Control System Engineering (CSE) October 2015

[CntrlEngrPE]

Which course was this? the ISA course?

Yes, the one offfered by ISA itself. There is no other course available per my knowledge. 

 

[glockjacket P.E.]

Yes, the one offfered by ISA itself. There is no other course available per my knowledge. 

Thanks, just checking.Thanks for the review...Very conflicted now

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

Thanks, just checking.Thanks for the review...Very conflicted now

I hear you...it is not easy...again, my recommendation would be to look at the exam syllabus and the study guide..and collect as many references from the study guide as you can...then spend a good 6 months going through all the references...focus on control valves ...and focus on everything about them..installation, design, cost...and instrumentation...and after you do all that...you will find that in the exam there are still questions you have no clue about... All the best..

 

[glockjacket P.E.]

I hear you...it is not easy...again, my recommendation would be to look at the exam syllabus and the study guide..and collect as many references from the study guide as you can...then spend a good 6 months going through all the references...focus on control valves ...and focus on everything about them..installation, design, cost...and instrumentation...and after you do all that...you will find that in the exam there are still questions you have no clue about... All the best..

Thanks!!

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

So I found out I failed the second time...totally bummed as I studied more and scored less...not sure what went wrong...how about you guys?

 

[landolakes]

I took the ISA classroom course in 2013.... Studied most of the exam prep materials they provided as wells as the green/red books from PPI (had these plus about 10 other reference materials). I took the Oct 2015 and failed. 

The exam was more reference based IMO (I only used my calculator a handful of times compared to FE) and my reference material was not too helpful. I practiced quite a bit for calculations/PID tuning/etc as emphasized in my ISA course and PPI books. I studied according to the syllabus as well, but the exam was not what I expected. The stinker is that the next CSE PE is a year away, in order to take the exam in April I will try out a Mechanical Discipline (Texas gives only 4 testing opportunities to pass before having to re-apply for PE).

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

Sorry to hear that...I agree, I didnt use the calculator much either..I am so unsure of what went wrong and how to prepare next time around...completely stumped..

 

[PinoyPE]

landolakes;cntrlengreit,

i'm sorry to hear that.
back in may 2015 i was preparing to acquire review materials for PE Controls.There were only  few materials out there.I bought CSE Technical Ref.Manual and the CSE Review manual by Byron Lewis.I checked with ISA and they have 3 day PE review.I was thinking,what possibly can I get from a 3 day PE review class.Since I can not find enough review materials for CSE,I switched to PE-Power.

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

Yeah, probably a good idea taga_ilog...I am not sure you can study hard and pass the controls PE...its completely random..I know how hard I studied because a major promotion was at stake here...and now I will not get it setting me and my family back financially and time-wise...I will switch to another discipline..control systems with its lack of references and sample problems is just not worth it. 

 

[landolakes]

CntrlEngrEIT - I am in same boat, any advancement for me depends on getting the PE. I originally attempted the Power Electrical class with PPI, but I have been out of EE so long that it was too hard to keep up. My industry is natural gas storage/compression and my job is very multi-disciplinary engineering.  

Mechanical should be pretty straight forward as it covers most engineering concepts plus a general AM session which I feel if the CSE had a general engineering AM session I may have passed.

Best way I can describe the exam was... the preparation materials/class had me study in the X-Y plane, but the exam questions were in the Y-Z plane. For those who passed, I applaud you! For me, I shall be asking for exam prep materials this xmas!

 

[Cali_eng]

I passed it this time, it was my first time taking it. I would not have been surprised if I failed either. If I did fail, I would bring a good pressure relief valve reference the next time. I maybe used my calculator once I don't remember it wasn't very useful. The calculator was essential for the chemical pe exam 

 

[VanmanCSE]

Tough exam IMHO.  There were definitely some questions that could have gone either way and some problems that I had no idea how to approach.  It's a real bummer that there aren't more preparation guides out there for the CSE.  That fact alone probably makes this one of the hardest exams out there.  The ISA class is super expensive too and from what I hear only going to get you part way there.  Heck, buying the Liptak texts is a super expensive proposition too.  So I ended up passing and used the ISA tech ref, ISA study guide, ISA sample tests, Jagdish's problems, Fisher valve handbook, most of the germane ISA standards (5.1, 5.2, etc), Anderson's instrumentation handbook and Battikha's instrumentation handbook.  I did NOT fork over the dough for the Liptak books, though I think that would have been a good investment.  I did spend a LOT of time on YouTube going over control system theory lectures.  I found this to be a great exercise because (a) it put me back in a student mindset and (b) allowed me to learn concepts I never applied to control systems.  I did spend some time on the YouTube lectures for Safety Systems.  This was invaluable.  I struggled with this topic most of all.  Highly recommend these.  Remember you can watch YouTube lectures at 1.25x speed or faster to make the most efficient use of your time.

I do have over 18 years experience in the control systems industry and that certainly helped immensely.

I would say by and large this is a very difficult exam.  Just glad to have passed it here in California and hats off to all of you that sat for this beast.

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

Tough exam IMHO.  There were definitely some questions that could have gone either way and some problems that I had no idea how to approach.  It's a real bummer that there aren't more preparation guides out there for the CSE.  That fact alone probably makes this one of the hardest exams out there.  The ISA class is super expensive too and from what I hear only going to get you part way there.  Heck, buying the Liptak texts is a super expensive proposition too.  So I ended up passing and used the ISA tech ref, ISA study guide, ISA sample tests, Jagdish's problems, Fisher valve handbook, most of the germane ISA standards (5.1, 5.2, etc), Anderson's instrumentation handbook and Battikha's instrumentation handbook.  I did NOT fork over the dough for the Liptak books, though I think that would have been a good investment.  I did spend a LOT of time on YouTube going over control system theory lectures.  I found this to be a great exercise because (a) it put me back in a student mindset and (b) allowed me to learn concepts I never applied to control systems.  I did spend some time on the YouTube lectures for Safety Systems.  This was invaluable.  I struggled with this topic most of all.  Highly recommend these.  Remember you can watch YouTube lectures at 1.25x speed or faster to make the most efficient use of your time.

I do have over 18 years experience in the control systems industry and that certainly helped immensely.

I would say by and large this is a very difficult exam.  Just glad to have passed it here in California and hats off to all of you that sat for this beast.

Congratulations on passing. I agree that when I failed again, I was pretty shocked as I felt I was doing well throughout the exam, but I guess I got tricked. I am completely confused about how to study for it the third time around as there are no other new reference materials available that I may use and have an iota of confidence for passing. I have studied most of the books out there and dont know what to do now. Any advice would be highly appreciated. Do you feel that you needed to have a very deep understanding of the concepts? I hardly used the calculator myself. The prep material just doesnt cover what they ask on the exam. 

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

Best way I can describe the exam was... the preparation materials/class had me study in the X-Y plane, but the exam questions were in the Y-Z plane. For those who passed, I applaud you! For me, I shall be asking for exam prep materials this xmas!

Yup! Exactly, the prep fools you into believing that you know something...and the exam is completely different...not sure how to tame this idiotic excuse of a test next year..

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

I passed it this time, it was my first time taking it. I would not have been surprised if I failed either. If I did fail, I would bring a good pressure relief valve reference the next time. I maybe used my calculator once I don't remember it wasn't very useful. The calculator was essential for the chemical pe exam 

congrats Cali_eng. Any advice on how to pass this exam? Ive been trying since the last two years and failing! I studied four months for this exam and scored 15 points less (40/88) than the first time (55/88). I think I missed the first time by like one or two questions. Anyway, ANY advice would be much appreciated. I want this out of my life. Thanks!

 

[Cali_eng]

congrats Cali_eng. Any advice on how to pass this exam? Ive been trying since the last two years and failing! I studied four months for this exam and scored 15 points less (40/88) than the first time (55/88). I think I missed the first time by like one or two questions. Anyway, ANY advice would be much appreciated. I want this out of my life. Thanks!

Thanks, I'm sorry for your struggles. I think the pressure relief specific reference would be helpful, I doubt very many ppl brought this. The more references that you can find would be helpful, if you can find the specific codes and standards. Some of the isa study guide and practice test questions are exactly the same. 

I brought an entire auitcase with me, I don't see how you pass without loads of references. In addition to all of this, I did some googling and came across a Colombian university that had Liptak volumes I&II in pdf. I printed all of those from my work printer. It was one of those things where you have to play around with the URL to get to the root and then the links are all there. 

Finally if I had to take it again, I would learn the proper symbol for a temperature, pressure, flow switch on a loop diagram, I didn't even know these existed and I would study level instrument zeroing and calibration 

 

[CntrlEngrPE]

Which pressure relief reference did you bring? I will plan on getting it too. I too had an entire suitcase but obviously that didnt work out. I have Liptaks books so that is not an issue but I went to the Colombian site you mention and downloaded a couple of other resources - thanks. I know the symbols you are talking about..I know of them and also the ISA standard that contains them...and I also studied zeroing and calibration from two separate texts. Oh well, thanks for your inputs anyway. Much appreciated.

 

[UserFriendly]

I passed it and this was my first time taking it as well.  I'm still surprised that I passed, I could have just as easily failed and was prepared for notice of not passing.  I do have over 12 years experience in the industry; I think it helped.  Congrats to those who passed and Good Luck to those who will retake it or take it for the first time.  I think this thread has some good information regarding test taking strategy and useful resources.  Use any sample problems available to get you familiar with your resources. 

 

[Cali_eng]

One more piece of somewhat unconventional advice that I would add for test strategy and one which I employ is to try and answer all questions on your first go around and from your first instinct.  Not a lot of problem solving on the CS  so this should be possible. I think a lot of ppl do the paralysis by analysis and change right answers to wrong ones because they feel like they have to take the entire four hours per session. Four hours isn't necessary for CS AM or PM. It's mostly about knowing answers or looking them up in your reference material. Most people should be able to finish with at least an hour to spare. I left both sessions about 90 minutes early. When I left I noticed a lot of folks had almost all the answers bubbled in. Just do a once over check after you're done for any egregious errors and get outta there. I think a lot of folks end up doing themselves more harm by sitting there doing a problem ten times and changing a right answer to a wrong one