Advice Please Power PE - 2nd Time going on 3rd

Folks,

I am looking for advice. Oct 2016 I will take this exam for the 3rd time. I have tried numerous study aids and took an online course (nothing in my area). While I may not be the brightest, I have never had so much difficulty passing anything else.

I tried the live PPI course, but while it is the most comprehensive, it didn't have the depth of study material to assist. Other than exam pointers, the material wasn't like the exam. 

Here is what I have used:

NCEES's practice test.

Complex Imaginary

Lanza's Spin-Up for electrical engineers

Electrical Engineer's Guide to passing the power pe

NEC Handbook

I spent way too much time studying, and apparently it wasn't effective. What else should I be doing?

Thanks,

JRM_CA

Have a read through this discussion on references & review courses as it is still rather recent:  

How are you scoring on the Complex exams?

jgharris said:

Hey man, I feel your pain.

Let me tell you what got me through.  Just passed the Power PE in Florida on the 3rd time.  

What I did differently from the first 2 attempts.

1.  School of PE was very helpful since it put some magnification on what I didn't know.  

2.  Do lots of practice problems.  Understand why you are doing what you're doing while solving the problem.  Don't just jump into doing calculations without analyzing first.

3.  This is what made me pass.  I kept Calm Cool and Collected.  I think I got that from a Youtube video about how to pass the PE.  There were problems on the exam I had no clue how to solve. Take a breath, drink some water  and keep calm, cool and collected.  Relax, read the problem again and typically on the PE exam you'll find that what they really are asking isn't nearly as hard as the problem initially reads.  That happened to me on several problems.  

4.  I made my own formula sheets using Graffeo's book and using data from the SOPE classes.  I also made a formula sheet for equations in my calculator (HP 35S) which is really helpful for solving tedious problems such as symmetrical components where the problem is easy but the calculations are error prone.

Keep your head up man, you'll get it and when you do the victory will be sweet.

Click to expand...

JRM_CA, 

I gave this list of things I did that I believe helped me pass.  I would recommend a class like School of PE.  I did the weeknight class versus the weekend and it was brutal.  Basically a lecture every night M-Th from 1900-2200 hrs for 6 weeks with plenty of homework.  I used Graffeo's book (EE guide to passing the power PE exam) ALOT during the exam as a reference.  I'd tab all of the pages regarding battery types, arc flash, electronics, and anything with tables.  

I carried my trusty HP 35s and a backup Casio fx-115 ES.  I love the HP since I can store equations in my calculator and it has a nice built in solver that can handle complex numbers.  I used stored equations probably 5 times during the exam. 

Go back and if you have copy of the FE manual I would put the entire Economics section in a 3 ring binder.  There will be some econ questions...

I'd recommend a copy of the NESC, NOT THE HANDBOOK which does not have tables.

I spent lots of time studying balanced 3 phase calculations with delta/wye sources and loads and with different rotations (ABC & ACB).  I knew that was a weak spot and I over studied it. 

My entire career I have worked inside of Powerplant or substation fences (P&C/relay field engineer) therefore I have never held a job that involves the NEC.  Depending on your line of work the NEC portion of the exam may be easy for you.  It isn't for me.  Once again the SOPE class really did a good job of covering this area.

Use your past exam results to get an idea of where you're lacking and take a course to help fix the deficiencies.   Make sure to keep Calm, Cool and Collected.  You got this.

I spent a lot of time writing down all the equations that were used in the sample exams and made sure I knew exactly what was being asked for in the examples. It made it a bit easier trying to dig through the "extra" info they give you during the test.

I hate tapatalk

Make sure you have at least one good 'theory' book with you to study. A book that focuses on transformers, motors and generators and what happens to each with different scenarios (adding loads, changing impedance, etc.). Read the meat of the chapters (not every single page of the text). One thing everyone needs to remember with the NEC is the word EXCEPTIONS. Understanding things like cable derating, wound rotor instead of squirrel cage (I think that is actually a question from the sample NCEES exam or Complex Imaginary set) can make or break you on the exam.

I posted this info awhile back elsewhere on the site.  Hopefully it will help.

I took the GA Tech course and, if you allow me to share, here's how I approached it. Just know that I graduated from college 25 years ago. I took the the PE twice almost 17 years ago and did not pass.

I allowed myself 4-1/2 months to study.

The first two months I watched the GA Tech videos and worked the corresponding problems. I had to reacquaint myself with the material I'd forgotten.

The last two months I focused on working sample tests from Complex Imaginary, SpinUp and the NCEES sample test. Read SpinUp's introduction. they have a very good process for approaching test problems. I focused approximately on one test a week. I'd work the test on the weekend. Any problem from the test that I did not know I'd focus on figuring them out during the week. If I could not find the process behind a problem in my written text I'd either Google or look at YouTube. Along with other YouTube videos Complex Imaginary has some very good videos on YouTube.

While I worked through the tests I'd also work through the Complex Imaginary NEC workbook. Very good resource. I don't think I missed any NEC problems. Read the introduction. They have a very good process for working Code problems

The last two weeks I methodically focused on making my formula sheet. Forced me to focus on the problems even more.

I took out the latter half of the material from the GA Tech notebook and put it in another notebook of the same size. I then added solutions and internet materials to the appropriate sections. At the beginning of each section I included a sheet that had all the problems of that type and the reference they came from. Allowed me to quickly find those problems and the solutions from the references. I did this over a period of about two weeks.

My reference materials included the Complex Imaginary book, SpinUp, the Graffeo book, NCEES sample test, the Complex Imaginary NEC workbook, An NEC handbook, An NESC handbook and the two notebooks I mentioned earlier. Books I carried in but did not use included the Stevenson power system book, the Glover power system book and Camara textbook and sample test.