Best NEC review study material

To Whom It May Concern:

Need some advice as to what NEC 2008 study material, many of you have used to prepare for the NEC problems, of the Electrical Power PE exam. I've considered Mike Holt's preparation material;however there is too much in-depth material to cover. I have no real experience with the NEC, so I'm at a disadvantage. Please provide feedback as to, what materials (Practice NEC problems, text, etc), you used to prepare for the NEC problems associated with the Power exam.

I understand the PE exam probably covers sections 90 thru 430 of the NEC, "is that true"? Please advise the best approach, to prepare for the NEC portion of the Power exam. Would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience. Thanks everyone for you help.

Aerofrank

Aerofrank said:

To Whom It May Concern:Need some advice as to what NEC 2008 study material, many of you have used to prepare for the NEC problems, of the Electrical Power PE exam. I've considered Mike Holt's preparation material;however there is too much in-depth material to cover. I have no real experience with the NEC, so I'm at a disadvantage. Please provide feedback as to, what materials (Practice NEC problems, text, etc), you used to prepare for the NEC problems associated with the Power exam.

I understand the PE exam probably covers sections 90 thru 430 of the NEC, "is that true"? Please advise the best approach, to prepare for the NEC portion of the Power exam. Would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience. Thanks everyone for you help.

Aerofrank

Click to expand...

This is a question that have been asked over and over. No one knows what they are going to ask in the real exam. Me i bought one of those master electricians license review. But i stop using it because there was too much material that I couldnt spend to much time on that only. They usually give you the ability on how to locate stuff fast in the code. Due to lack of time I concentrate in the topics that is discussed in the reference materials like voltage drop, resistivity, motors, ampacity and grounding.

I watched half of the Mike Holt Understanding the NEC series. Articles 90 - 450. The series is helpful if you don't know the code at all but it is long. I think it was like 2 hours+ for each section and 4-6 hours for article 250. He has a separate series for calculations so that might be helpful for wire sizing and 430 motor calculations. I think everything else is straight forward.

The exam can have questions from any of the articles from the NEC. I think you should read/review at least 90-450 since those articles apply in most cases. All of the sample questions in the NCEES Practice Exam were pretty easy to find and answer. You don't necessary need to know exactly what the ruling is as long as you know where to find it.

Also, you might want to get the handbook if you are planning to actually read the code since it explains alot of the articles.

I know we're down to the wire, Aerofrank, but someone clued me in on an excellent cross reference of NEC, and you get a second book of calcs, tables, etc. for $50. It's called Ferm's Fast Finder, and it's basically a cross reference of the NEC in the most commonly used key words for every topic in the book. In some cases, it refers the user to the second book, Vol. 2, and every now and then the other references like the UL White Book, but it's mostly for the NEC. The great thing is that you don't really have to get familiar with it (speaking of Vol. 1). You just rip off the plastic wrapping and start using it. Vol. 2 is another story. It's like an Ugly's only in full size and more comprehensive. I'll definitely be tabbing Vol. 2 this weekend. If you don't want to go that route, there's always the Stalcup's book, which has tons of examples and more in depth explanations of NEC sections and uses that the NEC handbook.

Hope this helps...

Audienceof1:

I really appreciate your reply concerning the NEC material. I'm postponing taking the Power exam, until April of next year. The material you recommended will help me greatly, in understanding the NEC. In addition to this material I'm also acquiring the Ugly's series as well. Again to you and everyone on this forum, thank you. Much appreciated and my best wishes to you on passing the PE exam. Have a great day and good luck.

Aerofrank