Ok,
I'm going to post my flash back over here...first...If i passed this test you sure can pass it...why?...first you all have an advantage against me...my english is a second language english my primary language is spanish...so i have to put more effort on understanding the theory and all that kind of stuff than you. I took the FE (GENERAL) 3 times...first time didn't have the time to study too much because i moved to the states and i was adapting....well i failed.... second try i study, study a looot.. receive the letter that said " I have to regret bla bla bla" that frustrate me a looot....know that i had to open the FERM again and go all over again it was fatal for me....i was pissed...but i get over it...took it a third time and passed. So in other words i am not smart if i passed the PE you can.
After that i start working for an electrical contractor that does (design-build) doing drawings "only"...ha...yeah right....well after 3 month they start teaching me how to design...how to apply code...why we do this and not this....you know how it goes...then i start doing designs completely all by myself....and then come the part of estimating....that job gives me the experience needed to qualify for the PE exam.
On june 2010 i think that was the month that PPI update the EERM to the power reference manual (
EPRM)....well I bought the whole package of books that they have EPRM, Practice Problems, sample Examination plus the NCEES power sample problems. My objective was to take the exam for April 2011 not October 2011. I was thinking on taking a year studying because of all the materials i have to cover...by the time i started i didn't even remember what was (power factor ). My degree in electrical engineering was more in electronics than power....but my work is mostly based on power so I decide to go with power that way i don't have to apply Laplace transforms, Fourier etc. etc. etc.
Well i started first with the EPRM book....first i started with math since i was a little week on calculus..i think I cover all the math section of the EPRM. Remember I was thinking on preparing for this for 1 year....i didn't rush it.....my way of thinking is to pass this test i need to have the knowledge of a professor.
Then i cover the a little bit of magnetic field theory...i knew those topics are not discussed in the exam too much so i didn't give it too much of attention. To make the story short i study all the EPRM except transients, computer logic, and electronics. When i was working with AC steady state circuit analysis i notice that the EPRM wasn't giving me too much of a help and you need to understand that as much as you could. So I decide to go to my school years.
I bought again used book of the
Electrical Circuits by Nilsson 8th edition why did i bought that one? Because I used the 5th edition at college and i know it teaches very well AC steady state, Power Analisys and Three phase. Also I found a copy of the solution manual for that book the 8th edition...that way i can work all of the problems on the end of each chapter and if i get stuck at least i know how to work the problem for future reference....well that book is good for AC, Power calculations and Three phase calculations.
For transformers, Induction Motors, Synchronous motors i used 2 books.....i had
Electrical Machines Fundamentals by Stephen Chapman (i found the solution manual of that book also on the web) and
Electrical Machines, Drives and power systems by Theodore Wildi on the first one the Chapman is good for understanding how transformers works...single phase and three phase....You can read about electrical motors using that book but for transformer is the best book...but i found Wildi book is easier to understand all the motors, etc. wildi also cover power....how ever....the problems at the end of each chapter i found all the problems fairly easy to solve compared to Chapman book. Also wildi discussed power lines, transmission and distribution pretty well. I used both Chapman and Wildi books for power electronics. I don't know what to say about power electronics...that topic is hard to understand...the good thing is that you only need to understand basic stuff like input wave and output wave with different kind and rectifiers...etc. Harmonics is also discussed in Wildi book..not in Chapman.
I also have the famous
Chelapati book....this was a waste of money for me. I really didn't use it much.
I mostly pass all my time studying with those 3 books...i think i read some difficult chapters twice(motors & power electronics)...easy chapters i just read it one time and do the problems in the back and that's it.
I didn't have the "Power systems analisys by Grainger book"... some people give them good review but that would be too much to study and time thats why i didn't bought it.
I study from june 2010 to octuber 2010 out of the "EPRM" and Nilson book. I didnt study anything from octuber 2010 to about mid january 2011 do to my work sucks almost all of my time and i have to postpone the exam from april 2011 to octuber 2011. By mid January i things got a little slow at work so i started to study again....but harder by harder i mean more...i review all that i did on 2010 plus...I added the Wildi book and Chapman to my list of study material....i study after lunch like 30 minutes each day and when i get home about 1 hour to 2 hours...no more than that...that includes some days to do problems...and some days to do just reading. Now those books doesn't cover everything...still there is NEC not covered very well on EPRM...so i bought a Master Electrician licence book....i didn't read all the book but i cover the first chapters that teach you how to find things on the NEC. This was a key factor since on the real NCEES exam there are some problems that ask you for answers that are kind of hidden on the NEC book....that book teach you how to find that kind of stuff using the index and table of contents. The book that i used for NEC mostly is
Master Electrician's Review: Based on the National Electrical Code® 2008, 6th Edition by Delmar I only used the first 4 to 5 chapters only i think...time was running out on me. IMPORTANT IF YOU BUY THE NEC BOOK OR HAVE THE NEC BOOK BUY ALSO THE NEC TAPS...THEY ARE VERRY VERRY HELP FULL.
So all that time studying i guess i should take the NCEES practice problems and take that as a breezee...well i started doing a few questions by early august 2011...and everytime i thought i got the correct answer it was WRONNGGGG. Now i got scared!!! really scared...i thing i even post on this forum something about "that i need help."
I really wanted to nail this thing on first try because i know how it feel the failure of an exam...Example the FE that i discussed above.....Well i decide to enroll in the
GA Tech Power option review online since many people already gives them a good review. I finish a module every weekend...and review the module notes the following week at work and at home. 30 minutes at lunch since i have 1 hour lunch and 2 hours at home after work! I end finish the materials by end of September. With that course you should at least have an understanding on how to work most of the NCEES practice problems. The good thing about the course is that it gave me more knowledge on the basics that i study before. The course did really help me and makes me believed more that i can pass this test. Still on that course "symetrical components and protective relaying was hard for me to understand".
By that time i finish with GA Tech i also had in my hand the
4 Complex Imaginary test variations. Many people complain about this books because it got a looot of errors but the questions were very similar to the one that appears on the NCEES practice problems. How i attack the tests....well.
1. I do 40 questions on Saturdays and 40 questions on Sundays.
2. If i wasn't sure of an answer to a question was the right one i just put what i thought was the answer and put an asterisk beside..that way i know that was guestimated or also i know that i was weak on the material for that question.
3. During the week i start to study the wrong ones and guestimated answers and try to find info on the ones that i haven't study for....like for example harmonics...(discused in wildi book).
4. Some questions i know that i was doing it right and were wrong in the book i post them on this forum for clarification.... that's how a bunch of errata sheets came out from Josh.
Complex imaginary problems are similar to NCEES but must of them are pretty easy in difficulty...compared to NCEES practice problems NCEES is a little more challenging.
Any way on complex imaginary testing i got a maximum of about 85% and a minimum of 77% minimum....then i did NCEES problems and got like 72% "I think" not sure about the numbers. That 72% was the Wednesday before the exam. So that was my last day studying....the next day i pack my things and rest.
That the end of the flash back.
