Mechanical HVAC Exam Prep Adivce

Hi Folks,

I am 13 weeks, 0 days, 18 hours, and 21 minutes (who is counting anyways?) away from my PE exam.  Yikes!  I don't feel that I have a solid study plan and hope that you can help.

I have:

13th edition MERM

MERM Practice Problem Book

6 Min Solutions for HVAC

6 min Solutions for Thermal and Fluids

Lindeburg Unit Conversion  

Most recent NCEES Practice Exam

All the ASHRAE Books + more

Would it be better to read the MERM, highlight it up, take notes, and THEN dive into working the, practice problems book, practice test, and 6 minute solutions books (that is what im doing right now and am not sure its the way to go) - OR - should I stop reading the MERM and just dive straight into practice problems and mark up the MERM and take notes as I go?   What book of practice problems would you start with?

Thank you!

Ryan

I think some information on your background would help the forum in giving you a better suited study plan.  

What is your current profession? 

How many years has it been since you graduated college?

Is the NCEES 2016 the "Most recent NCEES Practice Exam"? anything newer that that?

I think the 2016 still breaks down into AM breadth and PM depth, and it has Machine design problem, which is no longer in the new spec. Am i correct? 

justin-hawaii said:

I think some information on your background would help the forum in giving you a better suited study plan.  

What is your current profession? 

How many years has it been since you graduated college?

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Hi Justin,

I hold a BS in Architecture (2007) and a MS in Architectural Engineering (2014) with a focus on HVAC.  I finished up the engineering degree +2 years ago.  I've been working in HVAC engineering firms as a designer or as an energy engineer (searching for savings in mechanical systems) for the past 9 years.  I currently work as a mechanical engineer for a college and am involved with day to day construction administration of large projects, design and construction admin of smaller projects, commissioning, and some energy engineering.  I took the FE this past October and felt super prepared for it.  I self studied for 300 hours, which is probably unusual for a standard candidate, but I had no exposure to about 30% of the material prior to studying so I went all out.  In retrospect, I went into the exam way over prepared, but that is OK.  I passed first time and that is what I hope to do with this one. 

How do you think I should attack this? 

Thank you!

Ryan

ericjiangpsu said:

Is the NCEES 2016 the "Most recent NCEES Practice Exam"? anything newer that that?

I think the 2016 still breaks down into AM breadth and PM depth, and it has Machine design problem, which is no longer in the new spec. Am i correct? 

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I think it is the 2016 exam.  The Copyright says 2016.  It breaks the test into an AM breadth and PM depth sections.  It is this one: https://account.ncees.org/exam-prep/

The exam specifications do not include machine design. 

This is on page 5-6 of the practice exam: http://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/PE-Mech_HVAC-Apr-2017.pdf

Since there has been only 2 years between your engineering classes (thermodynamics, psychrometrics, heat transfer, fluids), I would recommend that you proceed directly to doing as many problems as possible.  I would start with the NCEES HVAC Exam and then the 6 MS.  If you feel like you are weak in any area, after doing these problems, then I would revisit your references.  By doing the NCEES exam first, you will better focus your studying.  I would hate for you to lose time studying unnecessary information in the MERM.  

You can find additional information on how other people passed the PE exam in this post.  Although this post states Thermal & Fluids, some people have included how they passed the HVAC & Refrigeration exam.  

Lastly, once you are comfortable with the problems and the topics on the NCEES outline and you have extra time, I would become very familiar with the ASHRAE books, specifically the areas of the ASHRAE books that cover these topics taken from the outline:  

ASHRAE Topics:  Calculating Heating/Cooling Loads, Cooling towers, Boilers and furnaces, Heat exchangers (e.g., shell and tube, plate and frame), Condensers/evaporators (e.g., chillers, variable refrigerant flow, heat pumps), Pumps/compressors/fans (e.g., laws, efficiency, selection), Cooling/heating coils, Refrigerants, expansion valves, hydronic system design, air distribution design, food storage refrigeration system design and energy recovery designs.  

justin-hawaii said:

Since there has been only 2 years between your engineering classes (thermodynamics, psychrometrics, heat transfer, fluids), I would recommend that you proceed directly to doing as many problems as possible.  I would start with the NCEES HVAC Exam and then the 6 MS.  If you feel like you are weak in any area, after doing these problems, then I would revisit your references.  By doing the NCEES exam first, you will better focus your studying.  I would hate for you to lose time studying unnecessary information in the MERM.  

You can find additional information on how other people passed the PE exam in this post.  Although this post states Thermal & Fluids, some people have included how they passed the HVAC & Refrigeration exam.  

Lastly, once you are comfortable with the problems and the topics on the NCEES outline and you have extra time, I would become very familiar with the ASHRAE books, specifically the areas of the ASHRAE books that cover these topics taken from the outline:  

ASHRAE Topics:  Calculating Heating/Cooling Loads, Cooling towers, Boilers and furnaces, Heat exchangers (e.g., shell and tube, plate and frame), Condensers/evaporators (e.g., chillers, variable refrigerant flow, heat pumps), Pumps/compressors/fans (e.g., laws, efficiency, selection), Cooling/heating coils, Refrigerants, expansion valves, hydronic system design, air distribution design, food storage refrigeration system design and energy recovery designs.  

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Thank you, Justin.

I think your recommendation is solid.  What are you thoughts on the 6 MS for fluids in prep for the HVAC exam? 

Thank you,

Ryan

Six Minute Solution has probably 4-5 questions that are HVAC specific (based on my recollection).  The vast majority of the questions are heavily fluid/heat transfer specific with some questions far left field for machine design and beam principles.  Your time would be better spent elsewhere.

Ramnares P.E. said:

Six Minute Solution has probably 4-5 questions that are HVAC specific (based on my recollection).  The vast majority of the questions are heavily fluid/heat transfer specific with some questions far left field for machine design and beam principles.  Your time would be better spent elsewhere.

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Thank you for the recommendation!