Stuff Electricians Should Know!

This Episode is sponsored by Acmetools.com You get reminders every day. Reminders on your phone, reminders in your email, reminders in your texts. Some reminders get kind of annoying, but some reminders are there to keep you safe. If you haven't read article 250.4 in the National Electrical Code lately, then consider this a reminder. According to the US Department of Labor, “Accident statistics compiled by MSHA's Health Safety Analysis Center indicate that approximately 14% of all electrical fatalities occur from improper or inadequate grounding.” Grounding and bonding might sound like simple concepts, especially to a journeyman or a master electrician, and it really is SIMPLE, but that doesn't always mean it's easy. There may even be times when you wonder if something needs to be grounded at all. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

This episode is brought to you by Acmetools.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

This episode is brought to you by Acmetools.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

Today I’d like to cover 7 simple enclosure no no’s. Some of these are simple, some aren’t so well known, and some are an issue that you’ll run across because someone else was just too lazy to do it right the first time, and now you have to come behind them and fix it. If you want to get your copy of the NEC out and follow along that would be wonderful. If not, you can pull it out later and take a look at some of the code references. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

You need to know where to properly lock out and tag out and also I cover some changes to the show! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

So I read a heartbreaking story about an accident that could have been easily prevented by some simple maintenance. I wanted to share it with you to demonstrate the importance of having proper pathways for current to flow, and how dangerous it can be if you don’t. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

So my buddy Will sent me a picture the other day that I reposted on Instagram. I’ve also put it in the show notes for this episode. But if you look closely, you can see an extremely dangerous situation inside of the fused disconnect. You can see in the bottom of the box, 3 split bolts that are exposed. Not a single bit of tape or insulating material on them. If you follow the conductors over, you can see that they go right into a breaker. He was smart enough to check them with his meter before he got into the box and what did he find? They were hot of course! So what does the NEC say about splices such as this one? Let’s go to article 110.14(B) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

So today’s question is this: Can you use a circuit breaker as a switch? I bring this up because I heard a story today of a local woman using a breaker in her panel to turn her TV on and off to prevent the kids from watching it when they shouldn’t be. Needless to say, the breaker won’t turn on anymore and she can’t turn her tv on because it was an old, hard to find breaker. So, let’s go to the code. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

What is backfeeding? The simplest explanation for backfeed is when power flows in the opposite direction from its usual flow or when voltage is present on a conductor or associated equipment after it has been disconnected from its normal source. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

In this episode I'll quickly cover several different types of grounding electrodes. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

Todays question was sent in by Mike D. As I have been scouring the googles, trying to find topics of interest that would help out, I keep running into a fairly common question. It's easy to forget that what may seem common to one person, isn't so common to the next. Especially to the apprentices that are just coming into the industry. So I thought this appropriate as a refresher to some, and as fairly new information to others. The question: "What is the difference between MCM and KCMIL? Is it a regional thing or is there some difference that I'm missing?" The short answer: They are one and the same thing.     --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

Today’s episode is just a heads up, or a safety warning to all of you who might work alongside the utility company at some point in time. On occasion, the utility company might require you to install what is called a bypass meter socket. In our area they require them to be installed on commercial or industrial buildings, and oddly enough, detached garages or shops if you aren’t running power to them from your house. What is a bypass meter socket you might ask? Well, let me tell you. There are a few different kinds, but they all accomplish the same thing, which is, when the utility company pulls the meter out of the socket, they can bypass the meter socket and still allow electricity to flow from the line side to the load side and supply power to the shop, complex, or in today’s story, the furniture store.   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

Here's today's question. What is the difference between lumens and watts? In the world of lightbulbs, especially with incandescents, you were probably at one time, and maybe you still are, used to choosing your lightbulb by the wattage listed on the package. The wattage gave you a decent indication of how bright the bulb was going to be. In a nut shell, the more watts, the brighter the bulb. Now that LED’s are coming on strong, things have changed. An LED that uses 60 watts is no where close to a 60 watt incandescent. In fact, a 60-watt LED might just burn the retinas out of your face. Because LEDs are designed to use less energy they will of course have a lower wattage rating. So now you don’t really want to use the watt rating for your brightness like you probably did before. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

I had the opportunity of speaking with an electrician who discovered what the NEC requirements were to change out a residence full of two wire non grounding type receptacles, to three wire, grounding type.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

This episode is an excerpt from a course I'm creating on understanding the NEC. This is just a quick overview of how the NEC is laid out for those that are unfamiliar with it. At first glance the NEC is a very intimidating piece of literature. And when you start reading it, it get’s even more scary because it reads like something only a legal expert would understand. That’s how it seems anyways. But once you get digging into it, you’ll find that it is organized in a very useful manner that flows well, if you have put a little time into actually understand how it is meant to be used.   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

When trying to help someone decide what fixtures to use, we came across the designation "damp location" on the fixture spec sheet. I thought this would be a great subject to touch on today. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

So I was talking with a project manager the other day and he was having trouble getting some submittals approved for a hotel. One of the issues that came up was that the gear company wanted to know if the gear could be series rated to save some money or if it had to be fully rated. The project manager had no idea what they were talking about and I was a little confused as to why he at least didn’t know at a basic level what the difference was. So I thought I’d share with you today what the difference is, at least on a basic level.   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

So why would this need to be put in the NEC? Let’s just get into a little electrical theory for a minute. When alternating current (ac) flows through a conductor, a magnetic field is created around that conductor which is constantly expanding and contracting with the amplitude of the current. You know that the amplitude in the US is at a frequency of 60 cycles per second or 60 Hz. Now, since Alternating Current reverses polarity 120 times per second, it stands to reason that the magnetic field also reverses its direction….. 120 times per second. So why does that matter? Simple, the expanding and collapsing of the magnetic field induces something called eddy currents in the ferrous metal parts that surround the conductors. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

In todays episode we answer a question from Mike. He asks: "I had a commercial job where the plans state 200 amp 3 phase 120/208-4wire exterior surface mount panel with 200 amp main breaker. I was told by 2 electrical companies that i needed a panel board (which was $750) and by 1 electrical comapny i can use a basic loadcenter ($280) which is correct?" --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support

Today I  just wanted to bring you a couple of items to remember when doing a wire pull. There are four  major  things to remember: 1-Pull Evaluation 2- Conduit Proofing 3- Conduit entry and Exit 4- Lube --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stuff-electricians-should-know/support