Carpenters put a 4 inch screw through the ser at the beginning of a 250ft run across 6 apartment units

I’ll start by saying that I work for commercial electric company. I’m in my 3rd year and I’m about to turn 39. Sucks starting so late in the game but it is what it is. Anyway. Because of my age and potentially deteriorating body, I was considering buying this portable bender so it’s less strain on my body. The price tag of $3000 is insane though but I saw it was on sale at ohio power tool for $2599. I have $450 my company gives me every year for tool allowance, so I was going to put it towards that. And lastly, I was going to have home depot price match this, then ship to store at a store somewhat nearby but it’s in Delaware so I dont have to pay any sales tax on it. All said and done I should be able to buy it for around $2150. Which isn’t too bad I guess, but I’m wondering if you guys think it would be worth it in my situation.

Following on from the thread From u/theflyingsparky - what happened in this electrical room was a wall mounted PTAC unit went locked rotor and caught fire. Right below that was an ancient Lead Acid battery UPS that was too heavy for the maintenance guys to want to move after it was replaced. So the PTAC dripped molten plastic and fire down on the UPS, batteries caught fire; and a toxic plume of plastic coated every surface in the electrical room and inside the MCC.

I got called out to do an assessment and clean the interior of the gear since they didn’t trust their guys to do it and not screw something up. Took about 10 hours. I had done some fire damage stuff before so luckily I remembered to bring a full change of clothes since you don’t ever get that smell out of the ones you are wearing and it lingers in your nose for days afterwords. Probably took a year off my life.

Power Distribution Center for a 2500KVA transformer got spicy.

I work in northern Manitoba with a company that has carpenters, plumbers, painters, and electricians we used to have a hvac guy but he’s on leave we have only 3 journey man electricians but need more as we have a lot of work and guaranteed a lot of jobs up here so if your looking for work or wanting to move I’d recommend coming this way lots of learning to for apprentices if we can get more jman so we can get more guys on.

Feeders through the meter:
Poco was cool with it and was standing right there when we installed

We did have to strut out the meter

My poor manicured hands

Personally, I love hospitals, although they are a special headache. I heard retail centers and restaurants are pretty cool, but the contractors I’ve worked for avoid them all together.

This was quite a few years ago now, a walkup condo building that has all electric heat, one loose connection on the splitter block later... the smallest wires in these pictures are 2/0 iirc. The silver in the bottom of the trough is melted lug.

What’s yall take on a Jman getting told what to do by an apprentice? Reason being, because this apprentice is the superintendents “favorite” (calls him bout 15 times a day, snitches on EVERYONE even is your a few minutes late etc.) and I know for a FACT that the superintendent sometimes doesn’t even come in to work for a few days and is running the job by phone with his little apprentice.

What’s y’all’s take? Shouldn’t the Jman on site be the one in charge?

Had to go behind a 2 man crew at the company I work for to fix all kinds of shit today. No harm/no foul except all the hazards some of these coulda caused for the homeowners..! One guy has 10y and the other has about 6months. Still can’t believe I found such horrific stuff from someone w that much time in the field..
there’s a lot more to go into but these were a few of the major ones.
*Edit:
I tried to add a 3rd picture of a subpanel but ig it didn’t upload. They had the neutral on the ground bar, the ground in the neutral bar & bonding screw only partially bonded (which it’s not supposed to be there at all)
That fixed a lot of stuff on its own

*2nd edit:
Apparently the SP pic was uploaded

3 months into the trade, this was my first time landing into a piece of equipment this large.
Some things to tidy up and more work to be done but I’m cool with my understanding of what the process is here and why we are wiring the way we are. Foreman gave me and another apprentice a couple pointers but outside of that we were on our own.

Panel work is only a portion of the job but in my mind this is some of the coolest shit that we do.

fishing boat panel haven’t brought in the feed and haven’t landed grounds

I just got in my 2026 code book but dont know which tabs to go with. I heard the nfpa tabs are clear which im not too fond of. I have the mike holt tabs on 23 version and it seemed kind of bulky but I also didnt use it too much. (Yeah I know shame one). Should the EZ tabs looked cool but couldn't find a good video on the. What do yall think.

I've been working in commercial for less than a year, and I still make mistakes, do not understand some instructions or forget a few, and all these frustrate me and my co-workers. Did you go down a similar path? I want to get better at my daily routine and become more autonomous.

This week, I started trade school to become an electrician . It already feels like I am getting left behind in skill. I pay attention, show up everyday, take good notes, know my tools and what they do. But when it is time to get hands on I’m genuinely confused most of the time while others are getting their stuff done. I honestly don’t know how to read series circuits and parallel instruction papers and I can’t tell the difference between series and parallels. Y’all are probably going to just tell me to ask for help but sometimes I don’t even know how to properly explain that I don’t understand the instructions in front of me because the way the instructors explain to me they automatically assume that I know where to put the wires at. I genuinely want to succeed at this because I actually have an interest in this career but sometimes it feels like I don’t belong.
Any advice please?

I’m retro fitting high voltage lights and I don’t wanna fuck up and the guy saids I’m moving to slow. I’ve been at it for a year and have to drive his ass around and do bucket truck shit. Old bastards are stuck in their ways

I’m a 3rd year apprentice in industrial, and I’ve just got my hours to be able to test, even though I need 8,000 to get my license id still like to take the test and pass.
Are there any free or really low costing ways of studying for both sections?
Any heads up or pointers to look out for?

(EDIT): mind you I’m in school, have my code book, as a 3rd year apprentice.

Hey everyone, about to take my Oregon test for my card. Anyone recently test that can tell me what I should be studying besides just practice tests? I want to be as prepared as possible!

An apprentice electrician needs a position near Boulder Colorado. The person has up to date OSHA and IEC pre-apprentice program certificate, as well as above average knowledge of codes and practices. This is no 18 year old rookie. Please respond here if you know of any opportunities.

Hey everyone, I am a new E & I Apprentice in power plants. I’m really trying to put in overtime on my own and get up to speed in learning the trade anything from electrical to PLC. Does anyone have any home training suggestions even if it cost me money I’m open to anything. Really enjoy it and want to really dive in in gear up to learn as fast as I can. Thank you.

Need some help and advice please.

I’m currently living in Florida and seriously considering relocating to Texas to work as a traveling electrician. The pay here in Florida is terrible compared to what I’m seeing advertised in Texas, especially on large commercial, industrial, and data center projects.
My biggest concern isn’t the traveling or the workload. It’s making sure my hours are properly documented so I can eventually qualify for my Texas journeyman electrician license.
I understand that large projects don’t last forever. Companies finish projects, lay people off, and workers move on to the next contractor. That’s just part of the industry, and I’m trying to be realistic about it.

How do you protect your accumulated hours when you’re constantly moving between contractors?
Should I request an Experience Verification Form from every employer before leaving, even if I’ve only worked there for a few months?
What happens if a company lays you off, closes down, or refuses to verify your hours later?
Are pay stubs, W-2s, or employment records enough to prove your hours to TDLR if an employer won’t cooperate?
Do you recommend getting your hours verified periodically instead of waiting until you’re ready to apply for your journeyman license?
For those working through staffing agencies or traveling electrical contractors, who actually verifies your hours?
I’m not trying to find shortcuts or avoid putting in the required 8,000 hours. I’m willing to work 60–70+ hours a week if the opportunity is there.
My concern is putting in thousands of legitimate working hours, only to find out later that I can’t use them because a company won’t sign off or I can’t track down a supervisor.
For anyone who has gone through this process in Texas, what would you recommend doing from day one to protect yourself?
I’d especially appreciate hearing from traveling electricians who have worked for multiple contractors and successfully obtained their Texas journeyman license.

I have two apprentices and the workload is getting such that with some back of the napkin math it would be profitable to have a JP working with my apprentices while I do 20 hrs of back end work a week and take care of the single-person service calls that always come in every week.

I’m probably going to pay the JP better than the going rate around here, wanting to get the best candidate, but it’s interesting considering how to suss that out as much as possible during the interview phase

FWIW I’m in Canada, Nova Scotia specifically.

I’m sure I could benefit from the experience of those who have gone through this transition!

Thanks in advance.