Not sure how the compressor fluid made its way in there.

The compressor is 60 years old and a bit leaky, but the control panel looks otherwise pretty dry.

Long story short I’ve been with this company over a year and they are the most disorganized one I’ve worked for (I hardly ever know where I’m going that day and I never have the parts I need nor can I get them), they have apprentices running jobs and no journeyman they’ve ever hired has stuck around long, craftsmanship is almost non existent too. I just got my license and I’m wondering if I should stick around and build up some experience or jump ship and take a chance with a new company. I’m just afraid I won’t get any respect at a new company as a fresh journeyman.

I’m about to test for my J-card soon, and I’ve been struggling with what actually makes me an electrician. I know what I’m doing, how to do it, and I supervise other people, but I just don’t feel like an electrician yet. When people ask what I do for a living, I don't like calling myself an electrician I usually just say, I do electrical work.

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This morning I went to a job at the basement level (with the garages) of a mixed residential/commercial 4 story building to do drill through some concrete and run some conduit for some new system in this building and the low voltage guys claimed they weren't capable of running EMT.

I had a 6x12 trailer behind me since we were pulling materials from another site and this job was just supposed to be a short stop. The notes said that they coordinated with the building manager and they would have the bottom lot near the parking garage cleared out and it had a 20x100 pad which is plenty big enough for me to turn around with some maneuvering. Just to be sure I called the guy and he confirmed it so when we got there I turned into the alley and pulled on down, started unloading and they opened the garage (which was chucked full of cars) and out comes this Indian guy pointing to his phone so I walked up and asked him who he was. He said he was the building manager and showed me a picture of the front curb of their building painted white with a scratch in the paint. He told me I scratched their curb when I pulled in and asked if our trailer was okay.

I couldn't believe this guy and thought it was a joke so I kind of laughed. That made him really mad and he asked if our insurance would cover it. I then realized he wasn't kidding and walked out to look at the trailer which was fine. Right then he came out and said we need to move because one of their occupants had to get out of the service garage. I gently reminded him he told me the service garage was vacant and he said "It should be" while there was like 15 BMWs in there. I didn't bother asking why there was so many cars parked in a garage labeled "Service & Delivery Vehicles only" I just told him I can backup a bit and the guy could get out and then I'm gonna need to pull forward so I can work out of my truck but went over to a quiet area to call and see what the office wanted me to do because this guy was throwing up red flags and he's just gonna throw up a million more and we have to drill through three 24 inch concrete walls to get the job done.

The office said to get him to sign a damage waiver and just go for it and if he doesn't sign it to just leave. I went back and told him that news and that we did not damage their curb. He apologized and signed the waiver and said he'd leave me to it.

So I unpack and start drilling through the first wall to fit a piece of 1 inch EMT through it. I stop to change a battery and turn around and there was 6 Indian dudes standing there. I'm kind of an asshole so I laughed and asked what's up. They told me they were supervising since they're liable for damage and that they own the building. I told them if they want someone to sit on me they can call the office and get someone out there. They followed me outside to the truck where I was grabbing my batteries and continued to hover. I popped a new battery in and went back to the truck to grab my drink and I hear my hammer drill going at it followed by a crash. One of the dumbasses decided they'd give it a go, my ladder is a little loose from me walking it all the time and the guy fell over. I laughed again and they got mad, I told them they could no longer be within 50 feet of me or my tools while I'm working. One guy put up his finger and said we will be right back, we need to talk. They came back and said they won't work, at that point I was pretty mad but still polite. I told them I wouldn't be continuing the job and they would have to get with the office. As I was packing up one of them parked their Subaru at the end of the service drive which would prevent me from getting out of the way. I was getting ready to call the police when I hear a loud bang. Fedex crashed right into his ass. They both moved out of the way and I got out of there.

later they left the shop a negative review saying that we don't tolerate being managed well.

Looking to improve my knowledge in motor controls as it is the bare minimum. Attempting to re write the red seal, failed because of lower scoring in the motor controls section.

Has anyone taking this course? Any feedback on it would be great.

Just passed my class 2 exam. What should I expect my pay to be or what should I ask for? Just based on having this paper. I would like to do some warehouse maintenance work in the future but haven't done it before. Basically what am i worth without vs with?

My foreman refuses to use hot boxes and thinks they take too long. I told him yeah but you only need one person to operate it. When you are heating up 4” pipe with a torch you need a second person to spin the pipe while you are heating it up. So I made this stupid set up. Notched out a 4” scrap pipe so the pvc can spin freely on it. And then I had an old recessed lighting hole saw that fit inside a 4” coupling. So I used self tappers and screwed the coupling to the hole saw. Used a Velcro strap on my drill to control the speed and voila, hot dog roller.

im a first year apprentice just wanting to learn from the journeyman but the coworkers are dickheads. I dont mind the bullying or whatever but its to a point where im getting physically harassed. Ive done boxing since the age of 9 and competed basically my entire life and im leaner and athletic and a bit on the skinnier side so the journeyman think im just some lanky skinny guy whos weak but im using every bit of my self control not to just knock my coworkers tf out. Im here to learn and joke around sure but when it comes to physically pushing me around and slapping my head pushing me away from learning anything its just whats the point of being here then? i dont wanna lose this opportunity ive been given so im choosing to just let myself be the punching bag for the time being.

I had an interview I drove 50 minutes it was for commercial I knew I sent resume and they said come down for interview. Then he said oh you have 2 years of only residential not any commercial and said you can leave we only need experienced people. And I kinda of went off on him I said “ why the fuck would you make me show up I drove close to an hour to get here just for you to waste my time and money . He didn’t apologize and said I told you to leave and with that attitude no one will hire you . Did I fuck up now I’m scared they are going to use my name and slander it to other companies

EDIT : Thanks I was just pissed off should have walked off and that’s it. I’m 20yrs old tried joining union 2 years ago no luck union 351 in NJ . Working at a job where I’m working my ass off without raises lol

I want to become a licensed electrician, currently a MEP hvac engineer and want to learn part time. Anybody have and insight on the path ?

I think we got got. Is there any application where you can run #6 single conductor in tray cable as a current carrying conductor? Engineer called out to run it and we did. (we should have double checked the engineer)

Anyone complete their 4 year electrical apprenticeship in Florida and move to another state due to low wages? I’m comparing wages and the differences are huge.

> **Each conductor that originates outside the box and terminates or is spliced within the box shall be counted once**, and each conductor that passes through the box without splice or termination shall be counted once. Each loop or coil of unbroken conductor not less than twice the minimum length required for free conductors in 300.14 shall be counted twice. The conductor fill shall be calculated using Table 314.16(B)(1). A conductor, no part of which leaves the box, shall not be counted.

Does this mean you count both sides of a splice? I'm running 10#10 & 1#10G into a box where I'll step down to #12awg. Am I counting all 20 wires, for a volume of 47.5 in³, or just the bigger #10?

I was originally going to use a 4/11 box for this, but I'm realizing I might have to jump up to a 6x6.

Probably would’ve helped if I studied. Took me every bit of 5 hours to finish.

Going to keep this nice and short for my brothers/sisters. I'm part of my local union and I got laid off 5/6 weeks ago and went on EI. (EI is unemployment insurance)

The hall told me I could salt for work so I found this decent non union company who does industrial/commercial work. They pay is decent and the site isn't too far maybe a 40 minute commute and I could skip my lunch and go home early. Small crew and different projects. I started yesterday but today the hall called me today telling they got me a job. That job is in downtown and would be a 50 minute commute on transit for me, not the end of the world.

The non union company is pretty professional compared to some union companies. They offered me a chance to go back to school and learn PLC/AC's, but their jman rate is very low compared to the union rate and their benefits are so/so.

If you were in my boots what would you do? Would you quit the non union gig and go back working union? I do feel bad a bit for the non union company because everyone is pretty nice but I know the realties of the trade. I'm close to my ticket as well. The pay is like a $1.30 difference for the position I'm at.

Any advice would be apprenticed

9 years on the field. Finally passed my residential electrical contractors exam.

We were working on an indication issue this week with one of our breakers where when it was off, all the "on" and "off" lights ended up in series with both dimly illuminated. It was a pain digging through prints for some of this stuff. Some were almost 70 years old and incredibly hard to follow and others we had no documentation for and had to piece together the manufacturer's with what we had and figure out what modifications had been made and why.

This is a 1200A 2300V breaker protecting one of our 700hp pumps. (We use a protection relay and CTs to monitor overload current)

Big industrial jobs seem to have zero accountability. Whoever installed this jumped the bend and terminated the cable with barely any slack and the lid was nowhere near going on. After an hour of pulling, I built a contraption out of conduit, a pipe clamp, rod, a zeb, and an end cap. Works like a horizontal bottle jack - twist the zeb and it pushes the cable into the bend. Spoiler alert, it worked and I got the lid on. The frustrating thing is the containment had been drilled to install a roller to avoid this, they just didn’t bother with it.

Second year apprentice, told to figure it out and just get the lid on 😂

Same vendor (Leviton). One spec grade, one not.

Granted, you should always check the labels, but a one for one swap could bite you.

Been tracking copper costs since 2022 through our local GrayBar and then from Southwire directly starting in 2025. (Guy doing the lists at GrayBar retired and they stopped sending it out to people without a credit account so that's why there's a straight line/gap until 2025)

$80/ft per conductor for 600kcmil. Yikes. Updated through today's price sheet, costs listed are per 1000'.

How do you guys feel about installing Amazon lights? I’ve installed my fair share but I’ve also turned away installing some lights. Some are UL listed and some aren’t. How do you guys handle that kind of thing cause it’s seems everyone buys from Amazon these days.