October 2014 Electrical Power Exam was Tough

[grant]

yup same feeling, the exam in my opinion was fairly easy, it so easy I remember like 60 to 70 of the problems, so I didn't throw me off my game but like you said I literally gave that same away b/c I missed 8 gimmies, I literally got out the exam and read the problem word for word in one my books later on after exam. of course if I knew my books like I knew most the mathematical problems I would of pick those up so I little upset I missed so many theoretical questions.....but then again it make sense for overall perspective of exam

same here iam can't confidently say I got 70 percent but I can say at least got 40 out of 40, the rest is up in the air. minus the 8 gimmies

 

[Captain America]

Did you mean 40 out of 80 Grant.

 

[grant]

lol yeah 40 out 80

 

[Captain America]

It's a tricky test. But its a very broad test.So this test and Aprils test could be night and Day.It just seems like if you work in certain areas and have many years of experience, then you have a clear advantage over someone who has 4 or 5 years experience and studied for 6 months like me. I spent most of the time looking in the gazillion books I had. I didn't feel good after the test.Kinda felt like a scavenger hunt. I want to be prepared. I'll follow your advice Grant.

 

[Kovz]

Did working Spin Up, Complex Imaginary, and NCEES Sample exams help anyone feel good about the exam? I feel like working through those problems over and over again and getting extremely familiar with your references would help. If you can't find it in your reference books, look it up online and print it out and add to your custom made binder.

But I have no idea... I haven't taken the exam yet.

 

[Captain America]

Kovz I also had Graffeo book and Kaplan pe book.Plus my stuff from the GT class.Graffeo book is better than Cameras stuff. I see that now.

 

[KatyLied P.E.]

Did working Spin Up, Complex Imaginary, and NCEES Sample exams help anyone feel good about the exam? I feel like working through those problems over and over again and getting extremely familiar with your references would help. If you can't find it in your reference books, look it up online and print it out and add to your custom made binder.

But I have no idea... I haven't taken the exam yet.

That, along with adding the Graffeo book, was a signifiant portion of my preparation for April 2014. I also took the GA Tech course which I found to be very helpful. There were a few questions on April's test which would have been tough if you did not have daily electric utility experience. I was fortunate enough to know those and pass but I also have over 27 years experience in the electric utility industry. From what I've seen in random posts it appeards that October's test had an even heavier focus on practical work experience. I posted the names of several resources which might be helpful to those who may not have as much of that practical experience. I'll see if i can copy them over in this forum.

 

[EEgator PE]

I didn't really care for the Camara book until I got into the exam. It was useful on about 5 of the problems for general look up reference data so I was glad that I had it with me. Graffeo was really useful too.

 

[KatyLied P.E.]

Ok. here are those resources.

Listed below are references for your reading pleasure. Some of these might prove useful if you have limited experience in the actual design/maintenance of a utility electric grid:

Electrical References Transformers and Power Equipment - Anthony Pansini - Excellent, practical info on power equipment (transformers, breakers, fuses, meters, relays, etc.). As I'm looking I realize I'd forgotten how good this book is. Most of this stuff I know from having worked around it but if I'd remembered I would have taken this book in the test for moral support. Pansini has other good books too. His titles are worth Googling or Amazoning.

A Guide to Transformer Maintenance - J.J. Kelly, S.D. Myers, R. H Parrish - The bible of transformer maintenance. if you were marooned on a desert island, surrounded by the natives, their test equipment, and associated instruction manuals you would have no trouble in setting up their transformer maintenance program. I don't even know if they publish the book anymore but S.D Myers (the company) has a website devoted to transformer training.

Electric Power Engineering handbook/Leonard Grigsby and Electric Power Transformer Engineering/James Harlow - These are published by CRC Press. Their site is worth investigating for several other good titles also.

If I only bought one it would be the Pansini book. Supplement that with internet searches. In fact, if there are exam questions that stumped you I'd Google the heck out of them. The other books are good but, aside from building up your personal library, might be TMI. Your choice. To quote Edward R. Murrow, "Good night and good luck". (Google if you don't know who I'm talking about. His story is worth reading.)

 

[knight1fox3]

I recently purchased the Pansini book from Amazon. Certainly a good book to add to a well-rounded library if not only for studying. It was $45 when I bought it Price seems to have jumped.

 

[Kovz]

I agree with you guys about the Graffeo book. It's great and my go-to reference when working through example problems. Of course it doesn't have everything, but that's what your other references are there for. And if you can't find it in them, go find it online and print it.

The Camara book is junk. Don't get me wrong, I do use it occasionally for a few questions while working practice problems, and I will certainly bring it to the test, but for as expensive as it is, it's not a great book for preparing for the PE.

Thanks for the recommendations on those books, KatyLied. I work in the industrial design business (construction) and feel pretty good about my experience for only having 6 years. I'm hopeful that will help me pass the exam on the first time.

 

[ronbo]

No guarantee that I passed, but the Oct 2014 exam felt a lot easier for me than the last time I took it (April 2011). I studied pretty hard for this last exam (over 300 hours) and was ready for any fault current, voltage drop, or symmetrical current question they could throw at me, but ended up relying more on my 30 years of practical experience as a high voltage electrician (8 years), instrument mechanic (8 years) and a EE (14 years) instead of my recent efforts studying.

As for preparing for the April 2015 exam (maybe myself included), I don't think there's much I would do differently. I'd probably spend most of my time practicing SU, NCEES and CI exams to make sure I'm 100% ready for those types of questions. The rest of the questions require an understanding of principles and being able to "connect the dots". Hopefully I was able to get enough of those questions correct this last time around.

Good luck to all.

 

[Captain America]

This is what i did. I had CI,Spin ups,camera,graffeo,ncees exam,and kaplan SAMPLE EXAM. My preparation was problem solving heavy.I practice each exam probably 5 times each. The problems i missed i researched via internet or old electrical books. It probably still wasn't enough to pass but next time ill put more time into theory.GT Prep courses put more emphasis on problem solving with some theory. I based my prep off the ncees sample exam and the specification guide. I wont make that mistake again. I WILL NOT OPEN THE NCEES SAMPLE EXAM. Next time, ill be a theory machine.

 

[poosri]

Anyone here receive their results yet?

 

[Ken PE 3.1]

Yes, the results threads turn more state specific around this time.

 

[dayrongarcia]

Yup, failed.

 

[eksor_PE]

Yes. I passed. Electrical-Power. First time.

 

[Ken PE 3.1]

Congrats

 

[maverickPEPower]

Passed. Didn't expect I would pass with 91%. However I will still stick to my original post. This exam was tough so if u didn't make it, April will be easy You will only do better.

 

[dayrongarcia]

Maverick

I was one of the unlucky ones who did not pass the electrical power exam. Can you share your notes via electronic form or tell me the books you read, materials, etc. In order for me to do better in April.

Thank you very much.