Reference Material to take it exam room

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.

roy167

Passed PE
Joined
Nov 11, 2018
Messages
268
Reaction score
53
I'm thinking of the below

1. NEC code book with Tom's index

2. NESC

3. NFPA70E

4. Graffeo

5. Wildi

6. Grainger

7. Camara

8. FE electrical and economics sections. 

8. Personal binder

I think this should be enough, what do you guys think? If you can't find something through these many books, what are the chances you will find even if you had 5 more books. 

Even Grainger, Camara...I don't know how useful it is going to be but since I have them I am going to take them. 

 
My line up looks almost identical and additionally I will be bringing the Chapman book (redundant to wildi i know, but i like the index), the Paithankar book and IEEE 242 both for protection, and (probably) a batteries book. On the fence about Grainger, I was studying from it initally, but I eventually found resources that were easier to read, so i may or may not take it in

 
On the fence about Grainger, I was studying from it initally, but I eventually found resources that were easier to read, so i may or may not take it in



Could you care to share what you found useful and easier to read over grainger? 


 
I'm thinking of the below

1. NEC code book with Tom's index

2. NESC

3. NFPA70E

4. Graffeo

5. Wildi

6. Grainger

7. Camara

8. FE electrical and economics sections. 

8. Personal binder

I think this should be enough, what do you guys think? If you can't find something through these many books, what are the chances you will find even if you had 5 more books. 

Even Grainger, Camara...I don't know how useful it is going to be but since I have them I am going to take them. 
I would bring protection book. So far, I read the 1st four chapters out of Paithankar book. If I have time, I will read the entire book and try the problems/quizzes. Anyone has solution manual for this book?

I might buy the IEEE book as well, it was recommended here (this forum).

Also, the following books were recommended (I am still debating if I should buy)

Ned Mohan for Power Electronics

Hand book of Batteries by Linden

 
Could you care to share what you found useful and easier to read over grainger? 
Not any text book, but the things that grainger covers I've found articles, notes, etc online that explain the concepts in plain english. Also while doing like 6 practice exams I've only opened the book once and even then it didnt have what i was looking for.

 
Ned Mohan for Power Electronics

Hand book of Batteries by Linden
People recommend a lot of things. I bought Ned Mohan and I am not even going to read it, it is so dense in theory which will be way beyond the PE exam. We should buy the books which are recommended by a lot of people. Handful of people can find anything useful doesn't mean it is for everybody is what I learnt from my experience and  I am just stating my view, your miles will vary.  

I also bought Paith😀ankar 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I suppose it boils down to personality type. I am with the “better safe than sorry” crowd. In the absence of actual information regarding the test, I would rather bring reference books to the exam that might help. I plan to review everything in my possession, if not every page, at least so I will know what section the information will be.

 
Bring anything and everything.  I had 100 lbs of stuff.  I looked through it all.  There were weird questions and equipment I had never heard of before.  You will search every index of every book.

I also found an extremely discrete example in one of my books that helped me solve an exam question.  You never know, I could've passed  by 1 problem.

 
Bring anything and everything.  I had 100 lbs of stuff.  I looked through it all.  There were weird questions and equipment I had never heard of before.  You will search every index of every book.

I also found an extremely discrete example in one of my books that helped me solve an exam question.  You never know, I could've passed  by 1 problem.
You are not making it easy 😂 I made up my mind that if you can not find from 4-5 reference material then chances are that

1. You won't know where to find

2. You won't be able to find

3. You won't have time to find. 

 
You are not making it easy 😂 I made up my mind that if you can not find from 4-5 reference material then chances are that

1. You won't know where to find

2. You won't be able to find

3. You won't have time to find. 
You'll never know how much time you will have...you may have lots of it, therefore, if you can carry it - bring it

 
You'll never know how much time you will have...you may have lots of it, therefore, if you can carry it - bring it
You are right about this. I may have different opinion but I will agree when you make an logical argument.  If you have time then you have time and you will never know how much time you have until the exam is over.  It is better to use it searching than not do anything.

I encourage people to discuss this as much as needed. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I took the exam in October 2017 - I wrote up all the resources I brought with me (here). There is a lot of overlap in our lists! I direct you to my write up because I give a pretty thorough opinion of each resource and it's usefulness.

The same link also has a page for 'videos' that I watched in preparation. Though you obviously can't bring these with you, I found them VERY useful in prep.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top