This open, public forum thread is dedicated exclusively to students currently enrolled in InterNACHI’s free, online How to Perform Residential Electrical Inspections Course .
Students may discuss course topics, ask other students questions, and share thoughts with other students.
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Hello
Will be starting this course
studying for the test now, nice overview
Great, @etancrell. Feel free to ask questions related to the course topics and share thoughts with other students.
Thank you, @ematthews5. Feel free to reach out to anyone on the Education Team (Contact InterNACHI) for help with your training, certification, licensing, examination, or continuing education. They’re a great resource for you.
And feel free to ask questions related to the course topics and share thoughts with other students.
Looking at the cheat sheet in the introduction section under conductor sizes,
I’m confused how to properly read this. It looks like the AWGS grow in size from the largest number to the smallest, until you reach aught 1/0. But then the aughts grow from 1/0 to 4/0 and then jumps to 300? At what point does each conversion happen, is 4/0 the highest and then 300 is lowest or how can I tell?
The table starts out with wire gauge sizes commonly referred to as AWG.
Here that goes from #2 to #4/0, the ampacity of those conductors increase as you move down the table. Once you pass #4/0 then the condcutors are represented by their physical circular mil area which starts at 250 kcmils and increases in area as you go up in size.
The heading on this table should be changed to indicate that this can only be used for single family and dwelling units of two family or multi-family dwellings. It cannot be used for other services or feeders for other applications.
Thanks, @rmeier2. Table content at InterNACHI® - International Association of Certified Home Inspectors has been updated.
Awesome that answers it perfectly. Thanks!
Ive taken the course and passed the test. woohoo
I finished the course and the exam but one thing that still isn’t clear to me is how service panelboard is properly grounded when it is located inside the home (not in a garage or adjacent to an exterior wall). I see many meter boxes grounded to 2 ground rods connected together under the meter box but how does the copper wire get to the panelboard when the home is a slab home and no other conduit can be seen running inside? Thank you
I am struggling to make sense of the second column. I get that the two right columns are to compare the wire diameters between Cu/Al at any given service amperage.
Is the “Solid Wire” column about the overall diameter of the SE cable at those amperages? Which doesn’t seem right- 150A SE cable at just over 1/4 in? Surely I’ve gotten something wrong!
That column is pretty meaningless because service condcutors large than #10 are going to be stranded so telling you a a diameter of a solid conductor is of little value. According to the NEC a #1/0 conductor has a diameter of .372".
When watching the:
Right at the beginning of the video when descussing saftey equipment like glasses and gloves, they say that “Leather”, [like my skin…] is a non-conductive material???
I wonder if the cows know that? Possibly, they treat the leather with a product… but this seems highly suspect… And i would be interested to know what brand they recommend?
But the most concerning aspect of the video is how often they are putting their fingers in the panel and handle the supposedly energized items… Bare handed, continually, without end. If they had at the very least, killed the panels power, at the main service disconnect.
As a student, having a check list of the defects, on the same page as the video would be helpful for me to recognize defects, right there, as they are identified. It might also be useful to include the precise reporting language describing the issue. As you would use in the report. It is one thing to teach us to identify the issue and explain why it is an issue… but that is not what i would put in my report. How should i describe the defect in my report?
“Well gee mister… since they were supposed to do X-Y-Z and they didn’t, its not installed properly and needs to be fixed by a qualified trades person… Because it’s a safety hazard. And I’m gonna be checking my “major defect” box. 'Cuz it’s serious.”
There could be some examples described with professional language all the way down the checklist. I would find this helpful. As i tend to ramble on… Description appropriate/ Precise terminology for the defects listed would be greatly appreciated. Who’s up for the challenge?
Google Article 100 and you’ll get precise terminology used by the NEC.
Unrelated questions
[Perhaps my questions are ahead of the regulating bodies paperwork?]
If Aluminum wires require antioxidant paste when connecting to copper in a splice situation. Why don’t aluminum lugs in the terminal bars require antioxidant paste when copper wires are inserted and fastened into them with a lug? It’s dissimilar metals with galvanic potential…
Is there a situation when aluminum feeders DO require antioxidant paste plugging into an aluminum lug?
Isn’t there a Galvanic potential when mounting Aluminum Terminal bars to a “galvanized” steel cabinet? Or does the Galvanizing process eliminate galvanic potential? What about the bonding strap or the Grounding electrode conductors? It too is dissimilar metals with galvanic potential…
Just curious…
It seems to be an across the board principle that has only partial application.
Starting course.
Starting this course now. Will come back during or at the end if there are questions!
Thanks, @apolanco2.
Good questions, @acrowell3. Inspecting the Main Electrical Panelboard During a Home Inspection - InterNACHI® touches a little bit about antioxidants you may want to check out.
