Do you still have your first electrical code book, and how much has been added since that edition?

My first code was the 1965 NYC Electrical Code!

My 1st code book at the Voc. high was the 1978. I wish I still had it. I do know that the last couple of editions moved things around quite a bit. Also they use point instead of slash for code numbering. I still remember the first thing the teacher told us as he handed us that code book, he said; "This is the code book, it's like the bible for electricians, and when you read the word SHALL it means MUST!"

1981 was my first addition!

Joe, your not really going to make us list all of the changes since our first edition are you? If so I'm dropping this class.

Curt

My first one was the '71. My next one was the '75. There should have been a '74, but for some reason it was not completed on time and they skipped '74 and went to '75. I don't have copies of either of those two. The oldest copy that I have that I have used is the '78.
Don

1981 NEC was also my first code book. This was my first hands-on reference and install NEC.

Still have it somewhere in my archives!

The covering was Dark Green and the fonts on the cover were light green for "National", "Electrical", "1981" and the letters "nec" inside the circle. "Code", the circle and the lightning bolt were white. Font style was like an Italic and Bold Serif Font - except for "nec" which was more like a typical regular Arial / Sans Serif font.

Per added items:

Using Article 250 as an example, I can remember large gaps between sections, along with a few other things!

Comparing Art. 250 between 1996 and 1999, a simple one is that 250-7 disappeared in 99, and I remember it from learning the 81 version, plus remember it from the 96 version.

Off hand, comparing what I see in the '99 NEC T.O.C. to what I Think I remember from the '81 NEC, Here might be a few Articles added:

324, 331, 343, 411, 490, 504, 525, 552, 553, 605, 625, 690, 695, 705, 725, 727, 770, 780, 830 - with many alterations and a few deletions of Articles.

P.S. I use 99 NEC currently since everything around me is based on 99 - such as CEC 97.

Scott s.e.t.

my bro ( Wirenuttt) gave me an 84', could'nt figure a thing in it at the time....

NFPA may still have the 1978 NEC through the present edition. Call the NFPA order department in Quincy, Massachusetts.

I still have my first, but I also have my grandfathers complete from present to 1959 and a few others in the fortys and the oldest is 1933. Talk about changes in the code.

I apprenticed under the end of the '65, but the first NEC I owned was the '68, as I tested for my first journeyman's under the '68. Somehow that book got left behind.

Highlights of changes. . .

Romex was still available with tar (bituminous compounds) in the jacket and the ground wire was #16.

TW was the dominant conductor for raceways.

GFIs were not required.

Aluminum branch circuit wirng was not a problem.

Wirenuts could splice aluminum and copper conductors.

CO/ALR devices didn't exist.

Supplemental grounding at the service was not required (most commonly, the ground rod).

Joe;
In reponse to finding old code books throught the NFPA. Thanks, I'll look into that. Be nice to have a collection from 1st to latest on the shelf.
~Ange

The 1940 is the first NEC I worked under, in 1941. I still have the book. If anyone has an NEC older than 1940 that you can part with, let me know. Creighton

1975 , my first nec book high school electrical shop .

1981 NEC, and all of them since.
John

The first one I ever opened was a borrowed copy of the '93. I used it to pass my (newly required) apprentice test; had to take it, even though I already had experience.

The only copies I have are '96, '99 and '02.

I'm a newbie!

...The 1971 NECA "black cover" edition was my first. §230-95 ground-fault protection was new then.

My first was the '84 and I still have it. The oldest one in my collection is a 1913. It's about the size of a checkbook. Times sure have changed.

My first one was a 1975 edition that I got when I started in vo-tech. Man that thing looks like a rag! LOL. I still have it, and most of the ones since. Matt

[This message has been edited by Matt M (edited 11-21-2002).]

Joe,

My first NEC was the 1981 also. I have all the rest since them too.

Mine was a '68, & it resided next to the toilet (as does my '02 today).
For Christmas in '71, I got a little wooden model of an outhouse with a miniature NEC sitting on its floor as a gift from my wife.
Don't have the wife, the outhouse, or the book anymore. I wore them all out.
I guess I've always been full of ....S

[This message has been edited by electure (edited 12-07-2002).]

Ah yes, the Irish Library!

I am still looking for old codes and books!

I recently found an old red hard covered NEC from the 50's and it has a complete list and pictures of the products that are included in that code at that time.

Oldest NEC: 1953
Oldest NEC handbook: 1947
Oldest Electrical Engineer's Note Book: 1939
Oldest American Bridge Company pocket book: 1939
Oldest City of Rocky Ford, Colorado Electrical Inspection and Fire Ordinances: 1925
Oldest Los Angeles Wireman's Handbook: 1923
Oldest Electrical Catechism: Power Plant Library Series: 1908
Oldest Pocket notebook: John Deere tractor catalog: 1897

First code I worked and learned under: 1981

Real interesting post.

Rick Miell

66wv,
Don't feel bad. My first copy, which I'm sitting here looking at, is a 1990. I was in apprenticeship school, and I got lucky by getting one of the "ring binder" type. It seems like yesterday that I opened it for the first time.
My codeology teacher was a guy by the name of Joe Craig. I remember some of the things he said to me, and after I landed my master's license I tried to "look him up" to tell him "thanks" for the things he'd taught me. I never located him. So, Joe, if you're out there....thanks.....

Another pup,
Doc