JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN www.AudioLearn.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................... 1 Course Conventions and Content .................................................................................... 3 Key takeaways: ................................................................................................................. 7 Chapter Two: The Journeyman Electrical Exam .......................................... 9 The Beginning of a Great Career ..................................................................................... 9 The Journeyman Electrical Exam and State Requirements ......................................... 12 Eligibility, Registration and Scheduling ........................................................................ 13 Test Center Regulations ................................................................................................. 16 Results and Retake Policies ........................................................................................... 18 Preparing for the Exam .................................................................................................. 19 Quiz ................................................................................................................................ 24 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................... 25 Chapter Three: Electrical Theory .............................................................. 27 Quiz ................................................................................................................................ 32 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................... 33 Chapter Four: The NEC, Part One ............................................................. 35 Introduction to the NEC ................................................................................................ 35 Wiring and Protection.................................................................................................... 37 Wiring Methods and Materials ...................................................................................... 44 Quiz ................................................................................................................................ 48 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................... 49
Chapter Five: The NEC Part Two ............................................................... 51 Equipment for General Use ........................................................................................... 51 Special Occupancies ....................................................................................................... 56 Quiz ................................................................................................................................ 61 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................... 62 Chapter Six: The NEC Part Three .............................................................. 64 Special Equipment ......................................................................................................... 64 Special Conditions ......................................................................................................... 69 Communication Systems ............................................................................................... 72 Quiz ................................................................................................................................ 76 Key Takeaway ................................................................................................................. 77 Chapter Seven: The NESC, Part One .......................................................... 79 Protective Arrangements in Electric Supply Stations ...................................................80 Installation and Maintenance of Equipment ................................................................ 82 Rules for Specific Equipment ........................................................................................ 86 Conductors. ................................................................................................................ 89 Quiz ................................................................................................................................ 91 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................... 92 Chapter Eight: The NESC Part Two ........................................................... 94 General Requirements ................................................................................................... 94 Relationships Between Various Lines of Classes and Equipment ................................ 96 Clearances ...................................................................................................................... 97 Grades of Construction ................................................................................................ 100 Loadings for Grades B and C ........................................................................................101
Strength Requirements ................................................................................................ 102 Line Insulation ............................................................................................................. 103 Quiz .............................................................................................................................. 105 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................. 106 Chapter Nine: The NESC Parts Three and Four ....................................... 108 Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Underground Electric Supply and Communication Lines .................................................................................................. 109 Work Rules for the Operation of Electric Supply and Communications Lines and Equipment..................................................................................................................... 115 Quiz ............................................................................................................................... 119 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................. 120 Chapter Ten: International Codes ........................................................... 122 The International Building Code ................................................................................. 122 The International Fire Code ........................................................................................ 124 The International Energy Conservation Code ............................................................. 126 Quiz .............................................................................................................................. 129 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................. 130 Chapter Eleven: Electrical Calculations ................................................... 132 What is direct current? ................................................................................................ 133 Power Changes with the Square of the Voltage ............................................................137 Quiz .............................................................................................................................. 139 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................. 140 Chapter Twelve: You Passed, What’s Next? ............................................. 142 Final Exam ................................................................................................................... 143 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................... 145
Follow Along PDF Manual ....................................................................... 147
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Welcome to this audio course on preparing to pass the Journeyman Electrical Licensing examination! I will guide you through the course material. If you’ve decided to take this exam, you’re likely already an electrician in training with some degree of experience. At this stage, you want to gain your license. Perhaps you’re earlier on in your apprenticeship and you want to get ahead. Either way, I would like to congratulate you for pursuing such a potentially rewarding career path. Journeyman status indicates that you have completed a four to five year apprenticeship and you’re recognized as being competent in the electrician trade. After a number of years’ experience with Journeyman status, you can take the Master electrician’s exam. Passing this exam shows that you have a high level of competence and experience in your field. Master Electricians can earn a salary of more than one hundred thousand US dollars per year. Part of a Master Electrician’s role can even include supervising and mentoring other electricians and overseeing projects. The Journeyman electrical exam is based on the content of the NEC: the National Electrical Code. The requirements to obtain this license vary by state. Each state has its own licensing board and sometimes, requirements are specific even to certain regions or cities. However, most of the knowledge you need is based on the NEC. I’ll talk more about these requirements later in the course. Other information you need to know is based on the NESC: The National Electrical Safety Code. The IEEE, or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, develops the NESC. Let’s explore a bit more about the opportunities that a Journeyman license can afford you. First of all, electricians are never going to have any trouble finding work. The demand for electricians is ever increasing and the job options are diverse. To begin with,
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you can be a residential electrician, working mostly in people’s homes. Similarly, you could be a low voltage electrician. Low voltage electricians work with a broader range of electrical systems. They only work with low voltage systems, as the name suggests, and these systems are usually up to forty nine volts. As a low voltage electrician, you may have the opportunity to work with fiber optics and other types of computer networks. After you have some experience as an electrician, you may decide to become a commercial or industrial electrician. Commercial electricians work in a range of environments, including hospitals. Industrial electricians have the opportunity to work in government facilities and even power plants. Their roles include working with high voltage systems and industrial systems that require large amounts of electricity. If that’s piqued your interest, there’s even more good news. The average salary of an electrician in the United States is fifty five thousand, five hundred and ninety dollars. And that’s just the average. Electricians with earnings in the top ten percent have an average salary of eighty eight thousand, one hundred and thirty dollars. These figures are based on a twenty fifteen survey by the Department of Labor. As an independent contractor, you could earn even more. And remember, if you eventually go for the Master Electrician license, that could take you into six figures. As an electrician, your services are indispensable. Electricity is the foundation of modern society. We rely on having functioning electrical systems for so many crucial purposes. Just think; as a commercial electrician working for a hospital, you are, in fact, helping to save lives. So, once again, I’d like to congratulate you on your commendable decision to pursue a career in this field. This course will help you to prepare for the exam itself. I'll tell you more about it in the next chapter. You will also learn about the actual licensing process. Right now, I want to give you an overview of this course. I will tell you about the content and what you can expect as we go through the material together. Thank you, again, for your interest in this course.
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COURSE CONVENTIONS AND CONTENT Welcome to the section on the course conventions and content! I'll now brief you on the concepts and methods I will use to present the course material to you. There are twelve chapters in this course. Sometimes, I will divide larger chapters into smaller sub sections. At the start of each chapter, I will give a brief introduction about what topics the chapter will cover. Then, I will progress into the content. Near the end of every chapter, there will be a short quiz for you to test your understanding of the material I presented. The quizzes typically consist of ten questions. You will find the quiz material in your Follow Along PDF manual; I’ll explain more about that in a moment. In this course, you can take the quizzes and consult the answer keys to see how well you are retaining the material. Alternatively, I will dis Cuss the correct answers in the lectures. So, you can pause the audio, take the quiz, and then listen for the correct answers. Actually, you can take the quizzes as I read the questions to you, but this is a bit challenging. You won't have as much time to think of answers unless you pause the audio after each question and list of options. This is also not the way you'll take the actual exam, so you may want to choose another option if possible. Obviously, if you are driving to work, this latter option is your only option only safe option, anyway. To help you summarize and retain what you learn, I will end every chapter with a list of takeaways. This list will include the most important information to remember from each chapter. You can expect around ten important points at the end of each chapter. Earlier, I mentioned a Follow Along PDF manual. With every AudioLearn course, you get access to a Follow Along PDF manual. These manuals contain the chapter quizzes and answers, summaries of important information, and links to supplemental information. They also contain your final exam. This course contains a final exam that you can use as a practice exam for the real thing. It consists of one hundred questions and tests you on everything we cover in the course. You can print out the Follow along PDF manual or simply read it in digital format. I recommend using it to write additional comments and notes as you see fit, so print it out 3
if possible. If you are only able to listen to the course lectures while commuting to work, ignore the manual for now. Consult it when you are in a more appropriate setting. You can still get valuable information just by listening to what I have to say. Many learners find repetition to be an extremely effective and helpful technique during their exam preparations. We use this technique in our courses. Soon you will dis Cover that I will repeat many terms and concepts throughout the course. When you hear ideas that have been repeated, even multiple times, take note of them. We consider them to be very important concepts. This repetition ensures that you thoroughly understand them. You will find it easier to recall important information more easily. We’re about to cover a great deal of information. I whole heartedly recommend your listening to every chapter in this course at least twice, or even more. There’s a lot to take in, so it’s likely that you’ll need to listen a few times to fully grasp everything. Now I’m going to outline the material we’re going to cover throughout this course. I hope this motivates you to want to listen, and to get immersed in the content. In the next chapter one, I will give you an overview of the Journeyman Electrical exam. I will explain its significance and the options it opens up for your career. I will also cover the eligibility requirements for the exam as well as how to register for and schedule the exam. I will talk about the test center regulations and results and retake policies. There is also a section on tips for effective exam preparation. So, all of that’s in chapter two. Now, I will give you an overview of what’s to come in the following chapters. Chapter three gives an overview of electrical theory. I’ll go over the important concepts in electrical theory that you most likely are already comfortable with. However, because you have so much to remember, it’s good to keep the fundamental concepts solidly committed to memory. This chapter talks about the three primary forces, reactance, power factor, and more. In chapters four to six, we explore the National Electrical Code. Chapter four begins with an introduction to the code. I will then cover some knowledge areas about wiring and protection, and wiring methods and materials.
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Chapter five covers equipment for general use. This includes quite a broad range of equipment. From there, I’ll cover special occupancies. This includes hazardous locations like aircraft hangars and many others. Chapter six explores special equipment, special conditions, and communication systems. Special equipment includes all manner of things, such as audio processing equipment, X-ray equipment, and solar photovoltaic systems. Topics in the special conditions include emergency systems. In the NEC, the communications systems section covers some general requirements and the specifics of different systems. In chapters seven to nine, I’ll tell you about the National Electrical Safety Code. In chapter seven, I explain the Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Electric Supply Stations and Equipment. I then explain Protective Arrangements in Electric Supply Stations. After that, I talk about Installation and Maintenance of Equipment. This includes rotating equipment, storage batteries, and much more. Chapter eight covers Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Overhead Electric Supply and Communication Lines. I’ll cover the general requirements and relations between various classes of lines and equipment. I’ll explain clearances, grades of construction, loadings for grades B and C, strength requirements, and line insulation. In chapter nine, you’ll learn about Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Underground Electric Supply and Communication Lines. I start by dis Cussing the general requirements applying to underground lines. There are various subtopics in this section, including underground conduit systems and insulation in tunnels. Next, I explain Work Rules for the Operation of Electric Supply and Communications Lines and Equipment. I talk about Supply and Communications Systems, in terms of rules for employers and employees. To conclude the chapter, I cover additional rules for communications employees and supply employees. Chapter ten explains international codes. Specifically, codes of the IBC, IFC, and IECC. That is the International Building Code, International Fire Code, and International Energy Conservation Code, respectively.
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Chapter eleven goes through some essential electrical calculations that you need to know. It contains practical examples based on the theory that’s coming up in chapter three. And finally, chapter twelve contains your final exam. I also explain your next steps for securing your Journeyman Electrical License. As you can tell, we have a lot of work to do. Take your time and work at a pace that feels comfortable for you. Listen as often as you can. Make sure you thoroughly understand all the concepts in a particular chapter before moving on to the next one. I recommend that you retake written portions of the test questions I present, especially if you get any wrong. This will help you to completely master the course material and better grasp the concepts I present. Remember, the whole purpose of your taking this course is to put yourself in the best position to ace your exam. The more you know the material, the more prepared and confident you will be. And now, we have reached the end of this introductory chapter! Since this was just an introduction, this chapter does not contain a quiz. But there are some key points to remember. So, let’s go through those takeaways I mentioned.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS: 1. The Journeyman Electrical License examination warrants that you’re competent in your trade. To get your license, you need to complete an apprenticeship as well as the exam. 2. The exam content is based on the National Electrical Code and the National Electrical Safety Code. The requirements vary from state to state, but these two codes are the fundamentals. You also need to know about some international codes. 3. After several years’ experience as Journeyman, you can take the Master License exam. This will open up more opportunities for your career and your salary. 4. The main categories of electrician are residential, low voltage, commercial, and industrial electricians. 5. The average earning potential for electricians in the US is more than fifty-five thousand dollars. The top ten percent earn on average, around eighty-eight thousand. Being an independent contractor or having a Master Electrician’s license can earn you even more. 6. I gave you an overview of the content you can expect in this course. This includes information you need to know based on the National Electrical Code and the National Electrical Safety Code. I will also explain international codes, electrical theory, and electrical calculations. 7. The specific requirements to get your license vary by state. I will explain more about this in the next chapter. 8. The Follow Along PDF manual contains summaries of important course material as well as links to supplemental information. It contains the quizzes and your final exam. Use the quizzes to test how much knowledge you’ve retained. 9. When you hear ideas that have been repeated, even multiple times, take note of them. They are important.
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10. Listen to every chapter in this course at least twice, or even more. This puts you in the best position to remember everything you need to pass the exam. That’s all for this introductory chapter. In the next chapter, I will explain everything you need to know about the exam. If you are ready to get started, be sure to have your Follow Along PDF manual close at hand. Get comfortable, gather all the necessary supplies, and let’s begin!
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To download the audio version of this course, please visit our website WWW.AudioLearn.com
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