Mark's Standard Handbook

[Bman]

I'm getting ready to start studying for the October PE (HVAC) exam and looking at stocking up my reference books. A lot of people seem to recommend having Mark's Standard Handbook as a reference and I'm just wondering if it matters what edition you use? Looking on Amazon, you can get an older edition handbook for between $15-$35, but a new one will cost between $135-$200. I don't mind spending the money if its worth it, but don't want to if I don't need to. I appreciate any help that you all can give.

 

[Agg97]

I'm getting ready to start studying for the October PE (HVAC) exam and looking at stocking up my reference books. A lot of people seem to recommend having Mark's Standard Handbook as a reference and I'm just wondering if it matters what edition you use? Looking on Amazon, you can get an older edition handbook for between $15-$35, but a new one will cost between $135-$200. I don't mind spending the money if its worth it, but don't want to if I don't need to. I appreciate any help that you all can give.

Short answer: My gut feeling is that as long as it's a version within the last 20-25 years, you're good to go.

Long answer: I just passed the HVAC exam in April. I did bring my Mark's Handbook - the one I bought back in college in the mid-late 90's. It's reddish-maroon, not sure what edition it is because it's up at work. I did use it on a couple of "off the wall" type questions (coming from an HVAC background, at least) during the test so I say definitely take it with you. Regarding which version, my basic philosophy was that in 6 months, I could pretty much sell all these books for the same price I'm buying them today. So, I'm really just renting them with a ginormous deposit. I had the latest versions of the MERM, MERM practice problems, MERM sample exam, NCEES 2008 sample exam, and the latest edition of all 4 ASHRAE books (borrowed from vendors). The rest of the references, I just took whatever version I had on my shelf: Shigley's, Mark's, Cameron's, Incropera & DeWitt, etc.

My basic philosophy was that I didn't want my references (or lack thereof) to be the reason I failed. If I had a complete set of the latest references, there's only one reason to fail at that point: me. Luckily, I passed. I have to say that having the latest ASHRAE books was a big confidence booster just to have them. My materials are now for sale on Amazon.com, so maybe you'd actually be buying some of those books from me! Good luck!

-Agg97

 

[bph]

I'm getting ready to start studying for the October PE (HVAC) exam and looking at stocking up my reference books. A lot of people seem to recommend having Mark's Standard Handbook as a reference and I'm just wondering if it matters what edition you use? Looking on Amazon, you can get an older edition handbook for between $15-$35, but a new one will cost between $135-$200. I don't mind spending the money if its worth it, but don't want to if I don't need to. I appreciate any help that you all can give.

I would get a copy, not so much for studying, but for general ME reference and off the wall problems that you didn't study but need a quick look up. It's one of the most comprehensive ME reference books there is.

Most important for exam questions, it has a very good index, which is critical for a reference book used during a timed exam.

Also, the official NCEES practice exam solutions actually referenced Marks a couple times (at least the machine design section does).

 

[Bman]

Thanks for the info Agg97. There were quite a few used Mark's on Amazon so I'll have to look and get a somewhat newer version, but it doesn't sound like I need to drop the money for a brand new one. I need a few other books, but have all of the ASHRAE books (actually a set and a half), so I'm pretty much set. Just need to get some practice exams and start cranking on some problems pretty soon.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

Thanks for the info Agg97. There were quite a few used Mark's on Amazon so I'll have to look and get a somewhat newer version, but it doesn't sound like I need to drop the money for a brand new one. I need a few other books, but have all of the ASHRAE books (actually a set and a half), so I'm pretty much set. Just need to get some practice exams and start cranking on some problems pretty soon.

Took the Thermal/Fluids Spring 2009, passed I found no need for Marks but had it along.

I don't know if you would have needed it for HVAC. At ~$35 seems like cheap insurance.