I failed, I admit, now Please help - Power Exam

[Owism]

Hello everyone,

First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone for the rollercoaster ride while waiting for the exam results. 

Please list what reference books you used during the exam.  I heard "least is best" so I limited myself to a few instead of flipping through too many books:

1. Power Reference Manual - Camara
   
2. NEC 2014
   
3. Spin UP practice exams - practiced 2 of these exams... passed both with 75%.
   
4. NEC Practice exam
   
5. School of PE notes and Solutions
   
6. Graffeo book - I referenced this one the most in the exam but never beforehand
   

I know there are multiple threads everywhere on this but I figure someone has already seen that, so I'll just ask you to list the link here.

Thanks for your assistance.

MY background : Im not a practicing power engineer, but I do have an electrical engineering education (small circuits). This was the first time I was exposed to Transmission, Generators, and majority of the items on the exam. I took the School PE course and it taught me alot. I figure I need to practice more how "per units" work and get the NESC book.  Any advice of yours is appreciated. My diagnostic is attached but I have no idea what to make of it. The topics are so generalized I dont know which problems to practice for each to get better. Any thoughts are welcome

Thanks

 

[Stewie]

I think you may want to take some online course for PE exam. It's very helpful. I didn't take it myself this time. But I borrowed some materials from my friend who took it before.

 

[Dodgeviper1017]

I am not a great resource but maybe I can give some advice as I just passed. Resources look good I would add a full copy of NESC as there were several questions on this and a binder full of stuff on each topic from google. Other than that I would take some time off and restart in january. Find every problem ever invented on rotating machines and transmission lines. Add that to your binder. I found a great resource on per unit prior to test I will try to find it tomorrow if I can. This should help greatly other than that I dont have a lot. If it makes you feel any better I have kidney stones could be a lot worse. You will ppassnext exam others are here for yahm

 

[Owism]

Thank you! Yes i took the school of PE course. Yes please any material on per units will be helpful. Thanks! God bless you with health and quick healing from kidney stones.

 

[Mikeviti]

I would add the following:

NESC

Complex Imaginary Practice Tests - These are more in line with the difficulty of the exam than Spin Up

Grainger - Power System Analysis - I recall some questions pulling information from this text almost verbatim

Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers - I was able to answer some questions that were "from left field" using this reference.

I also used and been studying with Graffeo, Wilde, and Camara...all of which were useful during the exam.

I took the georgia tech class which i found helpful for some topics not covered in other references.

Some tips:

- Ensure to study with your references. Not knowing the Graffeo text prior to the exam is a mistake.

- I kept a notebook full of information mainly on topics I did not feel comfortable with. When I would get a question wrong on the practice exam, i would make a tab in the notebook for that topic and research the hell out of it. That would serve as my reference for that topic. Chances were that if i got it wrong in the practice exam, my references did not cover it adequately so i basically made my own references.

I took this test three times. Dont give up just learn from your experience and others to do better next time.

 

[Kellyo]

I was not successful the first time, or second. Then passed the third time (this October). I used similar references. But what helped me the most was taking a course. I took the online, live, PPI2pass Review course. I highly recommend it.

 

[Owism]

Thank you @Kellyo and @Mikeviti

 

[TNSparky]

For Per Unit Studying, get "Protective Relaying: Principles and Applications" by Blackburn and Domin. Chapter 2 goes into per unit.

The basic objective of per unit is to get components (generators and transformers specifically) on the same apparent power (MVA or KVA) base. The huge advantage of per unit is that it eliminates any delta-wye or wye-delta transformations across transformers and it gets all of the various system voltages on the same term (usually 1.0 per unit or pu) so you end up having a very simple circuit to analyze.

 

[dos777]

During school I emphasized communications and went into Network Engineering after graduation (without taking the FE exam).  Ten years later I transition to the Power field and have to take the FE and PE.  I finally passed my third PE test!  I made a quick reference sheet that I kept at the front of my white binder that had formulas, notes, etc that I could access quickly.  I'm not a good test taker when the clock is ticking.....so for me, every second counts.  This time around I also purchased the Graffeo book, Spin Up and Complex Imaginary tests.  The Graffeo book was a huge help to me as far as review and during the test.  Spin Up was good but seemed repetitive after a while.  Complex Imaginary 1,2 & 3 were very good.  Also, Complex Imaginary has several YouTube videos that I found extremely helpful.  I also had Elements of Power System Analysis by Stevenson which I referenced a lot during the test.  Hope this helps and don't give up.

 

[dos777]

Here's a link to Complex Imaginary on YouTube.......they have a video on Per Unit.  Like I said in the previous post, several of these videos were a huge help to me.

https://www.youtube.com/user/ComplexImaginary/videos

 

[14bk41]

I also took SofPE online prep course. 

I would also suggest reviewing your test taking strategy and how you referenced your materials.  The guy next to me spent a lot of time swapping books and flipping through pages - I hope he passed.  I bookmarked/tabbed my books along the top/bottom as well as along the length, depending on subjects, actual table, or actual problems, for example.  I also use a color code system.   To me, the Code questions are quite simple (if you know the Code well), yet equally tricky because of the way the questions were framed.   They will trip you up even if you are right on the correct article (if you don't read the questions carefully).

I did not have the Graffeo book but I studied the Complex Imaginary book (I also bookmarked the typical problems in there).   I watched all the CI youtube videos.  Line/phase is a death trap if you don't understand the concept or read the question carefully.

I did not have the NESC and wish that I had it... 

Keep your head high and study hard for April.  You can do it!  Best of luck.

 

[rideexileex]

I went into the exam with nothing more than The Camara book, the Camara practice exam book, the NEC 2014 code book (TABBED!!! With the official tabs - Huge advantage), NESC code book, a binder of different sections, TI-36, and a water bottle and beef jerkey. In my binder, I had the solutions for Camara practice exams, the official NEC exam and solutions, a self made index of all the sample problems, the IEEE standard on the device naming conventions, a summary whitepaper on Arcflash with equations, the calculator manual, and several pages of quick reference equations.

The test index was huge - I sorted all the sample problems by a category, gave a brief description, and wrote what test and problem number it was, so that if a problem came up on the test, I could reference a similar problem if needed from the examples. I printed it twice - once by test numerical order, and a second sorted by my assigned categories.

Do all of the sample problems, obviously, but also work out why each of the other options were wrong. You'll learn the tricks that NCEES tries to play, or the get-cha's and got-cha's of the wording, scenarios, exceptions, etc. I think I remembered more by understanding why answers were wrong more than I learned why things were right, if that makes sense.

I started studying a month before the exam, and crammed for two weeks prior every night.

The only thing I didn't have that I wish I would have brought, but did study, was more NEMA reference material.

 

[Knightro]

Hello everyone,

First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone for the rollercoaster ride while waiting for the exam results. 

Please list what reference books you used during the exam.  I heard "least is best" so I limited myself to a few instead of flipping through too many books:

1. Power Reference Manual - Camara
   
2. NEC 2014
   
3. Spin UP practice exams - practiced 2 of these exams... passed both with 75%.
   
4. NEC Practice exam
   
5. School of PE notes and Solutions
   
6. Graffeo book - I referenced this one the most in the exam but never beforehand
   

I know there are multiple threads everywhere on this but I figure someone has already seen that, so I'll just ask you to list the link here.

Thanks for your assistance.

MY background : Im not a practicing power engineer, but I do have an electrical engineering education (small circuits). This was the first time I was exposed to Transmission, Generators, and majority of the items on the exam. I took the School PE course and it taught me alot. I figure I need to practice more how "per units" work and get the NESC book.  Any advice of yours is appreciated. My diagnostic is attached but I have no idea what to make of it. The topics are so generalized I dont know which problems to practice for each to get better. Any thoughts are welcome

Thanks

View attachment 8957

Looks like you need a protection book for sure bro..

 

[Kam]

Hello everyone,

First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone for the rollercoaster ride while waiting for the exam results. 

Please list what reference books you used during the exam.  I heard "least is best" so I limited myself to a few instead of flipping through too many books:

1. Power Reference Manual - Camara
   
2. NEC 2014
   
3. Spin UP practice exams - practiced 2 of these exams... passed both with 75%.
   
4. NEC Practice exam
   
5. School of PE notes and Solutions
   
6. Graffeo book - I referenced this one the most in the exam but never beforehand
   

I know there are multiple threads everywhere on this but I figure someone has already seen that, so I'll just ask you to list the link here.

Thanks for your assistance.

MY background : Im not a practicing power engineer, but I do have an electrical engineering education (small circuits). This was the first time I was exposed to Transmission, Generators, and majority of the items on the exam. I took the School PE course and it taught me alot. I figure I need to practice more how "per units" work and get the NESC book.  Any advice of yours is appreciated. My diagnostic is attached but I have no idea what to make of it. The topics are so generalized I dont know which problems to practice for each to get better. Any thoughts are welcome

Thanks

View attachment 8957

I feel your pain bro. I had a very similar experience after taking the April exam. See attached for my April diagnostics. it is very similar to yours. If you have the money to take another review class, take one where you can ask the lecturer questions on the spot (so night class or class that has video streaming). With that aside, here is how i passed. For April exam, I borrowed Complex imaginary (full version), Power system analysis (Grainger), Electrical Machines, Drives and Power system (Wildi). these were very good help but i was cocky and didnt read the book and did not quite understand how to solve all the problems in complex imganiary (collegue allready had them solved), second hand was not a good option as when i got a problem wrong, i just looked at his method and said "oh ok, i get it" without understanding the concept. 

For the October exam, I buckled down little bit more (I tend to become more focus when i fail at something, I become stubborn), I bought new version (version 2) of the complex imaginary, a set of Spin up exam, bought my own Grainger and Wild book, bought new uglys. 

Spin up was very redundant but did a good job teaching theory and MVA method of short circuit. CI did a great job teaching more of the harder complex problems. take out plenty of time to read every bit of Grainger and Wildi book, they give you lot of real world examples which is what the PE is based on. I had a siemens white paper that taught me DC distributiona and protective relaying, if you want it, let me know but its pretty easy to find it. and i used some of my collecte books to understand fundamentals of transformers and transmission lines. this should suffice with everything you need. 

Use the Camara book for high theory stuff and engineering economics. take notes and make cheat sheet to know where all the info is.

Hope this helps. I think you have a very similar path as me and i think this will help a lot. Go and kill the april exam.

View attachment 2016_P04_Examinee_Diagnostic_897525_1444813_573b3a1f1bb9e (1).pdf

 

[Phatso86]

that's rough man.

I left so disappointed and planning a second testing. I have no background in electrical engineering, save for the one intro class every engineer took in college.

I took the Villanova course, but much of it was completely unnecessary.

Took the PPI course.

completed the PPI book.

complex imaginary,

spin up.

chelapati

it was a rough 7-8 months for me

 

[nukem2k5]

You took SOPE.  I did also, and managed to do far more than scrape by.  Their notes needed a lot of highlighting in order to easily recognize headings, valuable information, formulas, etc.  Also, create an index containing every heading/subheading so you can easily navigate the notes.  I spent MANY hours just organizing this.  Think my index, with 2 columns per sheet, was about 8 pages long... but priceless during prep and during the exam!  Put the index and your custom formula cheat sheet into a paper brad folder so it's easy to use during the exam.

From what I recall, my main resources during the exam were SOPE notes, NEC, NESC, and Camara book (although Camara wasn't used for much).  The CI practice test was pretty useless.  NCEES and SOPE practice problems were very good.  I also bought Grainger, Wildi, etc. but didn't really use them. 

Re-take SOPE and pause the lectures to research topics yourself.  The recordings are supposed to be 64 hours.  I prob spent prob 3-4x that much time when going through the lectures, since I'd pause, Google a topic, and really ensure I understood it fundamentally.  Things like PU, symmetrical components, +/- 30 deg phase between Wye and Delta, electromag machine mechanics, autotransformers, etc.  Go beyond just passively watching the SOPE class and hoping you'll find the answer in your notes during the exam.

 

[Limamike]

I took SOPE, and all I can tell you is that the instructor , is terrible,  at best. Reads right out of the notes, verbatim. Even the problem set, which is copied right out of the Villanova problems set, he reads word for word. You can follow my frustration with this guy, through my threads. And it's unfortunate that Sope management does not make a changes. They have so much better electrical instructors on staff!  Interested to see how they adapt, and hopefully make a much needed change to their power course in April 17.

 

[Mikeviti]

I took SOPE, and all I can tell you is that the instructor , is terrible,  at best. Reads right out of the notes, verbatim. Even the problem set, which is copied right out of the Villanova problems set, he reads word for word. You can follow my frustration with this guy, through my threads. And it's unfortunate that Sope management does not make a changes. They have so much better electrical instructors on staff!  Interested to see how they adapt, and hopefully make a much needed change to their power course in April 17.

I thought the GA Tech professor was excellent.

 

[knight1fox3]

I thought the GA Tech professor was excellent.

lusone:

 

[vermonter]

Hello everyone,

First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone for the rollercoaster ride while waiting for the exam results. 

Please list what reference books you used during the exam.  I heard "least is best" so I limited myself to a few instead of flipping through too many books:

1. Power Reference Manual - Camara
   
2. NEC 2014
   
3. Spin UP practice exams - practiced 2 of these exams... passed both with 75%.
   
4. NEC Practice exam
   
5. School of PE notes and Solutions
   
6. Graffeo book - I referenced this one the most in the exam but never beforehand
   

I know there are multiple threads everywhere on this but I figure someone has already seen that, so I'll just ask you to list the link here.

Thanks for your assistance.

MY background : Im not a practicing power engineer, but I do have an electrical engineering education (small circuits). This was the first time I was exposed to Transmission, Generators, and majority of the items on the exam. I took the School PE course and it taught me alot. I figure I need to practice more how "per units" work and get the NESC book.  Any advice of yours is appreciated. My diagnostic is attached but I have no idea what to make of it. The topics are so generalized I dont know which problems to practice for each to get better. Any thoughts are welcome

Thanks

View attachment 8957

Hi,

I took the electrical & electronics but let me give you some tips...

I passed the exam my first attempt but if I had to take it again, this is what I would do personally (no courses, self study only).

1.) You're at an advantage taking it a second time: you have the diagnostics report. You know where you're strong and where you're weak. Don't waste time studying what you already know (remember, you got the books to recall info on your strong topics).

2.) Bring every single book you can think of. During the exam I found myself thinking "if only I had book _____" ... I could've guaranteed an answer rather than trying my best to recall a course in college. I could even envision the page or lecture from my college course... Don't "wish" you brought everything you needed. I risked points on at least 3 questions by neglecting to bring a book.

3.) Rip through the exam hitting easy questions. I went through all 40 questions in both the morning and evening sessions within 1.5 hours. I answered probably 28/40 questions without opening a reference book. You want to speed through the easy stuff. This will give you so much time to look up answers later. I felt I had too much time during the exam. There's questions you can answer in 30 seconds or less - take advantage! 

4.) Think you're done? Step back. Use the last 5 minutes to go through every page. Did you mark ABCD correctly on the scantron? Don't waste points!! Make sure if you answered it RIGHT in the book that you SELECTED THE CORRECT ANSWER ON THE SCANTRON! Remember, you're nervous during the exam - it's easy to make a mistake. 

5.) Can't answer a question? Select an answer on the scantron and never look back. I had several cases where I either didn't have the reference or didn't even know how to start. Lost points, take the 25% chance and move on. You need those seconds (minutes) for other questions.

6.) Morning didn't go well? Forget it. Consider it two entirely different exams. Ace the afternoon and you can pass. vice-versa. I went in to both sessions (AM/PM) as if it was my first test of the day. 

7.) Never give up. You can do it.