# code book confusion..a lot



## lefleuron (May 22, 2010)

Hello peoples,

I really am a 2nd year IE apprentice, and there is enough doubt and confusion in my life as is without this code book stuff.

I have Holts code book explained. Also Holts code workbook with the little pictures and everything.

That's all fine and good, and these books make life a little easier.

My real problem comes with finding THE answers. The teacher gives an assignment sheet with maybe 25 questions, and this will take me forever or longer, and that's if I find them all. Add in 10 flips for exceptions and 6 charts- and I am soon lost or 200 pages from the right answer (I find this out in class).

What I would like to ask, is how do you people go about finding these answers. Keywords, just time spent, charts, graphs,...???

This is not for a test, this is just to help me stay semi-sane and not look so damn dumb in class.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Look at the way the Codebook is laid out. General rules up front, more specific equipment / occupancies toward the back.


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## Bkessler (Feb 14, 2007)

practice, 
practice, and
practice,

I used to for years keep a code book next to the crapper.


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## manchestersparky (Mar 25, 2007)

Bkessler said:


> practice,
> practice, and
> practice,
> 
> I used to for years keep a code book next to the crapper.


DAMN ! I thought I was the only weirdo who did that


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

lefleuron said:


> Hello peoples,
> 
> I really am a 2nd year IE apprentice, and there is enough doubt and confusion in my life as is without this code book stuff.
> 
> ...


 

Spend time on forums. Get into debates. Challenge what you think is wrong. Then learn how to prove it with the code book. You might get proved wrong, but you'll learn something. It will be a big old piece of humble pie for you to eat. It can't done overnight, there's no magic here. Take practice test. Time yourself. Challenge yourself. It will take at least 5 years before you're truly proficient with the book.


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## Ima Hack (Aug 31, 2009)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Spend time on forums. Get into debates. Challenge what you think is wrong. Then learn how to prove it with the code book. You might get proved wrong, but you'll learn something. It will be a big old piece of humble pie for you to eat. It can't done overnight, there's no magic here. Take practice test. Time yourself. Challenge yourself. It will take at least 5 years before you're truly proficient with the book.


Good advice, I've been at it for 30 years and I learn new things everyday. I've learned a lot here and on Mike Holts forum about the code and just to day wiring issues. You get many unique perspectives.


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## BritBurk479 (Oct 3, 2010)

Ask whoever you are working with every question that comes to mind, no matter how stupid of a question you think it could be. Ask them why they are doing things a certian way and what other ways are legal to do it.


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

I agree with Ken. Learning how the codebook is laid out is 75% of the deal. Look at all the chapter titles and read the descriptions at the beginning of the articles. 

Got a motor question well probably find it in 430, a/c article 440. NM cable 334 etc. Then look at how the articles are laid out. Most sections use the same number in the different articles. For instance-- securing and supporting nm cable is in article 334.30 and art. 350.30 is for securing liquidtite flex metal conduit and 330.30 is for securing and supporting MC cable. 

Get the idea. the section article #.30 for types of wiring will usually be the securing and supporting section.

The book is laid out with some semblance of organization but you need to discover it.


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## Ima Hack (Aug 31, 2009)

For me one of the BEST investments was getting the Handbook with tabs.


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## electricalperson (Jan 11, 2008)

use the index. pick the root word out of the question and look in the index. if its not there get another word and look


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## Nildogg (Jul 29, 2010)

The NJATC has a book called Applied Codeology based on the NEC.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

Read the code book, cover to cover.. LOL! Get some tabs for your book. Come to this site and Mike Holts forum. Look up everything you don't understand. After 10 years or so in the trade you'll be more comfortable with it all.


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

The tabs are a great tool and will help you find the article easier but it will not help you understand the code -- recognizing the parts of the tabs or index is the important part.


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## ampman (Apr 2, 2009)

Bkessler said:


> practice,
> practice, and
> practice,
> 
> I used to for years keep a code book next to the crapper.


 i hope it was there for reading and not -- well you know


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

ampman said:


> i hope it was there for reading and not -- well you know


Well, hey, Sears doesn't put out a catalog any more.........:whistling2:


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## ampman (Apr 2, 2009)

480sparky said:


> Well, hey, Sears doesn't put out a catalog any more.........:whistling2:


 sorry i mean't cleaning up the mess not creating one


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

When I got my first NEC (it was the 2005 cycle) I actually spent a couple nights and just read through the whole thing, cover to cover. Most of it was Greek to me, but there were bits and pieces that I recognized ("Hey, here's the section on Rigid Metallic Conduit! I just bent some of that today!") It sounds weird, but if you read through the whole thing, whether you understand it or not, a lot of the esoteric terms and phrases will be imprinted somewhere on your brain. Then a year later you'll suddenly recall, "Oh yeah, I remember reading about ________ a while back..." Sooner or later it will be easier and easier to do that and eventually it will commit itself to memory.

In short, don't expect to be proficient. Expect to jump around the index from one keyword to another. Expect the code itself to send you on a wild reference goose chase. Sooner or later you'll start to develop a mental catalog of some of the more common code topics and you'll be able to jump right to them. I have a terrible memory but I can usually at least recite the gist of some of the "heavier-duty" articles like 210, 250, 300s, 430, etc.



480sparky said:


> Well, hey, Sears doesn't put out a catalog any more.........:whistling2:


Victoria's Secret still does :thumbup: :whistling2:


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

erics37 said:


> Victoria's Secret still does


Well done, you have turned an NEC discussion into one on the Victoria Secret catalog. :laughing:


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

Jlarson said:


> Well done, you have turned an NEC discussion into one on the Victoria Secret catalog. :laughing:


Thank you, thank you, folks! I'm here all week!


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

erics37 said:


> Thank you, thank you, folks! I'm here all week!


Is that 24/7:lol::lol::lol:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Jlarson said:


> Well done, you have turned an NEC discussion into one on the Victoria Secret catalog. :laughing:


That is good work:laughing::laughing:


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

HARRY304E said:


> That is good work


Never said it wasn't :laughing:


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

HARRY304E said:


> Is that 24/7:lol::lol::lol:


Only when work is slow :thumbsup:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

lefleuron said:


> Hello peoples,
> 
> I really am a 2nd year IE apprentice, and there is enough doubt and confusion in my life as is without this code book stuff.
> 
> ...


Welcome to the forum The code is hard to navigate even with 36 years in the trade.I started out on the 1971 NEC 1/2 way through the first year we had to buy the 1975 code my jouneymans exam was on the 1978 NEC since then the 1981,1984,1987,1990,1993,1996,1999.2002,2005,2008, and on 1 January 2011 we will be going by the 2011 NEC.
Buy some test books and practice looking for each answer to the ?'s at first take your time but find the anwser to each ? and start setting time limits so you can get there faster. Read and remember the tital of each article ..
ARTICLE 90 Itrodutction. ARTICLE 100 DEFINITIONS .ARTICLE 110 REQUIRMENTS FOR ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS ECT ECT ECT


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## ousoonerfan3 (Jun 29, 2008)

I agree with the suggestion of the "Applied Codeology" book. It really helped me understand how the codebook is layed out.

You can get it used from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $20-$30.


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## doubleoh7 (Dec 5, 2009)

You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. To kill!


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## Widestance_Politics (Jun 2, 2010)

Like many have said it can take years to have a good grip on the codebook, and you have to advance along with it during each new cycle. But I feel that as long as your instructor allows it(most do) there is no better tool to use than Ferms Fast Finder...http://www.licensedelectrician.com/Store/IA/2008_Ferms.htm

It is basically an expanded index of the code... as large as the codebook itself......some states allow you to bring it in during the test even...


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

doubleoh7 said:


> You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. To kill!


 


RAMBO:gun_bandana::tank::shuriken::hang:


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

doubleoh7 said:


> You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. To kill!


 One of my all time favorite movies. I love it when the dep falls out of the helicopter and falls to his death.:thumbup:


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## wayne g (Nov 28, 2010)

Learn to use the up front chapters & articles, the index in the back of the NEC is a great help to find answers in a hurry practice practice


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## wayne g (Nov 28, 2010)

No you did not.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Also a book called Key Word Index, by Tom Henry.

Also look for the keyword in the question. 

Does the teacher want the code with all exceptions or only the answer without any exceptions?


Also KISS do not over complicate this.

http://www.code-electrical.com/keywordindex.html


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## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

You just have to work at finding the right section to find your answer. At first it will most certainly take a long time but there really is no way around that. Once you start flipping through it long enough you will start to remember where certain things are. If you really devote some steady time to it, an hour a day and maybe a few more on the weekends, you will get it after a about six months. You need to get a review book and just go at it


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## Rudeboy (Oct 6, 2009)

captkirk said:


> You just have to work at finding the right section to find your answer. At first it will most certainly take a long time but there really is no way around that. Once you start flipping through it long enough you will start to remember where certain things are. If you really devote some steady time to it, an hour a day and maybe a few more on the weekends, you will get it after a about six months. You need to get a review book and just go at it


Then you have to learn to navigate the pdf version.


"the scroll goes too fast" someone once told me.
:whistling2:


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Kid once you do learn your codebook , come back here once in a while and make some sort of inane statement. Then watch all the fuss. It keeps things lively......


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## doubleoh7 (Dec 5, 2009)

macmikeman said:


> Kid once you do learn your codebook , come back here once in a while and make some sort of inane statement. Then watch all the fuss. It keeps things lively......


 
I love making an inane statement around here.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

electricalperson said:


> use the index. pick the root word out of the question and look in the index. if its not there get another word and look


This is the way I use it but learning the layout is really the best way. Remember, this is a reference book and is assembled like one. Learn how to use it! Dont cop out and get an Uglys Book. Or, even worse, the Home Depot guides..


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## wllm_geist79 (Dec 4, 2010)

knowing the layout is most certainly the golden ticket. then you can get the tabs so you can quickly reference ( bc u know the layout ) anything u come across on the job or in school.


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

jrannis said:


> This is the way I use it but learning the layout is really the best way. Remember, this is a reference book and is assembled like one. Learn how to use it! Dont cop out and get an Uglys Book. Or, even worse, the Home Depot guides..


You can't knock uglys. It has most of the everyday stuff and its small enough to first in your bag.


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## wayne g (Nov 28, 2010)

Yes look @ how the chapters are laid out, the back "index" is a very good tool to find your location to get your answer. :thumbsup:


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

mattsilkwood said:


> You can't knock uglys.


After 4-6 beers they look much better.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

brian john said:


> After 4-6 beers they look much better.


 



What's the difference between a DOG and a FOX??









































































































































about 6 beers:whistling2:


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