Help/Support

Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum

Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

tpkjr2006

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Messages
121
Reaction score
44
All,

In the coming months feel free to send me questions or ask for help with protection and control. Its not an easy topic but i deal with it daily and I would like to help out.

 
I have a question regarding resources. I downloaded Blackburn, GE (Art and Science of protective relaying) and I just ordered  Y.G. Paithankar's book (fundamentals of power system  protection). Do you think this will be adequate for Protection questions on the exam?

 
A few ppl recommend it here (this forum). It was about $20, I figured to check it out.

20181207_081822.jpg

 
Blackburn is very popular among most test takers, but I've found it very difficult to read.  
Ya Blackburn is really intended for advance protective relaying and coordination. But focuses on just about all the facets that go well beyond what NCEES tests on. It is the protective relaying "bible" though that got me through my MSEE in power systems engineering. 

 
Ya Blackburn is really intended for advance protective relaying and coordination. But focuses on just about all the facets that go well beyond what NCEES tests on. It is the protective relaying "bible" though that got me through my MSEE in power systems engineering. 
I guess I just need to take time and read through it all.  I didn't before the first time I took the exam....I just scanned through and tabbed certain parts I thought would be helpful.  In the end, it didn't help me all that much during the exam, but perhaps it's because I didn't understand it.

 
I bought Blackburn as well. But I am just wondering how much will I absorb and retain by just reading through this book, also how much effective would that be? Time is very short. This is a text book only, not intended for PE test. Plus, this book is not easy to read like Wildi. I wish we had some resources for protection which is geared toward PE test. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I guess I just need to take time and read through it all.  I didn't before the first time I took the exam....I just scanned through and tabbed certain parts I thought would be helpful.  In the end, it didn't help me all that much during the exam, but perhaps it's because I didn't understand it.
I bought Blackburn as well. But I am just wondering how much will I absorb and retain by just reading through this book, also how much effective would that be? Time is very short. This is a text book only, not intended for PE test. Plus, this book is not easy to read like Wildi. I wish we had some resources for protection which is geared toward PE test. 
That's what I'm saying. MEtoEE I think you have the right approach. I certainly would NOT read the book in its entirety. Only utilize those sections which are applicable to your PE exam studies. The other content is intended for more advanced focused topics on that particular subject.

 
For protection and control you need to focus on basic things:

Substation arrangements and there operation

Types of protection (line, differential,overcurrent, and etc).

Basic calculations from three phase power

Logical operators

Per unit

Read through the black burn and tab out the basics.

 
Also you over current calculation are driven by if the configuration is a delta or a wye.

Think about it like this what would i measure. 

Delta i need to measure the line current

WYE i need to measure the phase current

 
I did not crack open Blackburn while taking the PE exam (or even read it with any consistency for preparation).  I found the protection information in the notes from School of PE was sufficiently detailed such that I was able to pass the exam, as well as easier to navigate.  I took my exam back in April 2018, so the relative weight of protection to the overall exam score should be the same.  

 
I have Blackburn and the GE books.  I do not have Paithankar's book.  How much does it cost?  Do you recommend it?
I recommend it. Although I did not use to prepare it, but I saw a copy of it with my friend later. The book looks like very simple to read and follow. I too downloaded a copy

of Blackburn, but I thought Blackburn was too damn difficult and very heavy to follow. Check it on Amazon, It is in $25-35 range

 
I found a pdf version of Blackburn and GE online.  I ended up using GE for the exam plus my personal notes. What helped was that as I read each type of protective relay I supplemented it with videos I found on YouTube or other websites. I did this for all topics. That helped me better understand the concepts so when asked a question I understood what it was asking. The internet has a wealth of videos that will help. Good luck on your studying!

 
 Where to find some protection relay/controls problems? 

 That would be my main question, if I had to retake the PE exam. 

 
How about this after the first of the year. You guys lost questions and I’ll answer them.

 

Latest posts

Back
Top