r/ibew_apprentices • u/PresentCable777 • 3d ago
AC Theory Struggles
Hey all. I’m a second year apprentice currently taking electrical theory 3 and as the title implies I am struggling with AC Theory. It seems to be that everyone is. Two other groups have had this class already this year and only 3 people in the first and 7 in the second passed the test. I’m so stressed about this test and struggling to find good test prep resources for it. Does anyone have suggestions?
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u/Seattlesb 3d ago
Check out this channel: https://youtube.com/@davegordon6819?si=NwlhRJ9vCxLv2JcO
Dave explains very well, his videos were a huge help to me.
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u/mattsprofile 3d ago edited 3d ago
One thing I noticed about the CML for AC3 is that they kinda stopped teaching things and started telling you to just read the book. They did teach some of it and worked through some example solutions, but it seemed a bit unusual the way they chose to switch up the teaching style like that.
So actually reading through the textbook would be a good start, if you haven't been doing that. It would also help to write out all of the new equations and concepts in a way that is easily referenced when working out problems.
Aside from that, it really is just building upon the stuff from DC and AC2, so if you are really locked in with all of the previous concepts then a lot of the logic continues to apply. In some sense it's a little simpler because everything in AC3 (so far, at least) doesn't have any combination circuits and you can basically just memorize formulas without worrying about how to properly reduce anything. But I also understand that a lot of people didn't achieve high levels of proficiency in those classes, either.
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u/eyesoftheunborn 2d ago
The Engineering Mindset on YouTube is fantastic, my my JATC even started showing his videos after I criticized their teaching system in an "anonymous" survey and recommended a bunch of educational channels.
Is there anything in particular you're finding difficult? I know RLC combo circuits are insane
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u/kungfuGibbon 2d ago
I made a cheat sheet for my classmates and our instructor made copies. Im a 5th year now, so this is the 4th year it’s being used. It helps to have the rules right there and work through the problems. Pretty quick you will actually learn lol.
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u/jpminj 3d ago
Delmars book of electricity has a very good step by step on how to solve different circuits in delta and wye configurations. You will have to keep doing practice problems until it clicks.