tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17084716970047561972024-03-13T04:21:51.477-07:00My NECA/IBEW Apprenticeshipby G. BetzG. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-38517374680125935252012-03-07T02:40:00.001-08:002012-03-07T02:40:04.171-08:00Further Adventures in BaltimoreFor the last month I've worked on the refrigeration control system for a brand new grocery store in Howard County. While Howard County isn't in Local 26's jurisdiction it is where I live. After working in Arlington, at Fort Belvior and Ashburn, Virginia it was incredibly nice to have an assignment that didn't have me driving on 95 and the Beltway every day! When I found out that I was being transferred to another job site I figured I'd be back on 95 every morning.<br />
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I was right. What I didn't expect was that I'd be getting on 95 every morning and heading north. My new job is to update the control system of a grocery store in downtown Baltimore that had recently been purchased by a different grocery chain and changed over and modernized to bring it in line with the new grocery store's requirements.<br />
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It's a fast paced project. Every day that the store isn't selling groceries the new owners are losing money so the days fly by. It also makes for interesting ways of doing things. I've never had a wire pulling cart so easy to roll around!<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKUywNpPyjvRZI7n-BiDh0wUkwcbTghC-RxmnEda868btCBYEE30m0_cmJp21pJsdBs8UBCfjBNOaezNhyLsdxkPwza6o9_zJTsM2eghClNidReNJfFVq-2zOeF__1Ji0r0o-X_lMpgQ/s640/blogger-image-1268306785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKUywNpPyjvRZI7n-BiDh0wUkwcbTghC-RxmnEda868btCBYEE30m0_cmJp21pJsdBs8UBCfjBNOaezNhyLsdxkPwza6o9_zJTsM2eghClNidReNJfFVq-2zOeF__1Ji0r0o-X_lMpgQ/s640/blogger-image-1268306785.jpg" /></a></div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-51799084415021203152012-02-08T02:53:00.001-08:002012-02-08T02:53:57.682-08:00Back to ConstructionFor the past month or so I've been working at various grocery stores around the DC area installing the wiring and devices for new fire alarm and security systems. The grocery chain didn't want us working at night so we had to do the work during the day. In some ways, that's great. Night work can really mess with your schedule. But working in an active store with customers all around can be a problem too. As a sort of compromise work began at 5:00am. (Good for working in an empty store, bad if you have to drive from Baltimore to Dale City, Va every morning.)<br />
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Doing upgrades in an existing building was new for me. All of the work I had done in the past had been new construction. Sure you might be out in the cold (or inside in the cold) but at least you didn't have to deal with the mistakes, either accidental or deliberate, made by the electrician before you.<br />
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(See Photo.)<br />
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The number of MC runs laying on ceiling grid, hot wires hanging out of lidless troughs, panels without covers, etc. that I came across was remarkable.<br />
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But like I said, I'm back to new construction. And even better I'm working VERY close to home. I'm incredibly lucky to have a round trip commute of about eight miles! This means I'm technically working outside of Local 26's jurisdiction. And not that I want to say bad things about Local 24 but talking to the apprentices out of Baltimore, I'm incredibly grateful that I'm receiving a very good education.<br />
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<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrbcEt5K1qukPQfiwoQ1q4I4BLLwvdkT9jZO0V88lImEpJyA2VFfzQkIGLjqxb0PUufF_5SxCd6BbMtApI_2nt1A0HYp369CvSzFp2XypxVYg6vp7aqaPX8kc0Am5udDU1omK0kgAkrw/s640/blogger-image-1838510150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrbcEt5K1qukPQfiwoQ1q4I4BLLwvdkT9jZO0V88lImEpJyA2VFfzQkIGLjqxb0PUufF_5SxCd6BbMtApI_2nt1A0HYp369CvSzFp2XypxVYg6vp7aqaPX8kc0Am5udDU1omK0kgAkrw/s640/blogger-image-1838510150.jpg" /></a></div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-8441932703285321432011-11-29T18:07:00.000-08:002011-11-29T18:16:52.343-08:00The Dark Side of the Electrical TradeNo, this isn't some deep creepy post. Or even one about Darth Vader. It's about something a lot worse.<div><br /></div><div>Night shift.</div><div><br /></div><div>It sounds alright and all at first. It's a four day week, Monday through Thursday nights, 9pm 'til 6am the next morning, paid for 10 hours. And then there's the shift differential. An extra 15% for working while the rest of the world is sleeping. And if you're young and single it's probably well worth it. But if you have a family it's absolutely wreaks havoc on anything resembling normal life. You only get a few hours each evening with your family between when they get home and when you have to leave for work. And then you spend most of the weekend trying to catch up on sleep because no matter how much you sleep during the day you're still exhausted all the time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled to be working and the three months I spent in various grocery stores rewiring security systems while the customers were out of the store was MUCH better than being furloughed - which is how a bunch of guys at my company ended up. But it really does a number on your life. Especially since my wife and I were trying to buy a house - an incredibly stressful and crazy process to begin with!</div><div><br /></div><div>Luckily, after three months of toughing it out, everything has seemed to work out for the best. My wife and I found a great new house (we're moving on Saturday) and I've been transferred to a dayshift job incredibly close to where I live. I have plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.</div><div><br /></div><div>Expect a more rested and talkative blogger in the future.</div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-85831520221226303662011-08-17T16:44:00.000-07:002011-08-17T16:50:58.167-07:00CongratulationsI just wanted to congratulate my fellow JATC Local 26 blogger <a href="http://necaibewrpuvapiromquan.blogspot.com/">Tarn</a> for a wonderful write up in <a href="http://www.ibew.org/articles/11ElectricalWorker/EW1108/WhoWeAre.0811.html">The Electrical Worker</a>, the publication that the IBEW sends out to all members. She is an inspiration to us all to stay involved in the Local as well as the national and international goings-on that have such a large impact on our careers and our lives. G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-64662144360950419632011-08-16T10:54:00.001-07:002011-08-16T11:04:31.360-07:00New Year, New Company...It's that time of year again. August is all about hot weather and getting transferred. The JATC has each apprentice transfer to a new company each year to ensure that he or she sees a wide range of different aspects of the electrical industry. My first company (or at least the division I worked for) did work exclusively in hospitals. My second company was a large company that had me working in large data centers and on large federal jobs where I was lucky enough to get some excellent experience in low-voltage work.
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<br />My new company is much smaller than either of my first two companies. It has been doing electrical work for grocery stores, both new work and renovations/remodels for years. The power aspects of a grocery store are actually rather unique. The coolers and freezers require special attention especially because a loss of power (and with it cooling) would result in a huge loss of product (and money!) Each cooler is monitored separately, though I've been working on a power crew, not a control crew.
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<br />What I have been doing is replacing fluorescent fixtures with LED fixtures. Sounds pretty straight forward, doesn't it? It is. The only catch is that the fixtures are in the coolers and freezers! After weeks of working in the hot weather I'm carrying my sweat shirt and jacket to work because the coolers are 37 degrees and the freezers are -30!
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<br />So far I'm pretty thrilled to be working out of the heat.
<br />G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-6872773590434971702011-07-28T17:02:00.000-07:002011-07-28T17:36:51.002-07:00The Importance of Reading Directions<div style="text-align: left;">This post could also be called 'Pay Attention, Especially if You Think You Know What You're Doing.' (Clearly I managed to make a mistake of some sort.)</div><div><div><br /></div><div>First a bit of background. In the fire alarm / low voltage world wiring isn't usually a hot, a neutral and a ground. Wiring is almost always only a positive and a negative. The rule for wire identification is that the darker (usually black) is negative and the lighter wire (usually red) is red.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fire alarm system I'm installing has MANY components, but the problem revolved around the speakers and the combination speaker/strobes. The speakers have two terminals on the back with a brown lead and a white lead leading away from the terminals. The speaker circuit is a blue cable consisting of on red #16 wire and one black #16 wire. Logic dictates that the red wire (the lighter one) goes under the white terminal and the black wire (the darker one) goes under the black terminal. And, lucky for me, that turns out to be the correct way to wire the speaker.</div></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMdlmgYFiKv9Wm5I9H7QHcqdsQrEyi8Fg5McOC34PuvdbK5c2qHup9Lj-goLP9yWIkyTvEh99zKpBiwkAs21QwdtpEV3aL5Fs0QmQXHtHIYBfdQe06EjPsf2K6WT6UIHxTxKQNBWEDx8/s1600/speaker.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMdlmgYFiKv9Wm5I9H7QHcqdsQrEyi8Fg5McOC34PuvdbK5c2qHup9Lj-goLP9yWIkyTvEh99zKpBiwkAs21QwdtpEV3aL5Fs0QmQXHtHIYBfdQe06EjPsf2K6WT6UIHxTxKQNBWEDx8/s320/speaker.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634564648310589282" /></a><br /><div>The combination speaker/strobes have four terminals on the back, two (red & black) for the strobe and two (white and brown) for the speaker. The circuit for the strobe is two separate #14 THHNs with the light/dark color combinations depending upon which circuit the strobe is a part. The red and black terminals are labeled "S" for strobe and the wires are landed exactly how you'd expect. The speaker terminals, again white & brown, however, are NOT what you'd expect. After installing more than 50 of these, I noticed that there was something molded into the plastic beside the speaker terminals. The brown terminal was labeled 'SPKR' and the white terminal was labeled 'C' for common. In the low voltage world the negative (darker) wire is used as the common wire. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOiHM05W_9pU8uLZFJc_INf0z8sFXy2_GOcuCaCnq0AelxlDcWPkGO8tzu8BkhHM6o3cqYYYrcj0Ov9rvG5BPdbenGq3nar3OvPApolT_3qzXWlNDTbpikXNMPwdGJW2eRdKtBe7EbjA/s320/speakerstrobe.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634566064010157426" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">The two devices are from the same manufacturer. Each on has a speaker component. Each speaker is fed from a brown and white terminal. Except the color's polarities aren't consistent.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">At least my foreman was understanding.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>So, after that long and boring story, the root: I installed all of the speaker/strobes incorrectly because I put the darker speaker wire under the darker terminal. The moral of the story being that no matter how straight forward you think a task is, pay attention and read the directions.</div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-38661750933672367152011-07-12T17:20:00.000-07:002011-07-12T17:39:22.353-07:00Excuse me while I clean off the cobwebs...<div>So, it's been a few months. I wish I could point to some exciting reason why I've been unable to post lately. I wish I could say I was busy working endless weeks of six twelves. (Well, actually it's only my bank account that wishes it was endless 72 hour weeks.) I wish I could say I'd spent my last three months of weekends driving up and down the east coast writing reviews of different beaches. But really it's been the 'busy' that goes along with normal life that's kept me running from one place to another.<div><br /></div><div>We finished the security system at MDA a month or so ago and I've moved on to a fire alarm system for another building on Fort Belvior. After a bit of reluctance at the beginning I'm really enjoying low voltage work. It's exciting because there's more going on than just delivering voltage to lights and outlets. I have loops of smoke detectors that need to be monitored and powered. Fire alarm and mass notification strobes and speakers are wired back to termination cabinets and then into the computerized fire alarm system. While I'm still doing all the fundamental things that 'normal' electricians do, pulling wire and making terminations, the variation and technical nature of what I'm doing is challenging. Circuits need to be wired with key-switched test points and relays need to be wired to allow the 24 volt fire alarm system to operate the 120 volt duct dampers. I get to be inside the roof top units (RTUs) that control the ventilation systems and connect into the rather complicated wiring systems for the HVAC system.</div></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDK0v32iWf_yN9aj8rsouEx-rF34pKW066CALCPONLcbysxC14A-DifITmQA2zLJrH1u0dlBKpX0vWO9TYazIEKXkY2HUx6pTjEyO1e41t25CLpD3NKk3sxUcbINevBOWnZvvsjsQIi1A/s1600/WiringDiagram2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDK0v32iWf_yN9aj8rsouEx-rF34pKW066CALCPONLcbysxC14A-DifITmQA2zLJrH1u0dlBKpX0vWO9TYazIEKXkY2HUx6pTjEyO1e41t25CLpD3NKk3sxUcbINevBOWnZvvsjsQIi1A/s320/WiringDiagram2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628629069800317026" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4CinnOzd_1rgIbdvx9VA8CBxqt3Dz_O-DsQdUynKrP4pKiyBwMdSe95T6cR9HpeSJALltpMVSH0KeigKKo13KviNULABfOeMaurMeOoIN7jhmTGuvNdzxD81N6eFymWg_iegSbs6rbw/s1600/WiringDiagram1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4CinnOzd_1rgIbdvx9VA8CBxqt3Dz_O-DsQdUynKrP4pKiyBwMdSe95T6cR9HpeSJALltpMVSH0KeigKKo13KviNULABfOeMaurMeOoIN7jhmTGuvNdzxD81N6eFymWg_iegSbs6rbw/s320/WiringDiagram1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628629067814916322" /></a><br />Yeah, like I said, complicated. And incidentally, this is what we're about to start dealing with in class - motor control and building automation. I'm actually really excited. The project for the book is to create a ladder diagram like the one in the second photo for an imaginary piece of a manufacturing facility. <div><br /></div><div>Hopefully I won't regret my enthusiasm!</div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-57201178709263826472011-03-05T11:14:00.000-08:002011-03-05T11:39:07.322-08:00The Scramble at the EndMy time working on the security crew at my job will soon come to an end - as soon as we finish the security system. The last week will be taken up with work on every single kind of loose end imaginable. It's not that we've been irresponsible about getting aspects of the system completed. Security work is almost COMPLETELY reliant on other trades to have their work done on time and correctly. You can't install a door contact on a door that isn't there. You can't wire the handset of a lock when the door that was ordered is incorrect, lacking a raceway from the electric hinge to the handset. But these problems all work themselves out eventually. They're stressful, but the last few weeks of a security install are the best.<div><br /></div><div>Security work begins with endless days of pulling teeny-tiny wire from every secure door to the security panel. Different doors would get different combinations of cable. Sometimes two 18/2s, a 22/4, and a 12/2. Sometimes just one 18/2, a 22/8, a 22/4, and a 12/2. Keeping everything organized and strapped down neatly in the cable tray is tedious and slow-moving work. Not at all exciting and when I first found myself on the security crew I was something less than thrilled about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>After all the cables were pulled, however, life on the security crew improved dramatically. Installing RRE panels (the computers that controlled each door's security) and card readers, keypads and door contacts was rewarding. Wiring each of these pieces of equipment and setting up the panels and server racks back in the security closet was a lot of fun. 'Normal' electrical work is pretty straight forward. Voltage, phase, hot, neutral and ground. But in the security world it's low-voltage DC power and circuit boards that make up functional system. Having dip switches set appropriately and ensuring that the correct wires are landed in the correct location on a terminal strip depending on the configuration of a door was anything but mindless drudgery.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I mentioned above, it's when the system is substantially complete and mostly up and running that the real fun begins. Trying to trouble shoot the doors that won't come on-line requires a systematic approach and an understanding of how the system works, both in the computer controlling the system and electrically over the length of the circuit. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've been very lucky to land in security work. I've gotten to install some pretty high-tech pieces of equipment. I've installed, wired, brought on-line, aimed and addressed video cameras that cost more than my car. I've built and installed a server system with 44 terabytes of memory. I've wired transformers and rectifiers. I've dealt with fiber optics. I'll miss it when the project wraps up at the end of next week and I'm off to another job.</div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-9540550208484385842011-01-25T15:23:00.001-08:002011-01-25T15:38:59.228-08:00It's almost February?!?<div>Well, the holidays are finally over. They were great but they seemed to last forever!<div><br /></div><div>Security work has been growing on me. It took a bit of getting used to but I finally feel normal carrying around a tiny little control screwdriver and a set of strippers that only go up to 18 wire. The security system we've been working on is pretty extensive for a modestly sized building. There are card readers to wire, motion sensors to install, key pads to mount and a 'blue light' system that uses push switches to set off blue strobes in a room to signal that a non-Top Secret cleared person is in the room. There's a switch and a strobe in every room and hall in the secure area. I suggested that we just build a hat with a battery powered blue strobe mounted on top that visitors could wear to save money on the install but nobody seemed to think a helmet with a blinking blue light was a good idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>And inevitably, as the deadlines get closer, the pressure builds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today we were supposed to finish pulling the fiber optic cables out to the poll-mounted cameras in the parking lot. Of course as soon as we started we discovered that the company doing the site grading had crushed all of our PVC. So instead of pulling we ended up digging.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the roof mounted cameras had to be reinstalled after the mounting plate started to pull out. Doors that need locks wired were either ordered improperly or sent from the factory with out the correct holes drilled.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that's just this week. But the challenges are fun and the overtime is appreciated. I'll leave you with a little bit of proof that a break spent stuck on a snowy roof doesn't need to be boring.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJ7ORfSK5zNYWxcK-4CwJaZoPaf3CNZtycVJrWv4_ScuCisDAjBNvqwz2EF-Qxs6VSEQGLcvaPxic32Bo5qX6guYez8Qu6jz_F3VCoH6tSS9yPXhS04IwkutgksYhcfygC22X4AAOtGU/s1600/securedownload.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJ7ORfSK5zNYWxcK-4CwJaZoPaf3CNZtycVJrWv4_ScuCisDAjBNvqwz2EF-Qxs6VSEQGLcvaPxic32Bo5qX6guYez8Qu6jz_F3VCoH6tSS9yPXhS04IwkutgksYhcfygC22X4AAOtGU/s320/securedownload.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566270803197876146" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-14825233037023259422010-11-30T17:25:00.000-08:002010-11-30T17:48:10.056-08:00It's been a while...Last time I posted I told you I wasn't dead. Judging by the look Ralph gave me when I was in school last time, I will be if I donn't get something posted!<div><br /></div><div>Life has been crazy for the last few months but work has gone very well. Since I last posted my company transfered me to a military base in Virginia where I'm working on a headquarters building. I've had the opportunity to do a number of different jobs in the couple of months I've been there. Working on getting the backup generator lifted into the generator enclosure was a highlight. We're studying rigging and lifting in class right now and watching a crew of professionals lift a 15 ton generator 30' in the air and land it with an inch of its final location was impressive. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've also gotten a chance to basically construct the two of the building's electrical closets by myself. Unfortunately the job is all MC and the customer wants a very orderly appearance. I ended up spending a month in the ground floor closet hanging transformers, mounting panels, setting up cross mounted strut and hanging cable tray to run the MC from the place it comes into the closet to the appropriate panel. Then I got to start trying to relabel, dress, and land the circuits. It would have been easier to mount a trough on the wall and bring the circuits down in pipe but my forman wanted the circuits landed directly. It took a long time but I'm really proud of how well the closets turned out. I'd take a picture but I'm pretty sure the security folks on base would frown on pictures of their building being posted on the internet.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of security, I currently find myself on my company's security team. I've spent the last few weeks pulling a huge number of cables to each secured door in the building, mounting security panels and hanging cameras outside of the building. I've gotten a chance to spend some time pulling fiber optic cable which is pretty cool. We have one more floor worth of wire to pull, then the termination begins!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Expect a bit less time between posts from now on...</div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-25087912095870212502010-08-04T17:58:00.001-07:002010-08-04T18:11:35.746-07:00I'm Not Dead!The last month has been wild. The JATC transfers apprentices every year to broaden our experience in the field and I transfered almost a month ago. I went from a company working a relatively small job at a hospital in downtown DC to a company working a MASSIVE data center in Ashburn, Virginia.<div><br /></div><div>The first thing that hit me was the scale of the project. There were never more than 15 electricians at the hospital. Even when I worked outages, there were <i>maybe</i> 25 to 30 electricians, tops. I showed up my first day in Ashburn and there were over 100 electricians - just electricians - at the jobsite. </div><div><br /></div><div>The work is completely different too. I was used to running small pipe, 3/4" or 1", pulling wire in conduit, wiring equipment, etc. I've found myself in a world of 3" pipe (or bigger,) load banks and bus duct in rooms the size of football fields. There's 35,000 volts coming into the building. Even the control voltage is 600v!</div><div><br /></div><div>All of this is, of course, incredibly cool. Running big pipe is just like running small pipe but you get to use a table bender. Landing wires in load banks is just like landing wires anywhere else except the wire is bigger. All in all, it's a very cool job. I just wish Ashburn, VA wasn't so far from my house...</div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-67321164251233532962010-06-01T15:46:00.000-07:002010-06-01T16:05:16.738-07:00New PhasesGet it? Phases! It's an electrical joke... Ok, never mind.<div><br /></div><div>My apprenticeship finds me in the middle of a lot of changes. I've just completed the last of the finish work in the work area I've been in since before Thanksgiving. It's amazing how much work (and pipe and wire!) went into four relatively small rooms! I've gotten to do a lot of really interesting things like wire operating booms and install isolation transformers. The last few weeks have been full of the usual little things like installing receptacles and installing engraved cover plates. As things wind down in the Operating Rooms I've been working on the next phase of the construction at the Hospital - doing demolition work on the next floor up. It couldn't be more different from the detail work I've gotten used too! That said, there's always some fun in tearing things apart!</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm also just starting a new phase in my class work with the JATC. Book II throws you into AC - Alternating Current - and introduces things like multi-phase systems, transformers and generators. After the relative simplicity of Direct Current in Book I it's like a whole different world. Very interesting but complicated! More on Book II as I work my way through it!</div><div><br /></div><div>The final new phase in my life is my transfer, which comes up on June 7th. The JATC transfers its apprentices every year to make sure that they get experience at multiple companies doing multiple kinds of work. It's great as far as providing me with a wealth of experience when I come out of my time but it's always a bit nerve wracking walking into a new jobsite and having to prove yourself all over again. I'll find out tomorrow where I'm going. In the mean time I have AC Theory and the National Electric Code to study for class tomorrow. </div>G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-49163228422310081522010-04-17T13:06:00.000-07:002010-04-17T13:56:23.674-07:00Starting Book TwoIt seems like just a few days ago that I became the 'First Year Blogger' and I'm already moving on to Book Two.<br /><br />As a whole, the first year of my apprenticeship has flown by. I'm twenty percent finished with the apprenticeship and a third of the way through day school. In the last year I've learned an incredible amount, both in the classroom and on the job. <br /><br />Looking at the beginning of Book Two next week is a little bit intimidating. All of the journeymen and upper-year apprentices I talk to on the job say that going from DC theory in Book One to AC theory Book Two makes Book Two one of the toughest years in the apprenticeship. Along with that, though, comes the rather reassuring knowledge that most of the people that make it through Book Two complete the apprenticeship.<br /><br />Hopefully since I will be able to blog Book Two from the beginning you should be able to get a better idea of how it goes.G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-22505202817791339812010-03-27T17:26:00.000-07:002010-03-27T17:43:57.890-07:00It's been a while...It's been quite a while since I've posted here. There are two reasons.<br /><br />Reason one is that work has been incredibly busy. First a bit of background: I'm working on four new operating rooms and an MRI room in a hospital expansion. Each of those operating rooms has four operating booms coming down from the ceiling. Each one had been piped for the power circuits and the data requirements in the drawings. A few weeks ago revised drawings came out from the company handling all of the data requirements for the equipment on the job. In addition to the conduit we had already run about half of the booms would require two 2" pipes and a 1-1/4" pipe from the that boom to a new trough mounted in the wall in the sterile corridor.<br /><br />This wouldn't have been a big deal except that the new trough in the wall (one for each O.R.) and all of the pipe had to be run <i>after</i> the walls had already been dry-walled, the air curtain duct work was up and the bulkheads built.<br /><br />All of this was change order work so it made my company happy - they can charge time and materials - but it meant that we ended up way behind and we've been working weekends to get caught up.<br /><br />Reason number two for my lack of posting has been that I've been working hard to finish out Book One of my apprenticeship strong. The final sections of the first book are on voltage, current and resistance in combination DC circuits. It's not exactly the hardest thing in the world. Like everything else we've learned, it's built on the concepts we've already covered. But the process to solve combination circuits is long and involved. Each step is an opportunity to make an error which would throw the entire calculation off. All the studying paid off, though, and I just finished up my last test in Book One this week. I have a CPR class next time and then it's on to Book Two.G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-18634885692346255272010-03-03T12:43:00.000-08:002010-03-03T14:06:45.916-08:00It's a whole other language...One of the first things that hits you when you start in the electrical industry is all the new terms that everybody else throws around that have absolutely no meaning to you. 1900, 11B, device ring, MC connector, stub 90 and the list goes on.<br /><br />It doesn't take you too long to start to get a handle on all of this - mostly because you get plenty of practice when everybody's sending you down to the materials room to pick up a box of whatever they need. Pretty soon you can let the foreman know that there are no more 11B single gang 1-1/2" raise mud rings left on the job and actually know what the object you just described looks like. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that has trouble keeping 'connector' and 'coupling' straight, though.<br /><br />I'm half a year into my apprenticeship and I still run into names and lingo that are new too me.G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-71054192571366492452010-02-25T15:37:00.000-08:002010-02-25T16:28:03.211-08:00Sweeping, cleaning and organizing.If there's one thing that bites about being a first year apprentice it's all the time you spend sweeping floors, cleaning up and organizing materials. The reason, of course, that new apprentices often do those jobs is because they don't know how to do a lot of other things. (And because an apprentice's hourly rate is low. No need for a journeyman to spend the company's money at twice the rate to get floors swept!)<br /><br />Six months into my first year I've learned that what your foreman thinks about apprentices is just as important as how much <u>you</u> know when it comes to work assignments. The sub-foreman I'm working under right now is great. I've shown that I'm capable of doing a lot of things and he lets me do them. He'll give me assignments to run pipe just like anybody else and let me get it done because he knows I can. He'll give me the plans and let me and the brand-new R-worker pull wire. I get to do things like this without anybody standing over me because I've shown I'll get it done.<br /><br />I'm not saying I never sweep or organize materials or walk the whole jobsite looking wire scraps. It's just that I only have to do those things when there are a lot of wire scraps laying around that need to be cleaned up, the material area is a mess or the floors are dirty - never as busy work.<br /><br />Not everybody you'll work under is like that. Some foremen and sub-foremen out there think the <span style="font-style: italic;">only</span> thing a first year apprentice is good for is menial tasks. Again, I MORE than happy to do things like sweeping and cleaning when they need to be done. But let me say straight out, being told to walk around <span style="font-style: italic;">again</span> looking for trash that electricians made after you just spent an hour doing that, finished up and went to your boss to ask for something else to do is annoying.<br /><br />As a first year apprentice you have to learn not to let that kind of thing bother you. You work hard and pay attention so that you can impress the people that are willing to let you go as far as you can, skill wise. For the few out there that don't have any interest in seeing what you're actually capable of the best you can do is just do what your asked to do and remember that in a few years this won't be the problem.G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-81963754176134537922010-02-14T16:04:00.000-08:002010-02-14T16:20:39.519-08:00Tools of the TradeIf you asked electricians what the most valuable tool in their tool box was the most common answer would, by far, be their Kleins. <br /><br />After last week, I'd offer a different answer. The most important piece of equipment any electrician can have is a reliable car or truck. In a week where the Federal Government was closed, every school district in the area shut its doors and when most private businesses closed up shop I was at work every single day. <br /><br />My employer certainly would have understood if I had called in (and you MUST call in) to say that I couldn't make it because of the snow but the expectation is always that you show up for work. And in a profession where if you don't work you don't get paid, being there every morning at 6am is important.G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708471697004756197.post-60027915926494257002010-02-01T16:00:00.000-08:002010-02-01T16:22:18.748-08:00I'm the new first year apprenticeWhen I was approached during class on Wednesday to be the blogger for my class my first thought after saying 'yes' was 'what the heck am I going to write about?' That Friday I ran into a guy on my job site who was finishing his very first week in the trade. It made me think of <i>my</i> first week in the trade, so I thought I'd post that.<br /><br />I'd finished up the application process (I'll post something about that soon) and had gotten a call from the Apprentice Coordinator at the JATC to come down to the Hall. He had me an assignment. He called up my brand new company and told them I was on my way. I drove over to their shop and did the necessary paper work. I watched the safety video and got the name of my foreman. I called him up to find out where I was showing up the next day.<br /><br />I walked into the hospital I would be working at early the next morning with brand new boots and a tool bag full of shiny new tools. I did some more paperwork for a hospital name tag and was given a hardhat. My foreman then took me into a nurses station and recovery area that was being renovated. <br /><br />I had spent a few years fixing cars for a living so I had a pretty good idea how my new tools worked but I was walking into unknown territory. I knew just enough about the electrical trade to know that I knew nothing at all. <br /><br />Honestly, it was all rather intimidating.<br /><br />Once I got going, though, it was great. I spent the first few days pulling wire through conduit. (You'll do a lot of that when you start out.) Each day, though, I got to try something new. People explained things to me and I figured out my role. <br /><br />In the six months since that day in August I've learned a ton - at boot camp, in class and on the job. I'm already a <u>much</u> more useful electrician's apprentice than I was that day. The time has flown by. <br /><br />In my next few posts I'll try to talk a little bit about how I got into the JATC program and what school is like, but for now I'll leave this as my introduction.G. Betzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06311523968004395397noreply@blogger.com1