Electrician U

Studio set up, code violations? Let’s dig in and find out. Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

Studio update #2 : With code time, My kid, and Metal Clad Cable. Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

I heard you like studios. So I’m building the studio in the new studio yo. Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

  Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

I’m joined by Master Electrician Angel Savoy in this episode where we talk about a lot of issues surrounding women in the trades. This is probably my longest episode so strap in for the next 2 hours, this one is great.   Thoughtfulness & Mindfulness Gender issues are becoming more prevalent as a lot more women are joining the trades. As the years continue on we need to start reshaping the lens...

A lot of people get stuck working a job they hate, because they aren’t passionate about what they do, or are not driven to excel at their craft. Today we’re going to talk about what it means to be a craftsman and taking seriously the job that you do.   WHAT IS CRAFTSMANSHIP? Really craftsmanship boils down to giving a shit about what you do every day. Rather than just half-assing your job, craftsm...

I get asked by LOADS of people whether or not they should quit their job and go to another company. I have a few things to say on the matter, so let’s get into it.   SHOULD I QUIT MY JOB? I honestly believe in respect and loyalty above all. I’m a Taurus with a lot of Leo in me, so pride, justice, respect, and loyalty are the things that I personally regard as high-virtues. So you may not feel the...

Today I talk to Wayne Robinson from Capitol Electric Supply, a retired master electrician and chief electrical inspector who’s been working in the electrical trade for nearly 50 years.   GIVING A ‘LIL NOD TO THE OLD-SCHOOL It’s amazing to get to talk to the “old-schoolers” in the trade because you get to hear stories about how things used to be, as well as how they’ve watched things change through...

It’s easy to talk about what it means to be a great crew-lead, but what most people don’t think about is what makes a good follower or helper.  This is really a deep methodology that takes wisdom and purpose to execute so let’s crack it open for a minute.   WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A HELPER To follow (as it applies to getting work done) is to HELP and SUPPORT.  It does not mean that you just take a...

Since my first tool video I did a few years back, I’ve had so many people ask me for a more condensed list of tools that I would consider as the essentials for an apprentice to buy. This list is ONLY hand tools – not power tools like drills and saws. Here’s my top 13 list.   #1 – LINEMAN’S PLIERS Every electrician, no-matter where they’re at in their career, must have a set of lineman’s pliers . T...

Most journeyman electricians end up leading jobs for the first time when they get their license, and for some it’s an overwhelming task that they feel is unmanageable. There are a lot of tips and tricks from the older leads that can be learned, and if taken seriously will make things a whole lot smoother.   WHAT IS A CREW-LEAD? As the crew-lead you’re the one responsible for the entire job that yo...

Let’s face it…the national electric code book is probably the most difficult construction document to read and understand. It’s written like a court document in legalese, using terms none of us use in the field, for the sake of liability and C.Y.A. These are 11 more terms that are used in the NEC that I feel people struggle with understanding when they first buy a code book.   #1 – BRANCH CIRCUIT...

Doing math, for many people, is one of the things that holds them back from advancing in their career as an electrician.  “I’m just not good at math,” I often hear.  Knowing how to apply Ohm’s Law calculations in the field is crucial for your ability to think critically, on the fly, about what may be happening in a circuit – and electrician math is really not that scary.  Let’s dive in.   OHM’S LA...

Let’s face it…the national electric code book is probably the most difficult construction document to read and understand. It’s written like a court document in legalese, using terms none of us use in the field, for the sake of liability and C.Y.A. These are 11 terms that are used in the NEC that I feel people struggle with understanding when they first buy a code book.   #1 – UNGROUNDED CONDUCTOR...

In this episode we talk in depth about how to wire with MC cable, what the uses permitted and uses NOT permitted are, as well as securing and strapping and a whole host of other tips for use.   MC vs AC Photo courtesy of Paul Abernathy – https://www.masterthenec.com First off I suppose it’s good to point out the difference between AC and MC. A lot of people think that it’s the jacketing that separ...

Have you, like me…and many other electricians, been using NOALOX on your aluminum wires for years? We’re going to go over why it’s not necessary except in specific situations – 4 of them evidently.   I’m guilty of this too…so let me just get that out there right now. For years I’ve been dunking conductors in this bottle and getting a fat layer of goop on the ends of my terminations without reading...

Every type of conduit has a listed approved series of connectors and couplings that are designed to be used as fittings for those specific raceways. Today we look at EMT couplings and connectors.   COUPLINGS Let’s start out with couplings. A coupling is literally used to “couple” two pieces of conduit together. There are various styles of couplings, each with it’s own unique purpose that we’ll get...

Contactors are heavy-duty electromagnetic switches that are normally used in controlling large lighting loads and motors. They operate similar to relays, but often times deal with more voltage, higher amperage, and have more input and output options. CONTACTORS Contactors are extremely useful pieces of equipment that allow switching of several different circuits at the same time. They are flexible...

The Kelvin Scale is used to talk about color of objects at certain temperatures, whereas other temperature scales deal with actual heat or thermal temperature. Kelvin is used in lighting especially for that reason, to talk about the color of light emission. KELVIN https://www.learner.org The Kelvin is a unit of measure in lighting, but it goes much further than that. Where Fahrenheit and Celsius d...

A relay is a type of electromagnetic switch, similar to a contactor, that can be controlled remotely with electricity, rather than needing manual input as a standard switch would. CONTROL RELAYS Relays can be used to control normal loads, as a contactor would, however the benefit of a relay is they come with multiple normally-open (N.O.) and multiple normally-closed (N.C.) contacts – allowing you...

A lot of people still use wattage to talk about the brightness of lamps, when in reality lumens are the measure of light output. Wattage is still useful to know as an electrician, but we need to stop using it to talk about the BRIGHTNESS of a light. Wattage Wattage is used as a unit of measure for electrical consumption in a piece of equipment. It’s talking about how much power is being used, and...

There are so many different types of lamps out there that having an understanding of the “lamp families” helps you understand how to troubleshoot them easier. Let’s dive in.   Incandescent Incandescent lamps are probably the most known lamps out on the market. When the average person thinks about a light bulb, they tend to imagine an incandescent filament bulb. Incandescent lamps have been used fo...

A lot of people get really confused by contactors and relays and tend to treat them like some kind of mystical magic device without understanding what exactly they do. They have some similarities but still have very distinct differences. Contactors and relays are simply switches. They differ from a standard switch, however, by being able to be controlled with electrical current rather than your fi...

A lot of apprentices (and journeymen) have trouble understanding what makes HID lighting any different than regular lighting so troubleshooting them can be a bit confusing.  Let’s talk about it! HID lamps are easy to understand once you wrap your head around the idea that the light inside of one is produced from an arc inside of a tube.  There are no metal wires inside of an HID lamp, like you’d f...

Sponsored by Rogers It’s an electricians job to be able to identify what’s going on in an electrical circuit, and sometimes this can be a difficult task. Having a firm knowledge of how to use various pieces of electrical test equipment can be the difference in solving a problem and making a guess. In this episode, I cover all of the pieces of test equipment I believe an electrician should know how...