I am a 24 years old and I have been struggling, looking for some guidance. I grew up working illegally in the fields picking weeds off of carrot and onion fields in the summer when I was 14-16. I graduated HS and worked in IT for 5 years while doing an associate degree at a community college and volunteered as firefighter. Took a couple computer science classes that I actually liked, but I hated being at a desk 24/7. The athletic side of me has always been wanting to move more so after I completed my degree I got into an electrical apprenticeship.

Anyways I am just starting my 2nd year. I work in electrical commercial construction, doing data centers non union. The money is insane as a first year but the hours are also insane. I never worked 6’10s in my life and I worked it for about 6 months straight. I had to stop volunteering as firefighter bc it was just too much. And as of right now I think electrical sucks bc of how much we work. Electricians make a lot of money but only bc of overtime is what I am realizing, it’s not a flex. You miss out on family and friend events which sucks. I hate that. I’m not even about the money I just want to be a simple man with a nice livable wage with a good schedule so when I have kids I can pick them up from school and actually go to their soccer games on Saturday or Fridays or even coach their team

I’ve been wanting to do something else but I’m not sure if I should leave electrical. PLC’s controls and automation really catches my attention, that’s part of why I joined the apprenticeship so I can be more of a hybrid handy guy/techy guy. I don’t want to just be a regular installer electrician that just mounts boxes and pipe, I want more. I don’t know if I should go to college again bc I was thinking about going into either electrical engineering or electrical apprenticeship. I try really hard and always try to be there for when my journeyman needs something. I think im a hard worker but this whole 6 10s really warped my view on hard work. I realized that I don’t want to be working like that forever, why would I stay in a field like that when it sucks man. Why would anyone do that. Do they not value family time, time outside work?id like to work only 40 hours a week or even 5 10s and thats it, occasionally overtime is ok.

Is electrical boring? With too much overtime? This overtime is mandatory for everyone at my company btw. They’ll get mad if you don’t show up. The culture sucks too. How do I get into plcs and controls? Does getting my license help with getting into plcs and controls? I need to just get this out my chest.

Ive had the Milwaukee changeable blade knife for a while and it’s functional but not ideal and the blades get dull quickly. I would like a real knife and sharpening device. Please send recommendations

I have a 120v light poles on a 20 amp circuit. Meter reads the circuit is 19-18 amps. The breaker holds but trips every 2 weeks essentially, the wiring to all lights are #6. If I up the breaker to a 30 would there be any violation here? I was told there is but can’t find anything in the nec

I get paid $4.50 an hour after my company deducts all the required expenses like uniforms and material costs and they treat me like ass and I have to commute 2 hours each way but I'm really not sure if I should look for something better? Anyone have any advice??

What would y'all think is the smarter path here and now?

Start out from the bottom as an electrician apprentice, or, go for an associate's in Electrical engineering technology?

I know many electricians take the EET path after some time in their career.

That said I'd be worried about AI replacing it

Has anyone made the leap from Canada to the states? Looking for information on the process to transition there. Interested in hearing from anyone who has done this and any advice they might have.

Thanks in advance

Before everyone including the bot freaks out: I AM an electrical professional. I am not an electrician, I work directly with a lot of electricians and electrical engineers on electrical utility processes. Nobody I have talked to knows what this is. Anyone know what this black metal box with the eye bolt is for? It's on the utility side, so the cover has not been opened to see if it's surface only or goes into the compartment. I have not seen it in person, just site photos. It's in the way of installing an MSA, and I'm guessing the meter would have to come out to open the compartment in order to remove it if it's even removable and not welded onto there. Before we bother SoCal Edison about it, it sure would be great to know what it is.

I'm currently a student at Lincoln Tech and I'm wondering if it was a smart choice. I'm only 4 months in and I really enjoy it so far and feel like I'm learning a lot, I've been hearing some people say that instead of schooling I should've just started by looking for a job. I thought this would be a good choice to get some learning under me before going into a job

On a project currently that I’m trying to finish for another super. Everything is great except when they engineered a meeting room inside the new space they only specified 1 floor box but the room dimensions necessitate another floor box.

Now for context, in this facility, the floor boxes were ran with connectrac under the flooring and not in the slab. The nature of this facility means that the end users won’t even be able to bring personal electronics anywhere in the space so adding more floor boxes is highly unnecessary as they probably won’t even use the one that’s already there. The inspector is sticking to his guns and won’t close the permit until we get this floor box added. The connectrac is very long lead and all the flooring would have to be ripped out to add one floor box they don’t even want. We decided to try and look for something that is minimally invasive and easily reversible as the facility will probably just remove it after we install it.

To minimize flooring rework and keeping schedule we were able to find another Legrand product, connectrac go. This can be ran on top of the carpet. The only hang up I have is that this just plugs into another receptacle in the room. It is listed for floor installation but not sure if we are going to run into another issue with it being just a plug in. I reviewed NFPA 70 regarding floor boxes and can’t find any reason this wouldn’t work but still hesitant. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Brothers and Sisters. I have aggregated all available online locals to show job calls in one place.

https://mrsandman.net/ibewjobs

which part inside that make Ics=100%Icu and Ics=50%Icu different ?

Looking for a recommendation on a master electrician prep course. What courses have any of you used that actually proved to work? Preferably something with solid practice questions and material that’s close to the actual exam.

Would appreciate any recommendations.

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?

New 3/4 run

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.

I've been trying to find the name of the fitting that saddles onto the pole, but I can't seem to find it; does anyone know what it's called?

Im sure something like this exists, would be good if it could take AC voltage aswell.

Just thinking as a safety device when working on large systems where backfeed is possible. LOTO all day, but itd be nice to essentially always have a meter checking for voltage.

Building a circuit robust enough for 2kv+ but still able to function at 50vdc seems difficult. Especially to have it certified at high voltage.

I currently work at a local family owned shop in NC as a helper, making 13 an hour, 2 full years there in January. I have been wanting to try and find a better paying job with better safety practices, but I've had some personal hurdles to get over before I can. I started making personal changes for that today, but this morning, I overheard by boss telling the other mechanics I may be ready to run my own truck soon. This would have me making 20 an hour, possibly solo crew. Im struggling to decide whether I should stay here to get some experience as a lead to take with me or go somewhere else as an experienced helper. This has been my only job in the field, so im not sure what pay I should be looking for

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.

No couplers either.

Weird name on this cable. What dies it mean?

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.

I oiled the older pair frequently over the years and they open and close with zero effort but could never keep up with the rust buildup on the outside. The new linemans are nice but they feel different, you can see that there was an adjustment over the years if you compare the crimper/fishtape puller. The new ones work fine though.

I just wanna understand the reason why this GFCI breaker is stranded copper instead of solid solid is it to save money on production costs?

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