# Industrial vs commercial vs residential



## glen1971 (Oct 10, 2012)

The theory and principles are universal no matter aspect of the trade you're in. Volts, current, resistance, wiring switches, etc. are all the same.

Some of the code stipulations and techniques in how they do it are learned if you do it though. How to wire a house, or an industrial plant, correctly and efficiently, where seals go, how to dress a panel, are all learned on the job by working with those that do it.

Having never wired a house from starting at the service trench or overhead to the last receptacle cover and custom electronics in them doesn't mean I couldn't wire one. I definitely would have some homework to do, and probably more questions than the average second year residential apprentice. Would the boss make any money having me do one on my own, probably not, but they'd know I could do the job. Ask me aspects of where I've spent the majority of my time in the trade, and I should know them inside and out.


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

Maybe you should stick to learning at least some of the trade, before you go and screw up somebody’s house.


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## Kevin (Feb 14, 2017)

You haven't done ANY residential work and you're ALREADY looking to do residential side jobs?

SMDH


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## u2slow (Jan 2, 2014)

Sounds like you'd be in better shape to find a residential contractor for some extra evening/weekend apprenticing. 

I have appreciated those skills for dealing with my own home, but it was never a great source of income for me. Stay with the commercial and industrial IMHO.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Taking a residential job so you can do side work would not be too shrewd. Commercial / industrial jobs are harder to come by and IMO there's more you can learn. There's usually more overtime available and higher wages in commercial and industrial. Sure, side work is easier to come by in residential, especially if you're willing to work under the radar  But it will be a while before you're qualified to do side work, and you'll have to do a LOT of side work to break even.


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## Wardenclyffe (Jan 11, 2019)

We have a couple of three way switches around here, they are 277 Volts though,...


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## SWDweller (Dec 9, 2020)

Because you have started a trade does not mean you are experienced or know enough to take on side jobs. Would you rewire your primary source of transportation right now?
Spend a couple of years in the trade and learn what you can. If you get to being the best at the company it will provide more than a side job.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Can you afford to buy a brace and bit? That's very important to have if you are going to do residential electrical work.


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

Just my opinion
I think you should stay right where you are! You should study hard and sponge up all the information that your present jobs presents! The pay scale is the highest in industrial and downhill just like your title of the OP.
Your going to learn the most in industrial, your going to be exposed to way more inner workings of applying electrical work in the industrial field. You will be into to things you'll never be exposed to in commercial or residential.
While in C or R you will be required to understand and apply more Code articles, it will turn into a typical application of electrical work. Running Romex or continually bending pipe is just no fun at times, please believe me.

If I've learned anything by working with lower generations of workers is the instant gratification factor that everyone seems to have. It seemed to have evolved to almost everyone, and everything and anything we try to do.

So in your case your dreaming about the future but don't have the past to back up the future.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

In all honesty , if you are an apprentice you have ten times the amount of electrical knowledge of a typical handy man that exists in the tens of thousands across this country doing electrical jobs in secret day after day, without inspections, and messing up what was originally installed to the point of near death for the occupants, so Go For It ! What the hell? They can do it, so can you...............


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## joe-nwt (Mar 28, 2019)

CADPoint said:


> I think you should stay right where you are! You should study hard and sponge up all the information that your present jobs presents! The pay scale is the highest in industrial and downhill just like your title of the OP.
> Your going to learn the most in industrial, your going to be exposed to way more inner workings of applying electrical work in the industrial field. You will be into to things you'll never be exposed to in commercial or residential.


Yeah! And years down the road you can come back and start a thread with " I'v e spent xxx years in industrial but my porch light trips a breaker once in a while and I need help......"

As long as you are working under some supervision and the extra hours don't affect your performance at your main job, I say go for it. Learning is learning.


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## Wardenclyffe (Jan 11, 2019)

*What to Do When Your Outdoor Lighting Trips the Circuit Breaker*


When a circuit breaker trips it often means that there is a short somewhere on the line. Wires are likely touching. Sometimes it can be quite tricky finding the problem. I have seen instances when chipmunks have chewed the insulation off the wires. When the bare wires touch, or if the exposed wires become wet, moisture can conduct electricity and the line shorts out.
A bad fixture can be the cause of the problem. When this happens the fixture is old and the insulation has worn off the wire. If the fixture is bad sometimes we can replace the socket assembly and that often fixes the problem. There are times when the fixture is so bad that there is no fix to it and it must be thrown away.
A circuit breaker can trip even if there isn’t a short. Earlier this year a different customer called me because several of his lights were out. He told me that the bulbs had burned out and needed to be replaced. It sure didn’t seem to make sense since I had changed the bulbs about a month earlier. When I made the service call, I found that one of the circuit breakers had tripped. I reset it and a few days later I received a call from the homeowner that the same lights were out again.


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