Wednesday, January 18, 2006

PE'd Off

So,

 

I’ve been studying about an hour or two every day and 12 to 16 hours on the weekends for a month now.  I have completely reviewed everything I need to know for the power section (second half = 4 hours) of my test.  I took the second half of a practice test the last couple day.  I totally failed.  I now understand everything that they want.  I keep getting tricked by these little catches.  Here’s an example:

 

In 3 phase AC power you have line voltages/currents and phase voltages/currents.  So when the question asks for the voltage, you are supposed to magically know which one.  Now, the voltages/current conversion between line and phase isn’t always the same.  Sometimes there is a factor of 1.73.  I made extensive equation sheets to help me know when to include the 1.73.  I now perfectly arrive at the wrong answer. 

 

Also, anything that references the National Electric Code seems to have a trick to it.  Sure, I made some mistakes and learned some things, but on the stuff I knew, I missed a minute detail that screwed me.  An example:  When looking up the maximum fault current on a 10 AWG wire, I used the appropriate table.  I ignored the * next to the 10.  the * said not to use the table.  It referenced another section of code.  I got the problem wrong. 

 

On the plus side, I haven’t thrown a book across the room, yet.

 

Sincerely,

Lawtonious Funk

 

3 comments:

Agent Orange said...

yeah, I didn't catch any of that. It was all Charlie Brown.

The Double D said...

Dude, taht shit's fo real. At least on the one I will take the HVAC part if questions that can be soved by referencing a lot of ASHRAE stuff from their manuals. Got the most recent Fundamentals overview manual, you are so good to go. By the wya, I hate EE, more power to ya Funk, that shits a BEEEEOTTCH

Poot said...

Yes, there is no way in hell i would ever attempt to do electrical engineering. All i know about single and three phase equipment is that the HVAC industry quit manufacturing single phase equipment that is not at least 13 SEER.