Electrician U

Over the past few years I’ve been noticing a lot of electricians, plumbers, and HVAC guys carrying around Milwaukee jobsite lights.  When I was in New York at the #THDproSpective event Milwaukee had entire area blocked off for their lighting tools.  No other tool company has the lighting technology game on lock down like Milwaukee… Continue reading TOOL REVIEW – Milwaukee Radius Compact Site Light

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Voltage is an electromotive force created by a difference of potential.  Therefore the terms voltage and difference of potential can be interchangeably used.

The term “difference of potential” is often used in describing the ability of an electric circuit to create movement.  Just like in Physics you have potential energy and kinetic energy, in electricity you can describe the phenomena the same.

Electric current flows by making a circuit have a potential difference at the source.  Then by connecting those two potentials with a conductor (wire), you’re able to make a strong current of electrons flood through the conductor from the source, back to the source.  

A battery has two different types of metal inside of it.  One piece is made of a material that freely gives up electrons, and the other freely receives electrons.  Just the ability for these two pieces of metal to have a relationship of proximity, is enough to capture and utilize the atomic energy they create.  

Another good example is lightning.  When the clouds fill up with positive charges, and the air closer to the ground has more negative charges a discharge of electric energy will occur. There is a difference of potential between the clouds and the ground, so current can flow.  After a thunderstorm has passed the charges equalize and everything goes back to being the same potential.

You can think of electricity similarly as you’d think of water.  Electricity flows and has a current, as does water.  There’s a pressure to that current depending on the voltage, or difference of potential, of the source…just as water uses the difference of potential created by gravity and height.  Water flowing down a small slide will flow gently.  Water flowing down Niagra Falls will kill you.  Both the difference of potential as well as the current (or amount of flow) increases dramatically.

In order for electricity to work, there has to be movement.  Static electricity still needs movement to occur in order to discharge and equalize charges.  The only way that movement becomes useful is once there is a difference of potential present.  That is what voltage is all about.

Please check out the Electrician U Facebook page and subscribe to the YouTube Channel if you like these videos!

**Disclaimer – These videos are for training purposes alone, all work done on electrical systems should be done by a licensed and insured electrical contractor.  If you are not an electrician, do not attempt any of the work you are seeing in these videos.**

http://electricianu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Episode14-DifferenceOfPotential28VOLTAGE29.mp3

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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For those of us that are more visual learners, I’ve made this show one that can be followed visually.  In this episode I draw out on the white-board how switch loops work, and how to wire them.

The part that confuses most people when wiring a switch loop is that you’re twisting together a black and a white wire.  They don’t think about each wire as a conductor, they think of them as a hot and a neutral.  At some point in your career you’ve got to stop thinking in terms of hots and neutrals, and start thinking in terms of conductors and paths.

Essentially a switch loop takes an incoming hot and neutral into the ceiling box, then passes the hot conductor through the box on the white conductor going down to the switch.  From that switch box current travels on the black conductor back up to the ceiling box.  At the end of it you should have 3 sets of wires to concern yourself with in that ceiling box.  1) One independent white wire (neutral from electrical panel), 2) One independent black wire (switch-leg from switch box below), and 3) A wirenutted black and white conductor pushed in the back of the box that’s made up of the incoming hot from the panel (black), and the outgoing (white) to the switch.

That’s it!  Now we just hang the fixture and hook the fixture black and white wires, to our ceiling box black and white wires.  Don’t forget to hook up ground if it’s a metal fixture.  Grounding is still very important and will always be.

Please check out the Electrician U Facebook page and subscribe to the YouTube Channel if you like these videos!

**Disclaimer – These videos are for training purposes alone, all work done on electrical systems should be done by a licensed and insured electrical contractor.  If you are not an electrician, do not attempt any of the work you are seeing in these videos.**

http://electricianu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ep13SCHEMATICShowaswitchloopworks.mp3

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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This episode is something a lot of green apprentices need to watch.  Switch-loops are very difficult to grasp when you’re new to the trade, and in this show I break down how to install and wire for these bad boys.

First of all the reasons why you would do a switch loop are plentiful.  Most of the time there is a specific reason why you’d need to do one of these, but all of them revolve around there being a hot run to a junction box or a light fixture, and you need to get that hot down to a switch box to control the light.

Normally we would run a hot and neutral TO a switch box, then run a switch leg (and neutral) up to a light.  This is how 90% of switches are wired.  In a switch loop this is not how it’s done.  Switch loops work by “stealing” a hot that’s in an attic or maybe in a light fixture box in the ceiling, and sending that hot down to the switch on a white wire, then sending the switched side (black wire) back up to that same box to turn a light fixture on.  A lot of older homes are wired this way.  Old-school electricians used to run their “home-runs” from the panel to various ceiling boxes throughout the house.  From there they would spider out to all the switches and plugs.  Now days most of us run our “home-runs” from the panel to switches or plugs, then run switch legs up to the lights.

The idea of a switch loop is that we take our incoming hot in the ceiling and tie it together with the white wire that goes down to the switch.  Then we tie the black wire coming from that switch to the light fixture that you’re hanging in the ceiling.  The neutral wire in the ceiling box just stays there to be hooked up to the light fixture’s neutral wire.  So at the end of it all you’ll have hanging out at you: a black switched wire, a white neutral wire, and a black wire tied together with a white wire under a wirenut that you will simply push in the back of the box.  

Finally when you go to install the switch, you put the white on the switch, and the black on the switch.  Pretty simple right?  Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, or if you just want to reach out.

Please check out the Electrician U Facebook page and subscribe to the YouTube Channel if you like these videos!

**Disclaimer – These videos are for training purposes alone, all work done on electrical systems should be done by a licensed and insured electrical contractor.  If you are not an electrician, do not attempt any of the work you are seeing in these videos.**

http://electricianu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Episode12-HowToWireForASwitchLoop.mp3

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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In this episode I take apart a 3-way and 4-way switch and talk about how they work on the inside.

A typical 3-way switch works by allowing current 2 pathways to take through the device.  If the switch is in one position it allows current to take one path.  If the switch is flipped into a different position current will take a separate path.

4way switches operate virtually the same way, by offering 2 paths for current to travel, however a 4way switch has 2 inputs and 2 outputs.  This differs from a 3way switch where you have one input and 2 outputs.

I will be coming out with an episode next that shows all of this on a white marker-board a little bit more in depth. Stay tuned!

Please check out the Electrician U Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theelectricianu and subscribe to the YouTube Channel if you like these videos!

**Disclaimer – These videos are for training purposes alone, all work done on electrical systems should be done by a licensed and insured electrical contractor.  If you are not an electrician, do not attempt any of the work you are seeing in these videos.**

http://electricianu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Episode10-WhatsInsideA3-wayand4-waySwitch.mp3

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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This episode is all about breakers, from the outside-in.  I cover the differences between single-pole, two-pole, and 3-pole breakers. I talk about how a breaker is a simple spring-held mechanical switch that operates by an internal electromagnet.

Finally I take a Square D single-pole breaker apart and show you how a breaker trips, and how the mechanics of the inside of a breaker works.

If you found value in this video please SUBSCRIBE and LIKE so you don’t miss any of the electrical videos that I come out with weekly.

Please check out the Electrician U Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theelectricianu and subscribe to the YouTube Channel if you like these videos!

**Disclaimer – These videos are for training purposes alone, all work done on electrical systems should be done by a licensed and insured electrical contractor.  If you are not an electrician, do not attempt any of the work you are seeing in these videos.**

 http://electricianu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Episode9-HowBreakersWorkWhatsInsideABreaker.mp3

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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In this video I talk about how to wire for and install 4-way switches.  4-ways are very similar to 3-ways, and in fact you use (2) 3-way switches in a 4-way setup.

First you have to think about the reason why you need a 4way.  4way setups are needed when you have 3 or more locations that need to be able to switch the same light or lights.  Say you have a room with 3 entrances/exits.  You will need to place a single gang box at each of the 3 doorways for a switch to go.  In a 3way setup you only need 2 boxes because you’re only trying to control a light from 2 locations.

Once you get the 3 boxes set up you need to figure out which side will be your “hot side,” and which will be your “leg side.” The hot side is where your incoming power will land.  Your leg side is where your switch leg will go up to the light or lights you’re trying to control.  You want to be sure not to put both your hot and your leg in the same box.  Always keep them on separate sides of the room.

From the hot side you’ll run a 12/3 “traveller” (3-conductor with ground – most often a black, red, white, and bare ground) from the first switch box to the 4-way switch box in the middle.  Then from that middle 4 way box you’ll run another 12/3 traveller out to your leg-side box.  Then if you haven’t already run a hot (12/2) to your hot side box from a known location of existing power.  Finally run a switch leg (12/2) from your leg side box up to the light/lights.

That’s it as far as the wiring.  It is a good practice to get into to label each wire that you land in a box.  You won’t need to do this up in the light or in any plug boxes.  Only light switch boxes need to be labelled when wiring for a 3–way or 4-way system.

Next you’ll need to rip out the wires and prepare them for installing the 3way and 4way devices.  This video talks about properly twisting grounds together, making joints on the neutrals, and twisting your 12/3 black and red wires together to identify them as travelers.  Otherwise you may get confused about which black wire goes where.  

Once you have everything ripped out and prepared for the switches, it’s time to install the devices.  On the 3way switches (one goes on the hot side, the other goes on the leg side) you’ll simply put the independent black wire on the black (common) screw.  Both of the gold screws are for the 12/3 travellers.  And finally the green screw is for the bare ground.

The 4-way switch goes in your middle box and each pair of 12/3’s go to a specific side of the 4way device.  Each 4-way switch has an “IN” and “OUT” side designated on the back of the device.  Make sure that the travelers coming from the hot side go into the “IN” terminals.  The travelers going out to the leg side must go in the “OUT” terminals.

Once all of the devices are installed turn on power (make sure you have a lightbulb in your light) and start flipping all of the switches you just installed.  You should be able to walk through the room and flip every switch and all of them both turn on and off the lights from all 3 locations.  If not, you fucked something up lol

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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Well everyone….the time is here! I’m in New York City for this year’s #THDProSpective tool event and I’m about to find out what tool manufacturers will be sending me over the next year to test, review, and give away!

I’ve never been to New York City before and holy shit is it a big change from my small little piece of the Texas Hill Country.  I’m used to seeing rolling green hills with trees and water surrounding everywhere.  NYC has almost no greenery in sight.  From the time you walk out of a building there’s no perspective of nature around.  It’s pretty much concrete and brick everywhere and no view of the horizon.  That being said I’m astounded what it looks like to have millions of people crammed into one city, all busy and tasked with important places to be.  The pace of life here is incredible.

I met today at Facebook Headquarters in Manhattan and got to play around with their interactive displays, as well as meet with Home Depot execs about how the program will progress.  Going forward every quarter I will be sent a group of tools from various big brands that Home Depot sells.  I won’t have much of a choice in WHAT I’m sent, only that every 3 months it will be a new bundle of goodies. I got training from Facebook on how to better use their platform, as well as how to integrate the #ThdProspective program with Instagram and Instagram Stories.

I’ve decided to do different giveaways on different platforms – mainly Facebook and Instagram – but each giveaway will be announced and given on different pages.  I have a deep following with my Facebook and Instagram users based on a long term relationship that just is not possible through YouTube.  So here are the steps you need to take if you want to have a chance to TOOL UP!

Be sure to follow these 3 steps so you’re notified when a giveaway is happening!Step 1: Follow my Facebook Page /Journey2Master
Step 2: Follow my Facebook Page /TheElectricianU
Step 3: Follow me on Instagram @dustin.stelzer AND @electrician_u

If you simply subscribe to either the Journey 2 Master or Electrician U YouTube Channels YOU MAY MISS OUT ON THE GIVEAWAYS!

My reason for doing this is because I want the people who engage with me the deepest to have the best chances to win.  There are some followers that communicate with me through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, AND YouTube and it h

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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In this episode I talk about how to wire and install 3 way switches and California (illegal or dead-end) 3ways.I start out by talking about in what situations you’d need a 3-way switch setup. A go step by step and wire two three way switches together and talk about the difference between the hot side and the switch leg side. The first half of the video is dedicated to wiring and installing a standard three-way setup, and the latter half goes into California 3-ways (illegal 3-ways).In this episode I also talk about running wire neatly, stripping out wire properly, making good joints, and how to rough in and rip out wires in boxes vs how to install the actual three way devices. Finally I hook the circuit up and test it with a light bulb.Please check out the Electrician U Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theelectricianu and subscribe to the YouTube Channel if you like these videos!

**Disclaimer – These videos are for training purposes alone, all work done on electrical systems should be done by a licensed and insured electrical contractor.  If you are not an electrician, do not attempt any of the work you are seeing in these videos.**

http://electricianu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ep6-BuildItInYourMind28TheImportanceOfBeatingAJobOnPaperBeforeYouPutYourToolsOn29.mp3

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed! 

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In this episode I rip open a standard receptacle and a decor single-pole switch to reveal how each of these electrical devices works.

The insides of electrical outlets and switches are made up of very simple mechanical parts.  A receptacle is just a few pieces of metal that allows a cord to be plugged into them while pinching them in place.  There are 3 slots on the top of the device and 3 slots on the bottom of the device.  Each of the three slots consists of a hot, neutral, and ground.  Or as the NEC calls them the “ungrounded, grounded, and grounding conductors.”

The inside of a standard single-pole switch is fairly lackluster as well I’m afraid.  There is a small metal “flapper” that pushes two contacts together inside the device, and pulls them apart when you toggle the switch back and forth.  In both of these devices the ground terminal is only conntected to the yolk or “shell” of the device.  There’s nothing else inside of the switch that will be bonded to the grounding conductor.

Please check out the Electrician U Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theelectricianu and subscribe to the YouTube Channel if you like these videos!

**Disclaimer – These videos are for training purposes alone, all work done on electrical systems should be done by a licensed and insured electrical contractor.  If you are not an electrician, do not attempt any of the work you are seeing in these videos.**

http://electricianu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Episode5-WhatsInsideAPlugandASwitch.mp3

Want to learn more about becoming an electrician or mastering the craft? Visit ElectricianU.com for courses, resources, and everything you need to succeed!