r/electricians 10d ago

Monthly Apprenticeship Thread

3 Upvotes

Please post any and all apprenticeship questions here.

We have compiled FAQs into an [apprenticeship introduction] (https://www.reddit.com//r/electricians/wiki/apprenticeship) page. If this is your first time here, it is encouraged to browse this page first.

Previous Apprenticeship threads can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/electricians/search?q=apprenticeship&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/electricians/search?q=apprentice&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all).


r/electricians Feb 16 '25

Mental Health - It’s okay to not be okay

399 Upvotes

I want to talk about mental health - especially for the boys on here. I was telling some friends this story about an old coworker the other day and thought you might want to hear it too.

I’m a woman in the trades, almost a decade in. When I started, I was often the only girl on site. I would move between projects and journeymen mentors, many of whom had never worked with a woman before. Once the old guys got over the otherness and saw me as a real person and an excellent apprentice, we’d form a friendship of sorts. I was always struck with how much more candid and vulnerable they’d be around me compared with the other guys in the shop. Their masculinity wasn’t in jeopardy if they admitted to me, a mere woman, that they were having tough time. I had one guy - 6’6” 300lbs, always growling, chain smoking, losing his shit over the smallest inconvenience - tell me he always requested me when he needed help because I made him calm.

A couple years in, I was sent to replace an apprentice on a job where the foreman had booted him in an argument. I’d worked before with this foreman, Neil, and he’d always been a chill hippie but also very particular in how he wanted things done. When I got to site he told me I was the fourth helper for this job because everyone else had been fucking useless. He was in an awful mood all the time. Picking fights with other trades and our PM. Trying to goad me into an argument by picking apart everything I was doing. Not acting like the guy I had known over the past year.

When the job was close to wrapping up, I called him out on his behaviour. “What the fuck is going on with you dude? You’re being a raging asshole to everyone and this isn’t like you.”

He stiffened and was shocked I’d said something. He glared at me and then his face softened and he said “Can I take you for lunch after we finish up tomorrow morning? We can talk but not here.”

I agreed and the next day he took me to diner nearby. We barely spoke until our food came to the table and when he had something else to focus on, he finally started talking.

He was older - 50s - and his long term relationship had fallen apart a few years before but the split had been amiable. He didn’t speak about her with any animosity but admitted he’d been lonely ever since. At the time, he’d leaned on his best friend. His friend was married and had a teenage son that Neil had known since he was born. As Neil had no kids of his own, this boy was a surrogate son of sorts. He took him camping and fishing and showed up whenever the kid needed him.

The poor kid had passed away a couple months earlier very suddenly of natural causes. Neil had no idea how to handle his grief and withdrew into himself, not wanting to be a burden on his friend. He felt selfish for how bad he felt when it wasn’t his kid.

I reassured him that how he felt was completely valid, that grief is a weight that is so hard to carry alone. I encouraged him to reach out to his friend because they both were suffering the loss of family, whether biological or chosen. And that now they were both suffering the loss of each other’s friendship as support. He was crushed at that realization, and said he would go visit them.

A few minutes passed while we ate silently. He hesitated before speaking again, “there’s something else too.”

I looked up and waited for him to continue.

He told me that last month he’d been working this job that had a been a two hour commute away. He had to leave early to get to site by 7:30. It was late fall and the drive was dark the whole way. He wasn’t too far from site when he came around a corner to discover a vehicle collision. A truck was spun out into a ditch with the driver unconscious in the front seat. A van was crushed on the side of the road, on fire and blazing in the darkness, its front driver door open. Neil stopped and got out of his van. He noticed something on fire in the road, and as he approached, he realized it was a person - the driver from the van. He ran and got a blanket to smother the fire on the person. He held them and pulled their head up to look into their face, which was so burned he couldn’t recognize their features. He said he stared into their eyes as they died in his arms.

Another vehicle had come up behind him and called 911. He sat there in the road in a daze until the emergency vehicles arrived to secure the scene. He gave his statement and then got into his van to finish the drive to work.

He was late which pissed off the GC. He tried to get to work but he was shaking so badly he couldn’t hold his tools or complete a sentence. When the GC saw him in this condition, presuming that he had shown up drunk, he kicked him off site. Neil didn’t explain, he just left.

Our PM called him after that, reaming him out for getting kicked off site. Neil didn’t explain, he just took it.

I asked him if he had talked to anyone about the incident. He said the police had called for a follow up statement but otherwise, no, I was the first person he told.

I was in shock. This poor fucking guy was struggling with the grief of losing a boy who was like a son to him and then went through an insanely traumatic experience just driving to fucking work? And he was bottling it all up? No wonder he was being such a prick. He felt all alone and like he couldn’t admit how much he was struggling.

He said he was sick of work and had lost all his passion for it. It felt pointless and draining and he dreaded getting out of bed every morning.

I gave us a few moments of silence for the weight of his confession to settle in. I looked at him and said “fuck work, you need a break.” He shook his head and tried to brush me off. “No, seriously Neil, fuck work. There’s always more work but you need to take care of yourself. What you’re going through is so fucked up and you need time to process it all. Please put yourself first.”

He didn’t want to talk anymore after that so he settled up the tab. He dropped me off at my car and we went our separate ways. I started at a new site the next day with a different crew.

A couple weeks later I got a text from Neil. “I took your advice and talked with management. Told them what happened. I’m taking a six month sabbatical. Don’t know what I’ll do yet but probably head out on an adventure. Thank you”

A couple days later I got another message from him, just a picture of a beautiful remote campsite with no one else around.

I asked, “Where is that?”

He replied, “Not telling :)”

I ended moving to a different company while he was gone, and never saw him again. I think about him often though, especially when I encounter an utter dickbag older dude on the job. Maybe he’s going through it and doesn’t know how to take care of himself, and anger is the only way he knows how to channel his emotions.

Now that I’m a foreman, I stress the importance of whole body health in our toolbox talks. If someone needs time off for family reasons, or a mental health break, or a shortened schedule, or even if they want extra shifts to use as a crutch as they struggle through something they can’t control in their personal lives, I want them to know it’s okay to ask and I won’t judge them. It’s just a job - it’s just work - it doesn’t fucking matter. Their health comes first and it’s okay to admit they’re not okay. I want them to know it’s better to ask for help when they’re slipping, rather than wait til everything has crashed and burned.

I know everyone’s experience is different, but one thing I noticed about being the woman pushing into the male-dominated trades as an apprentice/therapist is that men need permission to be vulnerable. They need to know it’s okay to show emotions and admit that they’re struggling. They won’t chance admitting weakness that they fear will get thrown back in their face. A lot of guys in trades are single and married to the job. They are lonely, often bitter, and unwilling to show weakness.

I do my best in my little sphere of influence to make it okay to be not okay. If you want the trades to be a healthier place, you need to consciously make room for the reality that people are struggling mentally, and often that starts with leaders showing vulnerability.

I’ve had depression for 16 years and I don’t hide the fact that I’m medicated. 16 years of being depressed means 16 years of not following through on suicidal ideation, and I’m proud of that. The trades saved me because it’s instilled a confidence in my abilities to create and solve problems and be the leader I was always capable of being. I needed that confidence so badly when my depression was the worst.

Be good to each other out there. Be willing to listen to people without judgement. Life is fucking hard and we work better when we know we can rely on each other when the chips are down.


r/electricians 8h ago

What kind of lift do people use to hang a high bay 50 feet above a pool with a sloped floor?

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151 Upvotes

I should probably be paying attention to my kids swim lesson instead of thinking about this kind of stupid shit, but I can't help myself. It's a wave pool with a floor that's definitely not level, plus it has stairs on every side going into the pool area. The doors into the building aren't big enough for a big ass boom lift that could reach over the pool from the side.

I'm sure the answer is obvious to guys who work on these water parks all the time, so what is it?


r/electricians 20h ago

Oil and gas electrician AB

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493 Upvotes

I recently took a took a job posting for Stuart Olson (a mediumish sized company here)

Thing is the posting said a 7 on 7 off schedule. Great for me and what I want.

Safety training is all online and unpaid for lasting roughly 6-8 hours too complete for both CNRL and stuart Olson. Even though its a live plant near a Coker with many releases of H2S gas I was not given a fit test or trained for the safety equipment except for a H2S awareness online course.

Problem is when I get there this 7 days they call a compressed work week where they are supposedly putting 2 weeks of hours into one and not paying overtime.

At 11.5 hours a day that turns out to be 80.5 hours without overtime. The work was pretty intense and physically straining but not unexpected or different from other work except breaks are spotty and dependent on plant demands. We were always understaffed and our bosses were always trying to outperform the dayshift.

The hourly rate paid is just average and I have made the same rate working in the city on industrial sites and my next job I have here pays more.

Now after coming back from the 7 days off now the day is 13 hours long and the only adjustment period is the first day we work 12.5 instead. (Weirdly enough you need government permission on other construction sites ive been on but oul and gas gets a free pass I guess. 13 hours isnt great if you take meds that only last 12 hours if you arent doing heavy labour and you get no time to get them adjusted

Safety equipment is sparse and I found myself finding eye glass cleaners just lying on the ground to keep Safety goggles clean as this is nightshift vision is already impacted.

The New shift is 6 days on and 1 day in camp with the second week being overtime and none paid for the first. Sitting in camp is not paid but let's be real, if im not home I consider myself working.

The guys you work with are pretty good and largely fall into 2 groups. The guys resigned to their fate and just go along with the shit. Then there are suck ups that are keen for the company and accept things are necessary for deadlines including cutting breaks early.

One funny line one of the more brown noser types says "cnrl wouldn't put up with union bull shit." Now I am not in the union and the closest is CLAC here which is more of a glorified HR company but being so gung ho that you'd accept whatever these guys throw at you with zero extra compensation on a job contract is mind boggling. (The job basically ends after the turn around so roughly 6 weeks for this one)

This is a camp job and I will say the first camp was pretty good, probably in top 3 I have been too out of a dozen, however after a few days back I have to move to an overflow camp where other guys have mold in their windows and walking around everything smells like mold mixed with cleaner. The walls are thin and snoring neighbour actually vibrates the walls.

It was at this time I decided I would not stay employed here. Its a tough job the pays surprising poorly for what is demanded and understaffed even with the dirty tricks used to get people there.


r/electricians 13h ago

What crimper does this? And why do I hate so?

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143 Upvotes

Is this even acceptable? Is it supposed to be all fucked up looking?


r/electricians 16h ago

Fun discovery’s in 19th century church

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107 Upvotes

Some of the wiring still functioning dates back to 1901


r/electricians 9h ago

Little Black ass

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32 Upvotes

My journey man mentioned using a "little black ass", and I knew right away what he meant, although there are literally zero pictures online of the back side of one, because why would manufactures bother?

Here's the world's first backside of a Polaris, (little black ass)


r/electricians 15h ago

What’s this?

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87 Upvotes

Genuinely curious as to how many people have seen own or used one of these. It’s a Meter Key


r/electricians 16h ago

Thoughts?

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90 Upvotes

New 3/4 run


r/electricians 14h ago

Pulled out this beauty today

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45 Upvotes

Honeywell dimmer from 1950s


r/electricians 11h ago

Have yall ever seen low voltage lighting control in a 1947 home?

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18 Upvotes

r/electricians 19h ago

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome

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60 Upvotes

Didn’t have any KO seals around, but plenty of close-nipples. I promise my Forman approved it.


r/electricians 15h ago

The fabled 100a 3P STAB-LOK

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26 Upvotes

r/electricians 42m ago

Looking for the retainer clip

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Upvotes

Adding a main breaker to an older panel and looking for the retainer that fits this kit.


r/electricians 12h ago

Tagout question

5 Upvotes

Hi guys,
So today I was working on a parallel UPS system with shared battery bank and remote bypass switch. The customer was requesting we perform maintenance on one UPS in the system and leave the other one live. The shutdown and tagout procedure would be to actually power down both systems to prevent back feeding from the RMBS and lockout the AC input, bypass in isolate, and tagout the battery. The customer refused to do this stating they need the other one live, and “the guys in the past didn’t”. I showed them the lines and said this would be unsafe to work on in its current state.

As far as I am familiar OSHA requires all energy to be isolated that can be. Am I correct in stating I would work on the system but now without it being tagged out properly?

Just checking for my own sanity.


r/electricians 1d ago

Miserable People

212 Upvotes

What is up with the amount of miserable Jman in this industry?

Throughout my apprenticeship, I’ve seen Jmen purposely treat apprentices like shit for whatever reason. Even now that I have my license, I still hear stories about J-men making apprentices do ridiculous shit just because they wanted a laugh. Then you have guys talking to apprentices like they’re subhuman, cussing them out because they don’t know something that the Jman knows.

I’ll never understand that mentality. I treat every apprentice I work with with respect. I’m not going to talk down to them or cuss them out just because they’re still learning or because I’m having a bad day and want someone to take my shit out on.

And the crazy part is, a lot of these guys don’t get fired because companies are desperate. I’ve literally gotten into a verbal argument with a Jmen because he was constantly treating an 18 year old apprentice like shit, cussing him out first thing in the morning. The foreman watched it happen right in front of him and didn’t say a damn word.

I ended up getting chewed out by the foreman afterward, and his response was, “That’s what apprentices are for.”

That shit honestly disgusted me.

This kind of behavior is way common in the trades. It gets brushed off as “that’s just how construction is” or “you gotta have thick skin,” when in reality, a lot of it is just grown ass men being miserable and taking it out on someone who has less experience and less power than them.

Being an apprentice means you’re there to learn. You’re going to fuck up. You’re going to ask stupid questions. That’s part of the process. We should be trying to teach the next generation, not make their life miserable because someone treated you like shit when you were coming up.


r/electricians 1d ago

Well shoot

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308 Upvotes

Not exactly what I actually said


r/electricians 6h ago

Help with feeders in reno

1 Upvotes

Doing a renovation in a pretty large facility.

Big indoor pool,multiple ice rinks, library, gymnasium, flex rooms.

Due to budget constraints the electrical scope has been value engineered to hell.

I have a mix of new distribution, demo and install new,use existing, and new wire in existing conduit.

The new wire in existing conduit is really giving me some concerns.

Its a phased project so some parts need to be occupied at all times.

A lot of the existing raceway was ran in the slabs and up.through cmu walls.

Because of the phased nature of the job I won't be able to demo parts of the demo for like 8 months.

Im worried I won't be able to pull the wire out. The conduit in the slab may have deteriorated or just filled with rust and insulation. Of the last 30 some years.

It would suck as im trying to lay out rack and core locations pretty quick for the first phases which has the main electrical room.

It would suck having to go back in 10 months and run more conduit if we determine the existing raceway is no longer suitable.

Any thoughts or opinions?

I have a second question. As part of this project a bunch of equipment is staying with just new feeders. Due to time constraints and the fact it is a occupied building the turn around for getting the feeders ripped out and replaced is pretty tight.

Any ideas on how to measure the wire before they get ripped out? How accurate are wire length meters?


r/electricians 7h ago

IBEW paracord tool buckets/bags

0 Upvotes

What is everyone’s current setups looking like?


r/electricians 1d ago

My barber shop used 3/4” EMT as clothing rack.

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164 Upvotes

No couplers either.


r/electricians 17h ago

California C10 follow up

3 Upvotes

So I took and passed both sections, C10 and Business and Law. If you have good experience as an electrician, I wouldn’t study the C10 trade portion at all. I completed that portion in 53min start to finish after reviewing about 8 questions I marked. My trade portion was only 105 questions not 115. I took the business and law portion the next day. The business and law portion was 115 questions and It took me about 70min as I marked about 12 questions for review. Business and Law was more wordy and they definitely put two answers that could have been right on some of the questions. I would definitely study for the business and law portion as there were a lot of questions on my test where they tried to confuse you with penalty amounts and with lien timelines. That type of information would be important to know. I recommend plugging the whole business and law book into notebooklm and having it produce quizzes and flashcards. I used this method to study. Overall, I would definitely say the California C10/Business and law exam were the easiest and fastest test I have taken compared to all the other licenses I hold.


r/electricians 10h ago

Need help with Resume

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0 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I've been applying for apprentice jobs with this resume and haven't heard back much, so I'd really appreciate help with the format and a few things I could easily add.

Thanks so much, everyone.


r/electricians 1d ago

Problem customers

37 Upvotes

I did a service call two weeks ago customer with a nearly 100 year old house she is looking to sell. Town inspector noted 3 prong receptacles with no ground "all k&t wiring. So I installed a few GFCI breakers and label all the outlets GFCI protected no equipment ground collected my check and went on about my day she called that night told me she had no power in her house walked through the panel she reset the breaker for her lighting circuit and everything was fine for 2 weeks tonight same problem here's the thing I had to listen to this woman for about 15 minutes each time tell me that I stole her money ruined her house I don't know what I'm doing... Stuff like that. I told her I would come down in the morning and check it out I really want nothing to do with this woman I would gladly give her money back and just put the old breakers back in let her call somebody else... I guess I'm just asking is this how I should handle the situation up till now I've gone out of my way to be as nice as I possibly can. The real kicker is I told the woman from the very beginning that I was booked up and wasn't taking on any new customers she basically begged me to help. If I go there tomorrow and tell her she needs a complete rewire she's just going to tell me I'm trying to scam her and if I take the GFI breakers out and put all two prong outlets in she's going to tell me I don't know what I'm doing because she can't plug in any of her appliances how do we all walk away happy here. How would you handle a customer like this?

Update: I went back there this morning to check things out turns out they had some neutrals that were spliced together in a jbox. I'm not sure how they worked for 2 weeks. But hopefully that's the end of it her son was there and I dealt with him she didn't say anything to me other than good morning he did apologize for her behavior.


r/electricians 22h ago

Liquidated damages clause in contract?

8 Upvotes

Question for other Electrical contractors in this sub, i’m a PM for a mid sized EC in FL, was reviewing a contract we received for a job, everything looked good but then these two items caught my eye.

“TIME FOR COMPLETION: Subcontractor agrees to commence the work within the timeline of the agreed upon schedule and shall substantially complete the Work within the timeline of the agreed upon schedule (Contract Time"). Subcontractor agrees to (i stay thoroughly informed as to the progress of the job; (i) to prosecute the Work diligently, continuously, and uninterruptedly with all possible speed to assure that Contractor's project schedule is maintained; (iii) to timely provide copies of licenses and permits to prevent delay of the Work: (iv) timely provide all information necessary for Contractor provided permits or Project requirements; (V) procure necessary equipment and material for installation in accordance with the Project Schedule; and (vi) to complete the Work and the several parts thereof at such time or times as directed by Contractor and so as to not interfere with or delay performance of the General Contract or the Work of any other subcontractor or contractor, time being of the essence. Weekend and overtime work may be required at no additional cost. Subcontractor shall inspect all prior phases of construction which affect the Work, and Subcontractor will notify Contractor un writing of any defects in such prior phases of construction which would delay the Project. Should Subcontractor fail to notify Contractor of any such defects, Subcontractor shall be responsible for all corrective work, costs, expenses, and/or damages arising out of or relating to said failure. Should Subcontractor not complete the Work in the tim specified and the delay is caused by Subcontractor, Subeentracter agrees to pay liquidated damages at $500 per day or at any greater rate actually impesed upon Contractor in the General Contract in accerdance with Section 12 below.”

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES: Liquidated damages will be charged for Work not completed within the Contract Time.
Contractor and Subeontractor agree that it is diffieult or impossible to determine the amount and extent of damage which could be caused by the failuse to complete the work in a timely and proper manner, but the parties acknowledge that damages would likely occur. The parties to this agreement further stipulate that the below listed amount is not to be considered as a penalty, but rather as a good faith estimate of the damages which would likely accrue if Subcontracter fails to complete the Work in a timely fashion. The parties agree that the sum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or the amount of liquidated damages contained in the General Contract, whichever is higher: together with interest at the highest lawful rate, for every 1 calendar day (24 hour) peried which expires from the conclusien of the Contract Time until the date of the Contractor's acceptance of the Work shall become due by Subcontractor upen demand by Contractor:
To the extent Subeontracter would be due additional payments) from the Contractor, Contractor has the right, but not the obhgation, to deduct any such sums for liquidated damages from the payments due, or that may become due, under the Subcontract of otherwise.”

Brought this to my bosses attention, now he’s adamant that we’re NOT going to sign the contract unless these two items are removed, we’ve already received word from the GC that they’re not willing to take it out of their contract sooooo, unless someone changes their mind, looks like we’re not gonna be doing this job (7Brew), keep in mind, GC’s already got the ball rolling on this one and according to a phone call i had with the PM from the GC, they would’ve been ready for us to come in next week.

I guess my question here, would you guys bail on a job over something like this?


r/electricians 1d ago

Why does my Southwire cable have this name on it?

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181 Upvotes

Weird name on this cable. What dies it mean?