Electrical Engineer Doing Electrician Work - 6 Things I Learned

[@jonathanwazar7016]

Really appreciate this. I’m your age and started self learning process for electronics a few months back. As I work through all the I have to learn, in the back of my mind I have wondering how all this ties into actual Electrical work on like a home. Been wondering if what I’m learning will translate in any way to helping do that kind of work later on. I see now it’s really a separate thing. I’m going to plan out a section at the end of my syllabus to get better understanding (practical) of how electrical work is conducted. (Thanks for the electronics vids btw - really helpful!)

[@JonDeth]

It greatly depends on your educational resources you rely on. When I went to school for E.E. about 13 years ago, the fundamentals gave a lot of good information and lessons that apply to electrical work for commercial and industrial purposes. It was a technical college so mainstream schools and sources probably cover little to nothing. My father is also an electrician, so I had an advantage. Knowing a little bit about electrician work and significantly more about engineering has really paid off with some of my inventions, particularly the electric motor I invented. *When you mention either one to the general person, they typically do not know the difference and if you disambiguate that one is the most advanced field of science on earth and the other is a trade, they think you're talking from the ass or being arrogant lol.* Oddly, if you go into the labor force as an electrician vs an E.E. with just a 2 or 4 year degree, *your starting wages depending on the company will often be way better as an electrician.* Doing construction for a large company and you'll start at $50 just as an apprentice. That being said, even though I will never return to school to finish my E.E. degree and having done a lot of electrician work, I would never want to do the latter for a living. *Fortunately, I got through enough classwork all those years ago that I have progressed over the last 10+ years without hitting a wall.*

[@tektonelec4695]

Your very humble. As an electrician I have a ton of respect for the effort and time you put in to be a EE.. keep up the good work and thanks for posting

[@CircuitBread]

Thank you for the kind words! We've actually started putting together some videos of things I learned and wanted to share about doing electrician work. They should be coming out over the next month. Feedback, insights, and more would be appreciated once they are posted.

[@Sentinel-ai-alpha]

As an electrician I took EET(Electonics Engineering Technology). I thought with an electrician background i would have advantage over my classmate. In a way I was so wrong. We do solve circuits in electrician but it was nothing compared to engineering. In EET when I first heared about things such as Norton"s theorem, Thevenin's theorem, Super position etc. The advantage I thought I had went out the window. These were things I've never heard of in electrician. I also realized that in electrician, circuits we most commonly solve are actually DC circuits. I came across AC circuits in EET and they were lot harder to solve with Time and Frequency factors.There is no electrical code in engineering tho which governs electricians to smallest detail. The electrical code was to me the most challenging aspect in electrician program since the codes are actually legal documents and as someone having english as a second language, I did struggle a bit in the code section of the program. The code also evolves that you need to constantly update yourself wich in itself is a challenge. I like electrician, i like electronics and currently working as the only personel in the engineering and maintenance department of a 7 storey commercial building with restaurant and all that and i do get to apply things I've learned on a daily basis and a whole lot more. It's a cool experience. To sum things up, you engineers do the research that set the industry standards and we electrician follow those standards to the T.

[@MrWaalkman]

As an electrician (Colorado Journeyman & Master electrician) turned Controls Engineer, here are a few of my thoughts: 1) Being an electrician can be demanding, particularly if you are a construction electrician. I was definitely in much better shape and I had a pair of guns from all of the wire pulling and ditch work. The other trades pretty much left us alone knowing that if we didn't beat them to death, we could always just electrocute them. :) 2) In general there are three sub-fields in electrical work; Residential, Commercial, and Industrial. Residential and Commercial being almost exclusively rule-based (and what your inspector is going to want to see), while a good Industrial/Maintenance electrician will rival what an engineer knows in their niche. The proof of that is in many automotive plants a large part of the PLC programming is done by electricians with little to no input from the engineers. And you will quickly learn that in the big industrial plants you will never see an inspector. 3) For those who wish to wire their own house, do yourself a favor and visit a construction site - with coffee and donuts - and hang out with the trades during break time. This way you can see how they are doing it, and possibly recruit one of the guys for some side work. Doing side work is often forbidden by the shop owner, so best if you keep this between yourselves. 4) For those who followed the suggestion in #3 and did your wiring *exactly* the same way as the pros did it, and still failed your inspection, don't take it personal, this is just the inspector protecting his local electricians. And his own job by extension. ;> I re-wired my sister in law's house and did my wiring just like I had the previous 250 times before that, and the Lincoln, Nebraska inspector (him thinking that it was her and her husband doing the wiring) dinked them for needing an extra staple. He did let them put it in on the spot and they got their approval. And he did say that it was the nicest homeowner job he had ever seen. :) That was done over a Memorial Day long weekend 40 years or so ago. My Brother in law helped me with the wiring of an old house that had a 110V 30A service tied to it. We got it done over the long weekend and that included me driving from Colorado to do it. 5) A bit of inside baseball here, but if you are interested in becoming an electrician, go the apprenticeship route, preferably in a state that doesn't allow LLE's (Limited Liability Electricians). A LLE license allows a person with little to no training to work on projects of up to $25,000. You just have to pass a watered down test and pay a license fee (at least here in Tennessee). A four or in some localities, a five year apprenticeship may seem like a long time. But it goes by quicker than you think, you are getting paid to learn (no student loans here), and if you decide to do something else at the end of it you always have electrical work to fall back on. 6) And being an electrician first before becoming an engineer is *very* attractive to leadership in factories. Besides being able to do the same work as the electricians, you have a mutual respect for your fellow electricians (one would hope at least). And if you look at how European engineers are taught, it is a mix of apprenticeship and university. And there usually isn't any tomfoolery of the plant guys trying to pull a fast one over on you. On the other hand, a new engineer better get ready for some serious hazing (we went through all of that during our apprenticeships, so we just suffered in a different setting). And in the case of union plants we could get away with things that a degreed guy couldn't ever even dream of trying. One of the little secrets of engineering is that not all engineers have a degree. Far from it. Companies like GM, Nissan, possibly Ford and Chrysler, don't require a degree. Most others as well. The basic rule is that if you can do the job, you got the job. At Saturn in the group that I was in, half were degreed engineers, and half were non-degreed electricians. And it's not limited to letting just us electricians sneak in, I've worked with, or known of a; rancher, preacher, phycologist, pipefitter, draftsmen (remember those?), and of all things a lawn care guy who all became engineers.

[@Howardlandscapingllc]

Hazed MUCH harder as an electrician. Remember: they're all construction guys.. not university grads. Literally filed EEOC harassment claims against my supervisor today...the same guy who determines my raises, because he thinks it's okay to bully anyone below him and accused me of being a homosexual for wearing basic ppe, debated me on workman's comp claims and thought it was ridiculous I took 1 day off to repair my daily driver for essentials ...so I CAN GET TO WORK. All this bullsh*t for $19/hr w a $1200 avg studio rent in my area, car payments, non reimbursed travel expenses (under 60 mi not paid by company) and wanting me to buy all my own tools on a shoestring budget... get bent! Looking to go back to university and NEVER work construction again while making 3x the amount

[@MrWaalkman]

@@Howardlandscapingllc First off, there really isn't any room for that nonsense anymore. The time when you could "go out back" and settle things is gone. As for which side can be worse, being on the professional side of things can be pretty bad too. At the old Saturn plant, which is just another GM plant these days (I couldn't think of a worse insult), had one area that was used to dump salaried people that upper management wanted to get rid of. This was the Body shop, where the Area Leader would do whatever he could to harass you into retiring or quitting. He was affectionately known as "The Big Fucking Canadian". He would schedule a meeting at 6am and 6pm and expect you to be at both. And be there 6 and 7 days a week. Paint (my old area) has a leader that has managed to get 25 engineers to quit. It got so bad that corporate called in to ask what the hell was going on (I'm fond of telling people that while we may fall out of trees, we damn sure don't grow on them). I was #13 or so out the door when my boss, who I left Schneider to come back to work for, got busted back from being the Flex Engineering manager as a Level 8, to being an off-shift Production leader in Body (of course) as a Level 7. When this didn't get him to leave, the plant actually picked his retirement date for him. Since I had come back just to work for Lew, I retired on the spot. Up until then it was customary for salaried people to announce their retirement dates at least six months in advance. One of my friends announced his four years in advance. As for me, I couldn't see how sticking around longer than the end of the week was advantageous to me, so I chose Friday as my retirement date. I did relent and stay one month for the Production leader in Paint, who I respected. The other two controls engineers in Paint did the same thing and in the space of three months Paint had to find new engineers. In General Assembly, the engineers were forced to stand out near the lines all day long at one point. And the second in command would bust your chops if he caught you out wandering around. I used to refer to him as the "Hall Monitor". So the upper leadership eventually got theirs, one day after I had left, the Plant Manager was "retired" himself, and things got back to a more normal form of drudgery. As my legacy, and I am damn proud of it, the new normal for announcing your retirement date is letting them know that you will be gone by the end of the week. It's even named in my honor as the "******* protocol". Good to be known for something I guess. :) Some might call this a bad attitude on my part, which I have to admit that I might be guilty of at times. Simply put, I don't mess around at work. You either keep your end of the bargain, or I am gone. And face it, if the company is jacking you around they aren't going to change their ways for you unless you force them. The most important things that I learned as a construction worker is that I am valuable, and that I do have other options. You do too. I can't tell you what to do in your case. You have to weigh things like family needs, the amount of good paying jobs that are in your area, whether you are interested in moving out of the area, etc. But I'd say that you are correct, it isn't worth it for what they are paying you. Your previous electrical experience will look good on your resume, and the degree will help you open doors. But always remember that many "engineers" are nothing more than retooled electricians (so don't feel like you have to wait for your graduation day to get started). And $19/hr is what we call "Beer money". Not really worth getting out of bed for. I was making $18/hr in 1992 (and with my 25% multiplier for being out on the road it was really $22.50/hr). So at $19/hr, even if it was a nice place to work you really can't afford to make a career there. Move on. Best of luck! :)

[@adrianblack3575]

In my last year of training as an electrician in Ireland and we are required to take electronics in our college phase. It is frying my brain but it is extremely interesting. The reason I say is because on big industrial commercial sites I would be cursing the electrical engineers for not designing things in a logical manner for us to install and thought their job was easy. But seeing it from the engineering and electronics side it opened my eyes to how hard it actually can be and I may do the engineering degree as a result. But it is because they have no experience on site I think a balance and experience of both makes the best compromise. Nice Video

[@CircuitBread]

I totally agree - a balance of knowledge and experience would help bridge that gap between engineers and electricians. Good luck in whatever you choose!

[@roastinNAVY]

When I was an avionics technician in the Navy, I would notice that the some engineers designing our equipment didn’t have lots of practicality. They would’t fully understand the technical problem because they never left the lab. Mad respect for you getting your hand dirty.

[@didriksoderstrom9891]

As an older EE student who is also wiring his own home right now I couldn't agree more. It's definitely physically demanding and the ability to internalize so many rules is impressive but the most exceptional thing to me is the ability to adjust entire wiring systems on the fly while staying to code. Add to that the saints who are willing to work on systems with varnished cloth and greenfield cable.

[@Pocket_Rat]

You'd be surprised how much most tradies love their work.

[@Fc9ers]

electrician should be a prerequisite to becoming an electrical engineer. it would help alot when designing construction plans. Just because you can design it on paper doesn't mean it can be done in the field

[@DasIllu]

Retired cable monkey from germany here. I've worked in general construction and in industrial settings. We germans love them rules... You should take a look at just physical dimensions of the printed out VDE code :-) I'd say that french and german code share the number one spot when it comes to which one is all encompassing and most restrictive. I'm not complaining. A lot of the stuff makes sense and everytime i see i.e. americans wire their homes i get an irregular heartbeat ;-) Oh, btw. at least here in germany in an industrial setting you oftentimes work side by side with you engineers. No ivory palace for EEs in the heavy industry. That leads to a lot of cross contamination of knowledge. The flow is biderectional by design. The engineer learns about possibilities and limitations from the technicians as well as the technicians learns abour why the engineer wants something done a certain way and can therefor make sure to follow the idea instead of just the letters.

[@CircuitBread]

I think that's awesome to have the EE's and electricians working side by side. The electricians can understand the why (which is huge) and the EE's can get feedback on how their design is actually working in the field. I have a cousin who works in the oil fields and he said they got some new pumpjacks and the engineers had put a regularly replaced filter on the bottom - so they had to chip the concrete out and dig underneath the pump so they could drop the old filter and replace it. Something that wouldn't have happened if they'd talked to someone who actually had to service them.

[@kerwinloukusa]

As a do double E, who did all my own electrical work in including trenching the conduit to transformer, it was an extremely rewarding and being in the house working with other trades helped move the project along more smoothly and I learned more. 💯 Kudos!!

[@douglaswhalen629]

The only place success comes before work is the dictionary. Our passion for the work comes from helping people who can't do, or don't want to do the work. Great experience.

[@tedlahm5740]

Very nice listening to your experience. Thank you.

[@mnada72]

For me as electrical engineer I wish I had invested some of my time in learning the basics of home appliances maintenance, this would also save me a great deal of agony and increase the level of self fulfillment, but never happened at least till now 😁

[@CircuitBread]

Yes, it does give a certain degree satisfaction to work with your hands. I have the same sensation when I do PCB design and soldering, which, it's been a long time since I've worked on PCBs... I'm hoping to get back to it soon!

[@LTVoyager]

I’m a retired CS/EE/SE and I have done a lot of electrical work. And, yes, it is a bunch of work. And they call it “rough in” for a very good reason as you discovered.

[@Hatim.13]

Great video, here is a tip regarding staples, try to hold the staple with your needle nose pliers/ long nose pliers, and hammer it that way, 1 you ll get a better grip and control over the staple with pliers, 2 you ll never hit your thumb again! I am a 2nd year IBEW apprentice/CW

[@CircuitBread]

That is a great tip and one I used on occasion but not as often as I should have! 😬

[@catanazman]

This video came to me at a very nice time in my life. Thanks for making this video.

[@danielelise7348]

I have a different angle on all of this,I was a HV Electrician who became an EE & I have to say,I enjoy doing HV electrical work more than anything else,I try & do both as much as I can, because I love being on the tools.😉⚡🔌⚡🔌

[@nicholaspeaker4498]

How hard was the learning curve from electrician to EE? I’m a electrician and am thinking about also getting an EE degree to open my options.

[@2001tjmedina]

Electrical engineer is a very broad field. Seems like you're more embedded circuits. I'm purely a power EE. I'm referencing NEC several times a week so I'm pretty comfortable with it. So there are EEs who dive deep into the rules and I'm often debating NEC with other EEs or electricians.

[@CircuitBread]

Very true! My best friend from high school is a power EE and we can barely speak the same language. Thanks for your perspective!

[@divyangvaidya1999]

Do you mind doing a video on the best textbooks you used as a student/professional? It can be all the textbooks that specifically pertains to EE. Every engineering major requires the same math, physics, and calculus. But if you could showcase all the textbooks that are EE related, that would be great. Thanks. This channel is so valuable along with Zach Star.

[@CircuitBread]

I don’t think I’m the best equipped to do a video like this myself but I think I could get some feedback from the discord channel and see if we can spot some trends that we could share.

[@Roosyer]

Yes it’s rough, and that’s why they call it rough-in...haha. Actually once you’ve been doing this type of work for a while it becomes normal for your body. Just like anything, it takes adaptation. I’ve seen people in the trades in their 50’s doing physical labor without issues. They do care take of their bodies outside of work, however. Anyway, good for you trying it and saving some bucks in the process!

[@CircuitBread]

Yeah, I feel like the word "rough" should be emphasized in ours! But our electrician friend, who we kept on bugging, is exactly my age, and he's like a huge brick building. His forearms are bigger than my calves and he can work me into the ground. He has definitely adapted. Thanks for the feedback!

[@Roosyer]

@@CircuitBread Haha...I'm sure that over time, you too could develop Popeye's forearms! Thanks for the comment and all the great content.

[@nicholaspeaker4498]

I’m an electrician thinking about getting an EE Degree to widen my job opportunities as I get older and don’t want to hurt my body as much

[@jesussaquin6266]

It’s crazy to think that with an engineering degree youre above all when in reality, we should know the more you know the less you dont know.

[@yanstev]

Craftsmen/tradesmen have experience, tools, supplies, techniques, shortcuts, best practices, and skills that are learned through doing the job--which makes them knowledgeable and efficient. Things as simple as how to properly use a wire nut takes some thought when it is the first time you've ever done it. That is what you are paying them for. Cracking the NEC book and thinking that your EE degree is really going to help you select wire gauge or best brand of switches/wiring is naivety. Home electrical power is pretty much following codes and best practices. At some point, a power EE did the calculations to develop the codes and standards and that wheel doesn't need to be reinvented. Ultimately, doing your own home electrical wiring has little to do with EE, other than understanding how to test whether a circuit is live.

[@viralshorts5439]

sir , you have a great scene of humor and very humble in giving us layman terms for such works, nice video and I like the video look in general nice and simple no distraction. And hey don't worry about age so much people getting older are like fine wine :)

[@bhargavhonnaiah]

I am in 1st year of engineering, I joined to EE&E, so this is the time I should know in what areas I should be concentrating more..... and Due to Pandemic my classes are scheduled online and its impacting bad on my studies like I am not able to concentrate more....So please help me out , to have a better future as an Electrical Engineer.

[@CircuitBread]

Online school is a challenge, my recommendation is to reach out to people online as much as possible. The community feel, with people you can bounce ideas off of, can be extremely helpful. At least it was for me. There are forums, chat groups, and we even have our Discord channel (which is still pretty small but growing) where we're hoping to help people exactly in your situation. As for what to focus on, I'm not really sure, it depends on what classes you're taking.

[@nancybateman4619]

Maybe I missed it, but I hope you thanked your wife for her help!! LOL.

[@CircuitBread]

Ha! I have on multiple occasions, though probably not nearly enough. We're doing the finish work now, it's much more exciting than the rough-in work and a lot less physically demanding!

[@damosoo4528]

I think its the same in mechanical and civil engineering vs their trades

[@zetaconvex1987]

"Oh no, this requires muscles."

[@CircuitBread]

😂

[@ryhu4755]

Surprisingly, because of the shortage of Electricians, the average age is older than you think. When I started my path 10 years ago the average age was around 50. It might be lower now.

[@CircuitBread]

Average age was 50?!? Wow, that seems really high. When dealing with the other trades, I was actually surprised at how young they all were. I'm not sure if there was anyone I dealt with much older than I was (late 30's). I think blue collar jobs and trades are starting to pick up as people realize the benefit of avoiding school loans and how much money you can make if you are good at your trade. My wife's brothers both work in a trade that doesn't require a college degree and they make double the money I do plus better benefits and retirement. I do enjoy being an electrical engineer a lot but sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice! 😀

[@ryhu4755]

@@CircuitBread It was 50+ ten years ago when I started the Apprenticeship. After a quick google (take for what it is, could be off) it is now 41. There is a lot of benefit in knowing a trade and holding a state recognized certification as an Electrician has been good to me, it is hard on my body as I age though. I grew up in a family of Carpenters, I spent my 20's in the Army doing Communications work and came to the realization that none of it works unless it has power, no matter how good I was at my job. When I decided to get out, I knew there was good money to be made as an Electrician and understood that trades had a bad rap (people often viewed trade workers as "not smart enough for college" hence the shortage and average age being what it was/is). I knew better because my family were Carpenters who made great money and Electricians make more. I don't think you made a bad choice as an EE, that is a bigger commitment than I could make, I had a family when I started and taking on that kind of debt for school was out of my tolerance for risk. Thanks for taking the time to make your content and I look forward to more!

[@Sheikhparvez38]

Hello Sir I'm from India just finished my Diploma in electrical engineering and now am doing the job as a electrician in maintenance department here in Dubai these first six months will be my probation period i want to know how things work practically Sir will this help me to become a good electrical engineer or not? Please reply 😄

[@CircuitBread]

This video was more from the perspective of doing residential electrical engineering work in the USA, so there will definitely be aspects of it that aren't applicable. But the general thoughts, and some of the comments on this video, should help provide insights to what you should expect. The details of your job, though, will likely come from your supervisor and on the job training, which will be incredibly important to keep you, and those around you, safe.

[@muhammadshafiuddin4475]

Assalamualaikum i want some information Will you give me

[@patrickday4206]

EE can over ride so many electrical rules . Electricians can have to argue to do things allowed but is abnormal.

[@fnsilly8983]

The titles are annoying. Electrican, Electrical engineer, electronics technologist, etc. Electrical engineers should be well rounded but university is way too theory base.