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	Subject - industrial electrician? veganfan Is anyone else here an industrial electrician? I may pull wire and use NEC once every three months, but on daily basis. I may troubleshoot Injection molding machines, PLC, hydraulics, pneumatics, program robots. Light curtains ECT. Including building or taking down block walls patching concrete. Any way doing all this more than working with electrical insulations on a daily basis makes it very hard to keep up with NEC, but that is the part I love that and troubleshooting electrical or electronic circuits. From reading most of your posts it sounds as if all of you deal with electrical only? Just wondering. cs409 maintance is better IMO, you dont have to deal with 2million changes in the NEC LOL....when u do an add on/update etc, u need to use the nec.......etc. SteveMc Veganfan, I was, for the first 25 years of my electrical career, an industrial electrician. The first 12 working in an underground coal mine which is not subject to the NEC, they have their own stricter requirements and tougher test (5 parts, 250 questions, all closed book), and then at a surface operation which was subject to the NEC. You are correct about not using the code in an industrial setting where most of the time you are troubleshooting and not installing. What you can do is look at the installations to see if they meet code and also make note of how equipment is installed and why it was installed that way. I wish this forum had been available way back when, maybe it would have been easier for me to get up to speed on the code when I made a career change six years ago. My advice, for what it's worth, sit down and read your code book. If you have questions on what you've read, this is a great place to get answers. JimmyDee Construction for the first 20 years and then 14 years of industrial work. I enjoyed the pressure of getting the machine back up and running. You are correct that the NEC takes a back seat during that time but fill in between shutdowns we did some construction and that helped to keep some of the NEC skills up to date. Biggest help to keep up on the NEC was to teach a bunch of high school kids electrical work. It helps but as some know by the mistakes I make, still not enough. Its a big book!! Jim aussiesparky It's all right veganfan we are out here. 18 years [if you count the appreticship] working in an aluminium smelter DU. Same drill as all the guys above, PLC's, cranes, induction furnaces, Gas fired appliances. You do loose contact with the code a bit. Jobs for family and friends certainly help keep you up to speed though [if you have time] Ryan_J 4 years as an electrician, 3 as an inspector :) lctrc789 I guess you could say that the last ten years I have been industrial electrician in a Pharmacuetical plant. We have PLCs IO and many other type of industrial applications. Including running rigid pipe explosion proof type atmaospheres. With the use of seal offs every where almost. But many offices and smaller type buildings that EMT is allowed but also have a lot of PVC coated rigid pipe installations as well. The code is much different and in many cases they have their own set of rules that we have to adhere to as well. veganfan Thanks. Nice to hear from others who in job where it seems NEC is put on hold. I did just get my work to approve a NEC seminar for 2005 code for me. Unfortunately it is in IL and I am in IN, but worth the trip. Ever sense I had wiring class and was exposed to NEC I have loved it learning it trying to interpret it. This is why I am trying to pass electrical inspectors test. So I can try to find job doing what I love even if to start off it is second job. You guys are great!