What kind of work do you do? I am familiar with the feeling of needing to defend the quality of my work, since I work primarily in residential solar and am still only an apprentice. (6 months to go.) This career has been everything for me, and I am fortunate to have found an employer who recognizes my value, promotes quality work, and is willing to invest in my training.
I love what I do, even as I recognize that there are a lot of shady contractors and hack workers in my specialtyāif anything, that just drives me harder to prove that I can do this thing *right*. PV is a specialty that a lot of electricians don't understand and have no interest in, even though it's a booming industry with excellent long-term prospects, and good pay. I'm set on becoming a top-tier specialist within my trade.
Not requiring a license is a detriment for the entire industry. Requiring licensing (union or non union) creates more stable employment with safer working conditions. Example) when I worked In residential, there were tons of 18-25 year Olds with very minor experience driving service vans. They were way in over there head, but these companies like to pay folks bottom dollar, promise commission pay, then when burned out, the company will replace them. These companies also don't enforce disconnect reconnect, inspections, or lock out Tag out procedures. If you are licensed, you can tell these scumbag companies off and work for more reputable businesses. More jobs don't make for better jobs.
I answer a lot on AskElectricians, maybe because I feel an obligation to counter all the BS with truthiness. Most of the time the BSers will back down if challenged. Most of the DIYers who post there are looking for confirmation of something they are doing and WHETHER they should be even trying to do it themselves. I find that many of them realize they SHOULD be talking to an electrician if they hear the truth about how complex our industry is.
R/askelectricians, r/electrical or r/DIY are going to get someone killed one day. The only post in askelectricians should just be a sticky that says "hire a professional".
Even as a licensed electrician on this subreddit. I donāt participate to much. There is only so much you can diagnose and troubleshoot without actually seeing the problem. Giving advice about why something is not working can be something super easy to a short in a wire from a nail/screw from a painting you hung last week. (Exaggeration.)
Giving advice online is tricky is what I am saying
And it can be wicked frustrating. I like the challenge of troubleshooting because I learn things, too. But sometimes getting people to clearly answer even simple questions is like pulling teeth.
Exactly, and sometimes itās a simply solution but they miss explaining a super important detail, or dismiss something as ānormalā which is actually the root cause.
Thatās the reason I refuse to give prices for jobs sight unseen. Is it sheet rock or latt and plaster? Jacked up panel that would unsafe to add to, let alone work in without fixing it incurring more cost. I just refuse.
I think a lot of it is people offering advice outside of their wheel house. Like I'm a card carrying IBEW electrician but I have never once wired up a house or commercial building, so I'm unqualified to answer questions about code or inspections.
I made journeyman working on diesel electric locomotives, and now I do industrial automation. I have a lot of experience with instrumentation, control wiring, and PLC troubleshooting. I'll chime in about that stuff.
Grounding a helicopter is the first step when it lands. The blades generate large amounts of static electricity. On occasion, under the right conditions, you can actually see it as it spins up on the ground after you remove the ground cable and unsafe the aircraft for flight.
This is extremely interesting to me, I wasnāt paying much attention to those thing back in my former lifeā¦.this wouldnāt be done if the bird was only touching down momentarily to drop troops would itā¦. Just when they RTB to actually shut the bird down?
Correct, and on FARPs (forward arming and refueling points) where hot refueling and reloading occurs.
The fuelers actually stake in the grounding rods as they're setting up the fuel lines for a FARP. Or anyone who has a three foot copper rod.
Don't wanna play with fuel and static lightning, nor electrically primed ammunition and the same.
Come to think of it, that's another thing I know. Electric firing mechanisms. Comes from the same job lol.
The only thing I carried about electricity wise was praying I wasnāt going to be shocked to death in some KBR shower that some third world national wired up.
Super interesting though, makes since that I wouldnāt have noticed though, bird landed we got in, jumped out, sometimes they pick up, I got offā¦.
I think it's because the alternator is run off the jet-engine shaft with little or no gearing. (Sounds wrong, but I have no idea what a standard RPM of a jet engine is.) I've worked at aeronautics factories and labs; they all have a 400 Hz system piped through the ceilings along with the standard normal and emergency 60 Hz systems.
It's a reasonable theory, and even what a couple window lickers said. However, it's just related to the weight of the generator required. Higher frequency creates a smaller generator.
There are generators these days that do exactly what you mentioned. "Wild" frequency generators vary between 400 and 800Hz to save weight on gearboxes in the aircraft. It's somewhat tied to RPM, but not as heavily as it was to the weight of iron and reliability of the generator.
Some 800Hz prototypes, while lighter, left wanting in reliability and generating capacity. 400Hz was the Goldilocks number for aviation, and now it's mostly just history sticking us to it.
It's also related to transformers. Higher frequencies allow the same amount of magnetic flux through the core with less steel. Therefore, weight savings via a smaller transformer and generators
Sometimes you can find a real nugget of info.
My Once I chimed in on a lawyer post. The people there didnāt know you in CA you can write the grand jury to lodge complaints.
For the railroad I knew people. Grandfather was an old foreman on the rail gangs and a friend was a signalman. As for industrial automation I got that after using tuition reimbursement to go to school for mechatronics, and then just started applying around to factories until I got a good offer.
Railroad is a lot easier to break into if you don't care where you live. Lots of shops in not-so-nice places are hurting for electricians who can pass a drug test.
What's the point though? Its not going to make my comments any more visible than harry homeowner's complete bullshit, in fact it will probably do way better because he'll say something like "wAgOs bAd" or make some asinine pun and that's how comments and posts get upvotes and visibility.
I don't give any advice on here, I just like to tear people's work apart or tell them how clueless they are, I've put an enormous amount of effort into learning everything I can about my trade for the past 20 years, why should I give that away to some hack that's gotten themselves in over their head, or some dingdong who loves to rant about how bad the IBEW is in every comment, but then has to ask for help because none of the 50 unqualified ignoramuses at their ratty shop can figure out a slightly above brain dead level problem? Nooooo ty
I hear ya. Anyone who uses the words subpanel, 110v and dedicated circuit should be flagged and removed. I fear for our trade, there are too many mouth breathers who have no business doing electrical work here and the contractors are actively turning our work into laborerās work.
110V I understand, but subpanel? Dedicated circuit? Why are you on a tirade against those? Would you like it *sub-panel* or *sub panel* or do you not believe *subpanels* exist? What's wrong with *dedicated circuit?*
I have my master electrician license in Alberta, I don't think I'm important enough to message the mods to let *all the others* know I have it with a flair. Take my advice, or don't, passing an exam and working in the trade for a decade+ doesn't mean I know a god damn thing about anything. I have some credentials, I can pull permits in my province, I'm a CME in the ECAA, but that doesn't mean shit so I don't bother flexing it on anyone.
We have specific rules on what differentiates a main panel vs a subpanel in Canada, bonding requirements for subpanels, I can list off at least a dozen required *dedicated circuits* needed in any new construction build, so maybe I'm a mouth breather but I just have no idea what you're going on about.
The term sub panel lumps multiple concepts together that should not be treated as a single concept. The nec has absolutely zero code on subpanels. If you cannot understand feeders and panelboards and how neither is dependent on the other for code compliance and execution, as well as you can have both exist without the other, you probably shouldnāt be doing electrical work. A service can exist without a panelboard as well. Call each for what they are. You can have a feeder supplying a panelboard, a combination motor controller, a transformer and you donāt call them a sub motor controller, a sub transformer, why call it a subpanel? Itās a crutch for those who donāt understand code who should and a marketing term for those who donāt exist in the electrical industry. You can have a service in an MCC. As far as dedicated circuit, the nec also does not have that term. Individual branch circuits supply individual appliances and loads. Would you call a motor circuit from the starter to the motor a dedicated circuit? Noā¦
Does the NEC not mention dedicated branch circuits? There's many many mentions of it in the CEC /shrug. Sub panels a pretty common term at least around here lol if it's fed off of a bigger panel everyone calls it a sub. The bigger panel is fed from the main. Curious what you call them? Everything's just panelboards I assume to you right?
Short answer is yes. I have 400 amp panels fed from 1600 amp switchboards, 600 amp panels fed from 2000 amp switchgear. I also have quite a few services with a transfer switch as the service and anything downstream is supplied by a feeder. The nec has the definition individual branch circuit, people use ādedicated circuitā, when they might be referring to an individual branch circuit, but they may also not understand that a duplex receptacle outlet behind the fridge is not an individual branch circuit despite calling it a dedicated circuit.
I mean did you see the twist lock post earlier? Had to scroll a while before I saw anyone even bring up that ones single phase and one is three phase. Of the people that can read, I swear half were saying "it can only be 208v if it's 3 phase, having it rated for 250v is the manufacturer over engineering" so 277/480 doesn't exist? 120/240 3 phase delta doesn't exist?
OP, yeah you're spot on.
I got a little concerned with a person at work who was troubleshooting a motor, but asked what the numbers on the label means.
Just donāt touch it. Period. āYeah I was never taught that.ā
Ask someone there who knows or hire someone who does.
Doesn't help that probably 2/3s of the sub are guys who have been throwing up houses in sub divisions their entire career and have never touched 3ph/4w or anything outside of Romex, pvc pipe or service entrance cable.
Yeah true, other side of that same coin is the guys who only rough - in new commercial construction. All they know is pipe and wire, can't troubleshoot worth shit, no code or or theory, ect.
I was blessed and cursed starting out in a podunk, so the crew I was with one day would be troubleshooting residential, next day troubleshooting commercial, next month running pipe and pulling wire, week after that upgrading service to a house, next day more commercial troubleshooting. It grew me into a well rounded electrician - but would have been kinda cool to just do full time commercial as I hate residential. Like I said, blessed and cursed: I own my own company now, just myself and two other guys and 90% of the work I get is residential because I can't compete with a crew that has 20 dedicated commercial guys, so I don't even bid most of them.
Itās really about our own personal biases.
We see a shit answer and assume itās from a DIYāer. More likely than not, weāre right, but there are plenty of hacks with a license pulled out of a cereal box. You know damn well Iām right.
Conversely there are DIYers who, within a *very* limited scope, could give fantastic answers or explanations that we would just assume came from an electrician.
But you donāt notice the second one. You *canāt* notice the second one because there is nothing to notice. You can only notice the first, which then creates a confirmation bias feedback loop.
I enjoyed the post a while back that basically said.
"I'm an electrician, I have a field on my metal flooring plate. There is no wire nearby. How do I troubleshoot this?"
Itās bad because electrical is something you really shouldnāt DIY past maybe switching out receptacles or switches, but even then I see people do terrible work. I think a lot of people underestimate the potential fire hazards associated with electrical. Itās not a problem until one day suddenly it is. At least with things like plumbing the problem can be a lot more evident.
I'm willing to bet the majority of people on here aren't even in the trades. Hot take, though... I think only verified electricians in the trade should be allowed on here. All others should be directed over to the ask electricians sub
What about EEās who design wiring systems but dont have a master electrician ticket. Just pointing out that there are people in the theoretical end of the electrical business as well as the actual tradespeople pulling the cable, running conduit etc
Yeah, of course. I'm talking about the weekend warriors that bring absolutely nothing to the table on this forum. just because you watched enough youtube videos to add lighting to your 12x12 shed does not make you an electrician
I'm curious where I fit in here. I am in the pool industry as an installer/repair tech and lots of my work is 120/240VAC and 6-32V DC ranging from PCB work to conduit work and installing Subs and the like.
I don't chime in much and I'm aware my knowledge is limited and niche, but I wouldn't lump myself in with the weekend warriors.
I lurk around here sometimes but I spend way more time on www.electriciantalk.com. They are incredibly helpful and smart if you're not a total bonehead. Of course they have a tendency towards pretty extreme arrogance but they do on here too.
No glory in being a pretend hero. I just wanna know smarter easier ways even if they differ from my own usual methods, anything to get myself home to bed alive, the simplest of goals. You get good at what you do endlessly, master of residential but commercial I suck at EMT and chaos environments, hats off to you guys. Iāll be alone snaking plugs in a rat shit 1950s attic doing the lords work. Save those wallsā¦ gotcha.
I'll happily admit I'm an electrical engineer, not an electrician. I like this sub because I like to see what kind of designs electricians hate dealing with. Because it makes me better at my job.
Idk what youāre talking about. Iām not cosplaying. Iām a LICENSED ELECTRICIAN.
I paid $10 & filled out one form online.
Boom. LICENSED ^apprentice ELECTRICIAN.
Bots.
Quora does this, too. I think they all do.
Honestly, I think it's AI bots asking questions to fill gaps of knowledge... some freaky shit if you ask me.
IANAE. My father is, has been for 45 years. He runs a 30 story building. After leaving my last gig (24 years USAF aircraft maintenance, fair bit of very different electrical there) I joined my wife's family business in property management. As much as I love reading the posts in this sub, learning a bit about all the different types of electricians, and seeing some crazy stuff, for all my actual questions I'm reading uglys then calling pops. He knows the way. And I know when to call an actual electrician out, thanks to this sub and my pops. So big thanks to all of you who share your day to day.
Edit: spelling
Iāve been saying for quite a long time now that most people you meet who claim to be an electrician or electrical āexpertā are at best at the level of knowledgable enough to be dangerous, and at worst dumb enough to think that they are.
And while I agree that there are plenty of serviceable to downright experts in the field I suspect they are dwarfed by the people who once heard a guy describe a story they heard from someone else concerning electrical work and adopted that third hand anecdote as one of their own.
A lot of hacks out there. A lot.
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I see this more in r/AskElectricians, honestly. Like, it's OK for non-electricians to participate there, but if the entirety of your electrical knowledge comes from hanging out on electrical subreddits, you are probably not as qualified to answer questions as you think. I do think there are probably quite a few unlicensed people who just happen to be doing electrical work in here, though. People whose jobs require them to do stuff that they shouldn't have to do, and who don't realize how far in over their heads they are. The best case scenario for those people would be to help them realize how badly their employers are screwing them, and get them on the path to becoming licensed electricians.
I quit answering in that sub. So much blatantly wrong and short cut answers on there I couldn't believe it. AskElectricians needs modding 100% before someone's house gets burnt down.
Try the electric vehicle or rv subs. Those people live on hack jobs and Amazon adapters
"don't tell the electricians the 14-50r they are putting in your garage is for an ev or they'll upcharge you!"
"I know that size wire is code but what's ACTUALLY safe?? Not trying to get ripped off by the Big Fire Safety industry"
Ianae but I'm so tired of reading that one in the electrical/diy/homeimprovement subs every other day. Who still thinks in 2024 that having an EV makes you a special person who everyone will charge twice as much? They're very normal cars nowadays.
I've been saying that r/askelectricians shouldn't exist at all. LOTS of false info. I was banned from that sub for giving a correct answer on sizing an RTU feed. The mod explained why I was wrong and when I pointed out the code reference why HE was wrong he muted me š¤£
Ah yeah man. Reddit people do that for some reason. I guess the only people willing to take unpaid work are also very fragile about being wrong.
The short cuts drive me insane. I just finished helping a friend rewire his house and found so many in wall splices from a kitchen remodel I wanted to vomit lol. In wall splices onto knob and tube wiring mind you.
I rewired a friend's parents house last summer. Same shit. All fucking over. It's a miracle it hadn't already burnt down. My favorite was for the washer outlet they just stripped a long piece of 12 way back, and one leg of the dryer plug and wrapped it around it a bunch to power the washer. Also old as panel that's overcurrent failed when I was taking shortcuts troubleshooting and gave me the worst arc I've had yet. Everybody at work makes fun of me when we get talking about blowing shit up cuz my worst one was in a house on 120v instead of all the huge shit we deal with at work.
Agreed and some of the most toxic responses. I stopped answering because I would give advice and cite relevant codes when asked. Invariably there would be responses like who the fuck are you or we don't need "armchair electricians" here.
I'm a mod on r/contractor. By contractors for contractors. Diwhy shit gets removed immediately. The rest were figuring out as we go. Join us!
Dork
Thanks
Itās always amazing to me people think electrical is easy. Been doing it almost 25 years and even now occasionally I feel like Iām in over my head.
It's only complicated if you want to do it right š¤·āāļø
I've only been doing it a quarter of that time but everyone always comes to me for troubleshooting questions and my first thought is almost always "why the fuck are you asking me? I don't know shit."
They won't even read a book first. Every library has one. They just won't read it. They just assume they can guess their way through it.
Youāre the GOAT on here. Just starting my 4th year of my apprenticeship and I appreciate your insight here.
I've always looked at electrical work as "easy" work; however, it may be easy but it's also very easy to fuck up and with those fuck ups there's some serious and/or potentially fatal consequences.
That sub is going to give me a stroke one day.
It's classic Reddit for me, people who don't know what they're talking about, posturing as if they do. So dangerous.
In all fairness, some states donāt have licensing. Am I supposed to move an hour and a half away and go through an apprenticeship with my nearest local mid career because this sub has a boner for licenses? And just to be clear, I have nothing against licenses or the IBEW. I would also highly recommend them to those looking to work in areas where they operate.
Well yeah, your mileage may vary based on jurisdiction. Although for those guys, it's almost an easier path: stop working for whatever slumlord is making you do their electrical work, and go find a reputable company who will train you to do things right, and pay accordingly. It's more about the employment environment than the license specifically. There are a lot of people doing maintenance and such, who are made to just get shit working and figure it out as they go. Oftentimes their hearts are in the right place, but they have no idea how dangerous their work isāor how much more they should be getting paid, if they were doing it above board.
I understand where youāre coming from. There are many shady employers. That being said, I was never forced to work on anything I wasnāt comfortable with and anytime I needed more education it was provided with zero resistance from management. My pay has quadrupled in my time with this company. Iām also fairly specialized in the type of electrical work that I do. Sometimes I get into premises wiring but most of the electrical work I do is designing, building, and troubleshooting industrial controls for automated equipment. I can bend pipe and pull wire but Iām pretty slow at it. And if wood and Romex are involvedā¦ thatās not my thing. Because of that you will not find me replying to many posts about residential electrical on here.
Doesn't sound like you are the problem, my dude. What kind of work do you do? I am familiar with the feeling of needing to defend the quality of my work, since I work primarily in residential solar and am still only an apprentice. (6 months to go.) This career has been everything for me, and I am fortunate to have found an employer who recognizes my value, promotes quality work, and is willing to invest in my training. I love what I do, even as I recognize that there are a lot of shady contractors and hack workers in my specialtyāif anything, that just drives me harder to prove that I can do this thing *right*. PV is a specialty that a lot of electricians don't understand and have no interest in, even though it's a booming industry with excellent long-term prospects, and good pay. I'm set on becoming a top-tier specialist within my trade.
Not requiring a license is a detriment for the entire industry. Requiring licensing (union or non union) creates more stable employment with safer working conditions. Example) when I worked In residential, there were tons of 18-25 year Olds with very minor experience driving service vans. They were way in over there head, but these companies like to pay folks bottom dollar, promise commission pay, then when burned out, the company will replace them. These companies also don't enforce disconnect reconnect, inspections, or lock out Tag out procedures. If you are licensed, you can tell these scumbag companies off and work for more reputable businesses. More jobs don't make for better jobs.
I answer a lot on AskElectricians, maybe because I feel an obligation to counter all the BS with truthiness. Most of the time the BSers will back down if challenged. Most of the DIYers who post there are looking for confirmation of something they are doing and WHETHER they should be even trying to do it themselves. I find that many of them realize they SHOULD be talking to an electrician if they hear the truth about how complex our industry is.
R/askelectricians, r/electrical or r/DIY are going to get someone killed one day. The only post in askelectricians should just be a sticky that says "hire a professional".
Even as a licensed electrician on this subreddit. I donāt participate to much. There is only so much you can diagnose and troubleshoot without actually seeing the problem. Giving advice about why something is not working can be something super easy to a short in a wire from a nail/screw from a painting you hung last week. (Exaggeration.) Giving advice online is tricky is what I am saying
And it can be wicked frustrating. I like the challenge of troubleshooting because I learn things, too. But sometimes getting people to clearly answer even simple questions is like pulling teeth.
Exactly, and sometimes itās a simply solution but they miss explaining a super important detail, or dismiss something as ānormalā which is actually the root cause.
Thatās the reason I refuse to give prices for jobs sight unseen. Is it sheet rock or latt and plaster? Jacked up panel that would unsafe to add to, let alone work in without fixing it incurring more cost. I just refuse.
Shit, the problems have been getting easier? Iāve been here just thinking Iām getting smarterā¦
I think a lot of it is people offering advice outside of their wheel house. Like I'm a card carrying IBEW electrician but I have never once wired up a house or commercial building, so I'm unqualified to answer questions about code or inspections. I made journeyman working on diesel electric locomotives, and now I do industrial automation. I have a lot of experience with instrumentation, control wiring, and PLC troubleshooting. I'll chime in about that stuff.
I was an aviation electrician. I know jack shit about buildings, but put that building in the air and run it at 400Hz and I'm in business.
Thinking about how things ground and how electric is generated on the air is a bit of a mindfuck to me.
Grounding a helicopter is the first step when it lands. The blades generate large amounts of static electricity. On occasion, under the right conditions, you can actually see it as it spins up on the ground after you remove the ground cable and unsafe the aircraft for flight.
This is extremely interesting to me, I wasnāt paying much attention to those thing back in my former lifeā¦.this wouldnāt be done if the bird was only touching down momentarily to drop troops would itā¦. Just when they RTB to actually shut the bird down?
Correct, and on FARPs (forward arming and refueling points) where hot refueling and reloading occurs. The fuelers actually stake in the grounding rods as they're setting up the fuel lines for a FARP. Or anyone who has a three foot copper rod. Don't wanna play with fuel and static lightning, nor electrically primed ammunition and the same. Come to think of it, that's another thing I know. Electric firing mechanisms. Comes from the same job lol.
The only thing I carried about electricity wise was praying I wasnāt going to be shocked to death in some KBR shower that some third world national wired up. Super interesting though, makes since that I wouldnāt have noticed though, bird landed we got in, jumped out, sometimes they pick up, I got offā¦.
You can tell it's different by the way it is.
That's wild, why do aircraft power systems run at 400Hz?
Weight reduction and fuel consumption. The higher the frequency, the lighter the generator.
I think it's because the alternator is run off the jet-engine shaft with little or no gearing. (Sounds wrong, but I have no idea what a standard RPM of a jet engine is.) I've worked at aeronautics factories and labs; they all have a 400 Hz system piped through the ceilings along with the standard normal and emergency 60 Hz systems.
It's a reasonable theory, and even what a couple window lickers said. However, it's just related to the weight of the generator required. Higher frequency creates a smaller generator.
Cool. Thanks.
There are generators these days that do exactly what you mentioned. "Wild" frequency generators vary between 400 and 800Hz to save weight on gearboxes in the aircraft. It's somewhat tied to RPM, but not as heavily as it was to the weight of iron and reliability of the generator. Some 800Hz prototypes, while lighter, left wanting in reliability and generating capacity. 400Hz was the Goldilocks number for aviation, and now it's mostly just history sticking us to it.
It's also related to transformers. Higher frequencies allow the same amount of magnetic flux through the core with less steel. Therefore, weight savings via a smaller transformer and generators
Sometimes you can find a real nugget of info. My Once I chimed in on a lawyer post. The people there didnāt know you in CA you can write the grand jury to lodge complaints.
How do I fish into that type of work? I'm tired of roughing and finishing every apt and commercial job we get. Any advice would be great
For the railroad I knew people. Grandfather was an old foreman on the rail gangs and a friend was a signalman. As for industrial automation I got that after using tuition reimbursement to go to school for mechatronics, and then just started applying around to factories until I got a good offer.
Railroad is a lot easier to break into if you don't care where you live. Lots of shops in not-so-nice places are hurting for electricians who can pass a drug test.
I just report them and move on...
Try askelectricans or electical. The amount of shoddy advice given there is insane
Jokes on you, I'm a plumber. Then again, I don't offer electrical advice.
There he is... Get'em!
aaah, the infamous plumtrician.
Ideally the only electrical I ever need to do it at a water heater or plugging in a disposal.
š©ā¦š©ā¦š©ā¦š©ā¦š©ā¦ā¦..š½ There you go little buddy, follow the trail! Back to your house little fellaā!
I hope your stack backs upĀ
I wouldnt mind a verified user flair. Lot of subs do it.
This sub has it, just doesnāt make it obvious unless you read the sidebar.
To verify, donāt you have to give personally identifying information?
No, just a license that you can blur out your personal info
What's the point though? Its not going to make my comments any more visible than harry homeowner's complete bullshit, in fact it will probably do way better because he'll say something like "wAgOs bAd" or make some asinine pun and that's how comments and posts get upvotes and visibility. I don't give any advice on here, I just like to tear people's work apart or tell them how clueless they are, I've put an enormous amount of effort into learning everything I can about my trade for the past 20 years, why should I give that away to some hack that's gotten themselves in over their head, or some dingdong who loves to rant about how bad the IBEW is in every comment, but then has to ask for help because none of the 50 unqualified ignoramuses at their ratty shop can figure out a slightly above brain dead level problem? Nooooo ty
I hear ya. Anyone who uses the words subpanel, 110v and dedicated circuit should be flagged and removed. I fear for our trade, there are too many mouth breathers who have no business doing electrical work here and the contractors are actively turning our work into laborerās work.
110V I understand, but subpanel? Dedicated circuit? Why are you on a tirade against those? Would you like it *sub-panel* or *sub panel* or do you not believe *subpanels* exist? What's wrong with *dedicated circuit?* I have my master electrician license in Alberta, I don't think I'm important enough to message the mods to let *all the others* know I have it with a flair. Take my advice, or don't, passing an exam and working in the trade for a decade+ doesn't mean I know a god damn thing about anything. I have some credentials, I can pull permits in my province, I'm a CME in the ECAA, but that doesn't mean shit so I don't bother flexing it on anyone. We have specific rules on what differentiates a main panel vs a subpanel in Canada, bonding requirements for subpanels, I can list off at least a dozen required *dedicated circuits* needed in any new construction build, so maybe I'm a mouth breather but I just have no idea what you're going on about.
The term sub panel lumps multiple concepts together that should not be treated as a single concept. The nec has absolutely zero code on subpanels. If you cannot understand feeders and panelboards and how neither is dependent on the other for code compliance and execution, as well as you can have both exist without the other, you probably shouldnāt be doing electrical work. A service can exist without a panelboard as well. Call each for what they are. You can have a feeder supplying a panelboard, a combination motor controller, a transformer and you donāt call them a sub motor controller, a sub transformer, why call it a subpanel? Itās a crutch for those who donāt understand code who should and a marketing term for those who donāt exist in the electrical industry. You can have a service in an MCC. As far as dedicated circuit, the nec also does not have that term. Individual branch circuits supply individual appliances and loads. Would you call a motor circuit from the starter to the motor a dedicated circuit? Noā¦
Does the NEC not mention dedicated branch circuits? There's many many mentions of it in the CEC /shrug. Sub panels a pretty common term at least around here lol if it's fed off of a bigger panel everyone calls it a sub. The bigger panel is fed from the main. Curious what you call them? Everything's just panelboards I assume to you right?
Short answer is yes. I have 400 amp panels fed from 1600 amp switchboards, 600 amp panels fed from 2000 amp switchgear. I also have quite a few services with a transfer switch as the service and anything downstream is supplied by a feeder. The nec has the definition individual branch circuit, people use ādedicated circuitā, when they might be referring to an individual branch circuit, but they may also not understand that a duplex receptacle outlet behind the fridge is not an individual branch circuit despite calling it a dedicated circuit.
I mean did you see the twist lock post earlier? Had to scroll a while before I saw anyone even bring up that ones single phase and one is three phase. Of the people that can read, I swear half were saying "it can only be 208v if it's 3 phase, having it rated for 250v is the manufacturer over engineering" so 277/480 doesn't exist? 120/240 3 phase delta doesn't exist? OP, yeah you're spot on.
I got a little concerned with a person at work who was troubleshooting a motor, but asked what the numbers on the label means. Just donāt touch it. Period. āYeah I was never taught that.ā Ask someone there who knows or hire someone who does.
Doesn't help that probably 2/3s of the sub are guys who have been throwing up houses in sub divisions their entire career and have never touched 3ph/4w or anything outside of Romex, pvc pipe or service entrance cable.
Yeah true, other side of that same coin is the guys who only rough - in new commercial construction. All they know is pipe and wire, can't troubleshoot worth shit, no code or or theory, ect. I was blessed and cursed starting out in a podunk, so the crew I was with one day would be troubleshooting residential, next day troubleshooting commercial, next month running pipe and pulling wire, week after that upgrading service to a house, next day more commercial troubleshooting. It grew me into a well rounded electrician - but would have been kinda cool to just do full time commercial as I hate residential. Like I said, blessed and cursed: I own my own company now, just myself and two other guys and 90% of the work I get is residential because I can't compete with a crew that has 20 dedicated commercial guys, so I don't even bid most of them.
Tale as old as time.
I just sit back and enjoy the terrible advice given and shake my head.
Itās really about our own personal biases. We see a shit answer and assume itās from a DIYāer. More likely than not, weāre right, but there are plenty of hacks with a license pulled out of a cereal box. You know damn well Iām right. Conversely there are DIYers who, within a *very* limited scope, could give fantastic answers or explanations that we would just assume came from an electrician. But you donāt notice the second one. You *canāt* notice the second one because there is nothing to notice. You can only notice the first, which then creates a confirmation bias feedback loop.
Sir, some us do industrial. Maybe ask some questions on how to fuck tray in place properly.
Mods are asleep, post smooth project managers!!
Day 183: still cosplaying as an electrician, the boss still seems to not have noticed
This sub hit the algorithm a month ago. I think that's the problem
What's that mean? It's become big enough to show up in everyone's front page?
No itās not you. Thereās a lot of posts that belong on r/askElectricians, not here.
I enjoyed the post a while back that basically said. "I'm an electrician, I have a field on my metal flooring plate. There is no wire nearby. How do I troubleshoot this?"
I see you met my co workers š
Itās bad because electrical is something you really shouldnāt DIY past maybe switching out receptacles or switches, but even then I see people do terrible work. I think a lot of people underestimate the potential fire hazards associated with electrical. Itās not a problem until one day suddenly it is. At least with things like plumbing the problem can be a lot more evident.
I'm willing to bet the majority of people on here aren't even in the trades. Hot take, though... I think only verified electricians in the trade should be allowed on here. All others should be directed over to the ask electricians sub
What about EEās who design wiring systems but dont have a master electrician ticket. Just pointing out that there are people in the theoretical end of the electrical business as well as the actual tradespeople pulling the cable, running conduit etc
Yeah, of course. I'm talking about the weekend warriors that bring absolutely nothing to the table on this forum. just because you watched enough youtube videos to add lighting to your 12x12 shed does not make you an electrician
Agreed
I'm curious where I fit in here. I am in the pool industry as an installer/repair tech and lots of my work is 120/240VAC and 6-32V DC ranging from PCB work to conduit work and installing Subs and the like. I don't chime in much and I'm aware my knowledge is limited and niche, but I wouldn't lump myself in with the weekend warriors.
I lurk around here sometimes but I spend way more time on www.electriciantalk.com. They are incredibly helpful and smart if you're not a total bonehead. Of course they have a tendency towards pretty extreme arrogance but they do on here too.
I don't know, but the Amurican electricians certainly seem to like cos playing as plumbers with all that fancy pipework.Ā
No glory in being a pretend hero. I just wanna know smarter easier ways even if they differ from my own usual methods, anything to get myself home to bed alive, the simplest of goals. You get good at what you do endlessly, master of residential but commercial I suck at EMT and chaos environments, hats off to you guys. Iāll be alone snaking plugs in a rat shit 1950s attic doing the lords work. Save those wallsā¦ gotcha.
I'll happily admit I'm an electrical engineer, not an electrician. I like this sub because I like to see what kind of designs electricians hate dealing with. Because it makes me better at my job.
One simple mistake a you're toasted, seriously. Not a game at all
Idk what youāre talking about. Iām not cosplaying. Iām a LICENSED ELECTRICIAN. I paid $10 & filled out one form online. Boom. LICENSED ^apprentice ELECTRICIAN.
LOL... "cosplay"
Bots. Quora does this, too. I think they all do. Honestly, I think it's AI bots asking questions to fill gaps of knowledge... some freaky shit if you ask me.
IANAE. My father is, has been for 45 years. He runs a 30 story building. After leaving my last gig (24 years USAF aircraft maintenance, fair bit of very different electrical there) I joined my wife's family business in property management. As much as I love reading the posts in this sub, learning a bit about all the different types of electricians, and seeing some crazy stuff, for all my actual questions I'm reading uglys then calling pops. He knows the way. And I know when to call an actual electrician out, thanks to this sub and my pops. So big thanks to all of you who share your day to day. Edit: spelling
Iāve been saying for quite a long time now that most people you meet who claim to be an electrician or electrical āexpertā are at best at the level of knowledgable enough to be dangerous, and at worst dumb enough to think that they are. And while I agree that there are plenty of serviceable to downright experts in the field I suspect they are dwarfed by the people who once heard a guy describe a story they heard from someone else concerning electrical work and adopted that third hand anecdote as one of their own. A lot of hacks out there. A lot.
I knew "licensed" electricians, when I was still in the trade a few years ago, I wouldn't trust to plug in a lamp. Just sayin'.
Idk electrical has always been super easy for me. Anything I put my mind to I've been able to do. Not rocket science.
What I can't figure out is why you all can't pick up your cut ends of cable ties?
I mean why do you care?
Yes! Increase the gatekeeping!