# How I passed the Second time



## RadioBox (Jun 7, 2019)

Zach’s live webinar/Course should be your foundation.

In addition to Zach’s live webinar/review course and all the wisdom from previous posts from other users do the little extra below. I'll keep it concise and to the point.

The two topics you absolutely do not have the luxury of missing problems on the exam are Protection and NEC. This is key. Devote 2.5 months into these topics. It is excessive, but whatever it takes to pass.  

·         Use NEC handbook

·         Create your own index for the NEC in a excel sheet. Turn each page of the handbook and write down the section on top of the page. This will force you to learn all sections.

·         Mike Holt Understanding the National Electrical Code, Vol. 1 &amp; Vol. 2

·         Solve all mathematical NEC problems you can find

·         Protection- Read black burn cover to cover. Make tabs.

·         Protective Relay Principles by SLEVA. Make tabs.

·         EPRI Power Systems Dynamics Tutorial. Make tabs.

·         Learn theory

·         Solve all mathematical Protection problems you can find

·         Any articles you can find on the internet from multiple sources on these two topics and make a single binder.


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## Zach Stone P.E. (Jun 11, 2019)

RadioBox said:


> Zach’s live webinar/Course should be your foundation.
> 
> In addition to Zach’s live webinar/review course and all the wisdom from previous posts from other users do the little extra below. I'll keep it concise and to the point.
> 
> ...




Hi @RadioBox, thanks for the mention. Congrats again on the passing the PE exam, I'm glad you both enjoyed and found our online program helpful in passing!


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## fyrfytr310 (Jun 17, 2019)

Congrats on passing!

IMO, I think reading Blackburn cover to cover is excessive.  There is a lot more detail covered within that simply isn't going to be represented on the exam.

That said, I took the exam after ~10 years experience in the Power industry and deal with protection daily so maybe I'm an outlier


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## ItsStudyTime! (Jun 17, 2019)

Congrats on the pass!!


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## Wow_PE! (Jul 27, 2019)

fyrfytr310 said:


> Congrats on passing!
> 
> IMO, I think reading Blackburn cover to cover is excessive.  There is a lot more detail covered within that simply isn't going to be represented on the exam.
> 
> That said, I took the exam after ~10 years experience in the Power industry and deal with protection daily so maybe I'm an outlier


I have a few years experience in protection.  Is anyone else a protection engineer?  I’ve been mostly working on other areas I’m weak in but maybe I’m being over confident. I do have some notes from an SEL class I took.  I might just spend a week reviewing those and bring them with me as a reference? What are other protection engineers doing?


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## Zach Stone P.E. (Jul 27, 2019)

Wow! said:


> I have a few years experience in protection.  Is anyone else a protection engineer?  I’ve been mostly working on other areas I’m weak in but maybe I’m being over confident. I do have some notes from an SEL class I took.  I might just spend a week reviewing those and bring them with me as a reference? What are other protection engineers doing?


I agree, Blackburn's book is a bit overkill. It's a great book on protection, just not very applicable for answering questions on the PE exam. 

We've been recommending Power System Analysis by Duncan Glover instead, which is currently #5 on our list of recommended references for the electrical PE exam. There is only one chapter on protection, but it is filled with in chapter examples that are worked out with solutions that appear to be consistent with the PE exam. The end of chapter questions on protection are also great if you can get your hands on the solution manual.  The majority of the other chapters in the book area also subjects that appear on the PE exam. It is one of my most recommended books.


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## Wow_PE! (Jul 27, 2019)

Thanks for the info.  Really have been enjoying your YouTube videos.  They’ve been very helpful.

as an aside I’ve used Blackburn as a reference for real life problems.  Wish I still had a copy just in case lol


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## Zach Stone P.E. (Jul 28, 2019)

Wow! said:


> Thanks for the info.  Really have been enjoying your YouTube videos.  They’ve been very helpful.
> 
> as an aside I’ve used Blackburn as a reference for real life problems.  Wish I still had a copy just in case lol


Glad you've enjoyed our youtube videos. I suggest signing up for the Free Trial of our online review course for the electrical PE exam if you haven't already.

There is a large amount of material in it that you won't find on our YouTube channel, including a large number of practice problems with worked out solutions and plenty of reference material you can print out and take with you to the exam.


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## ZW_Pub_Power (Jul 30, 2019)

Wow! said:


> I have a few years experience in protection.  Is anyone else a protection engineer?  I’ve been mostly working on other areas I’m weak in but maybe I’m being over confident. I do have some notes from an SEL class I took.  I might just spend a week reviewing those and bring them with me as a reference? What are other protection engineers doing?


I have a few years in distribution level protection systems. I never really came across many problems that I thought required more than just a cursory knowledge of protection design. The PE test I took had a transmission impedance relay problem. I had never even seen an impedance relay before (not really common in most distribution applications) but I was able to answer it correctly by applying what I knew from just basic relay protection schemes (I believe I obtained the correct answer by describing it to a colleague who has been in relay protection for almost 20 years)


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## FLOrida (Aug 22, 2019)

how i passed the EE PE exam, with no EE degree or EE experience, the first time:

- take multiple courses, best one was villa nova (probably the reason i passed)

- study like a full time job for 6 months

- power through the whole power pe book from PPI

- ask any question you have, even stupid questions (don't mind the trolls who just want to put your down)


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## roy167 (Aug 22, 2019)

> how i passed the EE PE exam, with no EE degree or EE experience, the first time:


And how could you even qualify to take FE and PE, without EE degree and or EE experience? Don't you either have to have a qualification or practical experience? for board to approve your application?


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## DLD PE (Aug 23, 2019)

I think without the FE, if you have 12+years of engineering experience you can take the PE exam, but you still have to show engineering related experience and have worked under a supervisor who has a PE.  Also, you can take the electrical power exam even if you have a degree in another discipline, such as mechanical.

Yes I agree with Roy, you should have demonstrated EE experience, otherwise why take it in the first place?


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## ChebyshevII PE PMP (Aug 23, 2019)

roy167 said:


> And how could you even qualify to take FE and PE, without EE degree and or EE experience? Don't you either have to have a qualification or practical experience? for board to approve your application?






MEtoEE said:


> I think without the FE, if you have 12+years of engineering experience you can take the PE exam, but you still have to show engineering related experience and have worked under a supervisor who has a PE.  Also, you can take the electrical power exam even if you have a degree in another discipline, such as mechanical.
> 
> Yes I agree with Roy, you should have demonstrated EE experience, otherwise why take it in the first place?


It should be noted that there are some states (such as Michigan, I believe) that does not require work experience before taking the PE exam. To get a license, you need to pass the exams, have the work experience, and submit an application...but taking the exams appears to be independent of work experience.

That said, I am a little skeptical of this user’s post; it is their only post since joining 15 hours ago. If it’s legit, perhaps they opted to take the EE exam while having an engineering degree in a different discipline (as MEtoEE pointed out). I think NCEES requires educational information to be recorded before registering...


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## roy167 (Aug 23, 2019)

ChebyshevII PE said:


> That said, I am a little skeptical of this user’s post; it is their only post since joining 15 hours ago


That's what prompted me to ask those questions.


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## DLD PE (Aug 23, 2019)

ChebyshevII PE said:


> It should be noted that there are some states (such as Michigan, I believe) that does not require work experience before taking the PE exam. To get a license, you need to pass the exams, have the work experience, and submit an application...but taking the exams appears to be independent of work experience.
> 
> That said, I am a little skeptical of this user’s post; it is their only post since joining 15 hours ago. If it’s legit, perhaps they opted to take the EE exam while having an engineering degree in a different discipline (as MEtoEE pointed out). I think NCEES requires educational information to be recorded before registering...


This is definitely something to take note of for future examinees.  The state of TN requires you to submit your transcripts, proof of passing the FE and engineering work related experience as well as work references.  Work related experience can be under a PE supervision or otherwise, but there is a minimum required to be under a PE supervision.  I'm sure this varies from state to state, but I will say there is a LOT of information to be gathered and filled out.  I had to submit my application twice because I wasn't detailed enough the first time around with my "work related experience".  I want to point this out because even if you decide 8 months in advance to take the exam, you're going to be spending quite a bit of time applying for the exam, and not much extra time for studying, so keep that in mind.


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## FLOrida (Aug 23, 2019)

roy167 said:


> And how could you even qualify to take FE and PE, without EE degree and or EE experience? Don't you either have to have a qualification or practical experience? for board to approve your application?


no, just need an engineering degree and experience. no exact requirement for the discipline

...at least in florida



MEtoEE said:


> I think without the FE, if you have 12+years of engineering experience you can take the PE exam, but you still have to show engineering related experience and have worked under a supervisor who has a PE.  Also, you can take the electrical power exam even if you have a degree in another discipline, such as mechanical.
> 
> Yes I agree with Roy, you should have demonstrated EE experience, otherwise why take it in the first place?


i needed the EE discipline on my license to qualify for something else i applied for. i think those were 8 or so months well invested



ChebyshevII PE said:


> It should be noted that there are some states (such as Michigan, I believe) that does not require work experience before taking the PE exam. To get a license, you need to pass the exams, have the work experience, and submit an application...but taking the exams appears to be independent of work experience.
> 
> That said, I am a little skeptical of this user’s post; it is their only post since joining 15 hours ago. If it’s legit, perhaps they opted to take the EE exam while having an engineering degree in a different discipline (as MEtoEE pointed out). I think NCEES requires educational information to be recorded before registering...


yes, that is correct. my degree and experience was in something else


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## ChebyshevII PE PMP (Aug 23, 2019)

FLOrida said:


> yes﻿, that is correct. my degree and experience was in somethin﻿g else﻿


Thanks for clarifying, it does help. Out of curiousity, what was your experience with the PPI power books? I used PPI for the computer engineering exam and found the content to be both outdated and lacking.


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## FLOrida (Aug 23, 2019)

ChebyshevII PE said:


> Thanks for clarifying, it does help. Out of curiousity, what was your experience with the PPI power books? I used PPI for the computer engineering exam and found the content to be both outdated and lacking.


now that you ask, i think there were a shit load of errors and you constantly had to look at their errata. But I think you kinda don't have a choice but to use them anyways. Especially since it is easy to find a fellow test taker with whom you can discuss questions.

I took the CE, EE, and ME exams (passed them all). I think EE PPI book was the worst one.


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## ChebyshevII PE PMP (Aug 23, 2019)

FLOrida said:


> I﻿ took the CE, EE, and ME exams (passed them all). I think EE PPI book w﻿as the wors﻿t one.﻿


Wow, kudos to you. One was enough for me. 

Must be something about John Camara’s books, I’ve heard mostly good things about Lindeburg’s material.


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## LyceeFruit PE (Aug 25, 2019)

ChebyshevII PE said:


> Wow, kudos to you. One was enough for me.
> 
> Must be something about John Camara’s books, I’ve heard mostly good things about Lindeburg’s material.


The Camara book is ok (I have an older version) but the practice exam is worthless


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## ChebyshevII PE PMP (Aug 25, 2019)

LyceeFruit said:


> The Camara book is ok (I have an older version) but the practice exam is worthless


I had exactly the opposite experience with the computer PPI books. The practice exam was a little too simple but in my opinion it gave me a good idea on areas I needed to improve on.


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