For the past 10 weeks I have been teaching a "Basic Home Wiring" course at a local UAW automotive plant. This class was open to active and retired employees and I had about 21 students. All were eager to learn and understand the basics of their residential wiring system. Some did better than others as far as grasping the concepts of basic electricity but all of them demonstrated enough understanding to respect the dangers involved and the consequences of getting in over your head with a home project. I was shocked to learn at the end of the class that one student who seemed to have the most trouble understanding the basics was a 3rd year apprentice electrician. While I realize that industrial and residential are two different electrical worlds, there are some basic principles that apply to both. I guess it is harder for me to see the big difference because I was brought along with equal portions of industrial, commercial, residential and agricultural electrical training and experience. For a long time I thought all electricians could wire a 3Ø assembly line on Monday and install a 200A service and rough in a home on Tuesday. I know now that is not always the case. Some electrician's expertise is limited to the area in which they were trained. This particular student will probably never need to know anything more than he is being trained for to do his job well. But after taking this class he realized he needs to know a lot more before he tackles wiring his new house. At least one person learned something from this class.
