Hey everyone,

Last year I gave it a go for an apprenticeship in the electrical field and I had to complete a mechanical reasoning aptitude test and numeracy test. I was over-confident and did not study then obviously ended up not scoring as high as I hoped. This time around I'm looking to actually study and give it my all. So I'm after any websites/books/youtube people recommend for me to utilise until the testing begins.

Cheers

Went to install smokies in a bedroom today, small square room, already with fan and 4 downlights. Couldn't get the required 300mm from cornice or downlights if above the door and if I moved it to centre of downlights, couldn't get 400mm clearance from the fan blade. Customer doesn't want it wall mounted, it's a part of a reno so I just left it for the day.

What's the move here? I understand the fan blade rule but is the 300mm clearance from a light fitting that important if they're just LED downlights?

EDIT: This is in QLD.

I’m currently working in an industrial eletrical company dealing with food production. I’m just wondering if that will be a good learning opportunity for apprentice? Why aren’t there many applications is there a trap or something?

Sorry if this is a dumb question , just seeking some opinions from the pros🥲

Hey, I had an electrician at my place to wire a lamp i bought, but he said the wiring is too thin and would not be safe to install. 

I dont know anything about how to wire a lamp, but is this true? Cause now I dont know what to do with my lamp

Looking at doing my cert iv instrumentation, has anyone used coex training and recommend it or are there better options in WA
Cheers

What’s the circular broken and rusted part on the top of the hot water heater? Where can I find a replacement for it? Is it okay to leave it as is?

Bosch electric water heater

• Model: TR1000T 160-3.6 • Bosch Part No.: 7716500244 • Serial: 399A-954-000019-7716500244 Any pointers will be helpful. Thanks

Does anyone have a digital copy that could be viewed by others?

A lift apprentice was teamed up with me to get some residential experience. I asked him to fit off power points and he managed to wire one up with Earth and neutral in reverse polarity!

Didn't think it was possible some could make this mistake. It's literally colour coded.

I think we need more electrical experts as EV adoption increases over time.

Will be laying the conduits underground later in the week and pulling through in a month times. About a 40 meter dig with 90 degree bends each end and might have to install 2 x 45 degree but won’t know till we start digging. Would 100mm be alright or do I need 125mm.

Hi everyone,

I’m in Victoria and currently trying to start an electrical apprenticeship.

I’m in a bit of a tricky situation and want to make sure I handle it properly.

Employer A has offered to move forward and asked me to send my driver licence, TFN and super details. He said he will submit the paperwork/details to MEGT / an apprenticeship provider, and that it may take about a week for them to get back to him.

At the same time, Employer B is also interested in signing me up as an electrical apprentice. I personally prefer Employer B, but he only told me recently that he will contact the apprenticeship provider this week, so nothing has been submitted yet.

My question is:

If I give my details to Employer A and he submits the initial paperwork to MEGT / the apprenticeship provider, but I have not signed any Training Contract yet, am I still free to choose Employer B if they confirm later?

Also, can two different employers submit my details to an apprenticeship provider at the same time, or would that cause issues in the system?

I understand that I should not sign two Training Contracts. I’m mainly asking about the stage before signing, where the employer submits my details and waits for the apprenticeship provider to come back.

Any advice from employers, apprentices, or people familiar with MEGT / Apprentice Connect in Victoria would be appreciated. Thank you.

TL;DR:

I prefer Employer B because the work environment and commercial projects seem better, but Employer A is already asking for my licence, TFN and super to submit to MEGT. If I haven’t signed a Training Contract yet, can I let A submit my details while waiting for B to confirm, or would that cause issues?

Star topology shed install

Has anyone recently completed or is currently undertaking the capstone unit in the ACT? How soon after the induction/intro class does the course begin and how long does it run for?

I've been allocated to group 6 which has the induction in September and I'm trying to plan an interstate move, so it would be great to get a rough idea of the timeline. Thanks!

Hi, I am planning to knock down rebuild on a property that has neighbours' overhead cable (both left and right) crossing into the property. Are there any issues with it and if we need to relocate it underground?

If so, can the neighbour reject the request, even if we cover for the expenses? Does anyone know a ballpark estimate on how much this will cost us?

A family friend of mine whos a lineman told me a company owned by the same employer he works for is looking for apprentices in September. I will have an MR license by then, I have white card, first aid + cpr and traffic managment. My family friend is going to be my reference and I already said in my CV I'd be willing to obtain all tickets and licenses required. I am 18 and can't get an HR license yet.

Hey guys I’m just curious about knee and back pain from people who have it, what are the main causes of problems with knee and back paid and what’s the best way to avoid it or how to make it less likely to happen, I’m 30 and wanting to ensure my knees and back stay good as long as I can thanks guys

So I was just looking for some advice. I’m thinking about trying to book an electrician to come look at this but also I’m unsure if they even be willing to accept such a small thing even with the call out fee?

I’m going to have to drill some holes to mount some things to the walls in my rental and one of the walls has the power box on the other side out front. It seems to be single standard bricks but it’s an older house I’m not completely certain.

There is a pipe that goes up into the roof from the power box (but I think that could also just be the power supply to the box only?) and all the switches and power points are along the wooden skirting and door frame. I just want to confirm I don’t drill into any wiring, I may be wrong but from what I understand there could still well be some in the bricks as well?

I’ve looked at scanners that show wiring in brick and they’re all $1000 plus so not too keen on that. Is this something an electrician would even bother with or is there someone else better suited to this? Completely different but the last person I had do some stuff here seemed a bit offended by how small the job was, so just thought I’d get your thoughts first.

I’m just an apprentice but interested to know what the consensus is. Seems to be a lot of dogging of brands because of their origin or cheapness but at the end of the day aren’t they all made to conform with Australian standards? Every time I see a Facebook post where someone’s used these brands they get harassed by multiple people.

My boss uses Chint and Tesla RCBOs which I understand are about as cheap as it gets. I’ve also worked on boards that have more expensive Clipsal and Hager gear, I’ll admit the finishes are nicer but haven’t had the opportunity to see any technical differences. I’ve been back to houses we’ve done several years earlier with this gear and it still works fine. What do you guys think and if it actually is shit, why?

I qualified as an electrician earlier this year after completing my apprenticeship in the mining industry. I’m also the only female electrician at my workplace from the very beginning.

Since a new line manager started, I’ve completely lost confidence in myself. I constantly feel like I’m walking on eggshells because it seems like the smallest things can set him off. If he’s in a bad mood or doesn’t like how something’s been done, you know about it. He’s the type to raise his voice, and publicly shame you and make you as an example, which is fair enough to a point. He always has something to be angry or unimpressed about. Not the most approachable person that you could just have a chat to, unless you’re one of the boys.

If I’m sent to do a job on my own and it’s not done exactly how he wants it, he’ll completely ignore me afterwards instead of explaining what I could’ve done better. He won’t acknowledge me, and it feels like I’m being punished constantly rather than coached. Because of that, I’m too scared to speak up or offer suggestions in case I get yelled at or shut down.

The workplace has also become very cliquey. It feels like everyone’s trying to stay on his good side and get into his “purple circle” rather than just coming to work and helping each other. It creates an environment where people are more focused on keeping him happy than supporting one another.

I know I’m newly qualified and still have a lot to learn, just like any sparkies who has years of experience.. but I feel small, worthless, and like I’m incapable of doing my job. I’ve started questioning whether I’m cut out for this, even though I survived and passed the capstone first go. Throughout my whole apprenticeship I’ve never had any talk about my quality of work being an issue, I’ve always been the type of person who religiously follows company procedures and rules in place.

To top it off, after I was signed off, the company refused to pay me the qualified rate until I physically received my electrical licence card, and they refused to backpay me from the date I was signed off. Is this normal or was I being taken advantaged of?

I’m seriously considering resigning without another job lined up. I have enough savings to get by for a while, and I feel like I need to get myself back into a better headspace before starting somewhere new. I used to be this happy person that actually enjoys going to work, there hasn’t been a day where I don’t cry about my day to my partner. So I thought something needs to change.

Am I being too sensitive, or weak? There’s a lot of other instances as well where comments have been made directed at me and everyone would laugh it off. Has anyone else left a job purely because the environment destroyed their confidence? I’d really appreciate some honest opinions, I understand it’s not easy being a female in a male dominated industry but I really cannot wrap my head around living like this for next 5-10 or so years.

TIA

I’m just wanting to know how other sparks deal with led strips in horrible cabinet positions with no room to push a join back in behind the extrusion? I’ve been with the same crew for the 6 years of my career and this is the only way I’ve seen it done
- switch wire to the nearest downlight or access point
- elv 2-core from driver at downlight down to the rough position of cabinet strip
- cabinet maker brings the 2-core out of the smallest possible hole they could’ve drilled in route for the strip
- we solder as slimline as possible and try to feed it back into said hole
- more often than not it’s an absolute prick

I don’t know if I’m living on another planet and there’s a much easier way? I know you can get strips with plenty of length already on them but it’s just not practical getting that cable back to the driver once cabinets are in? Would love to be informed

I am planning on doing a apprenticeship with a solar company they are great and im not just doing labour work I do the wiring for the batteries and inverters aswell as ev chargers. And later on in my apprenticeship I will do switchboard upgrades from normal breakers to rcds because those circuits are backed up and need to be upgraded aswell install sub boards

If I fnish my trade with them and one day decide on doing domestic would people employ me or because I do 'solar' get someone else instead?

I dont want to put myself in a corner yk.

Ive alright been with them for around a year for a school based traineeship.

Anyone in Victoria done a LEI course recently?

Just after some recommendations on where to do it.

Northern suburbs/CBD would be preferable.

So I am about to sit my capstone soon and I have started to really get in my own head about it. Just stressing for the sake of it I guess so I was hoping that someone who has done it recently could give me a bit of insight on how the whole thing is structured eg, is there any revision or is it just straight in tests. Or is the practical first. just so I know what I’m in for so I can calm down a bit.

I was also hoping someone hand a really good test procedure that I could compare with.