Attn: Canadian IP Electricians looking for work

This should probably be in the classifieds but it is a bit of a rant as well so I am posting here.

If you hold a valid IP in Canada and have the slighest bit of controls knowledge and are willing to relocate PM me.

I don't need someone who can program a reactor, I don't need someone who can program anything. I need someone who knows basic electrical controls. Some qualifications;

- Know the difference between a solenoid valve and pressure switch. And also realize that if you hook an output up to a normally closed presure switch, a fuse might blow, and if you replace the fuse 10 times you might blow an output card.
- Can hook up something that involves more than two wires and not screw it up.
- Can connect a 600HP motor after being shown what nameplate wiring diagram to use and not screw it up.
- Know how to hook up a AB push button and actually figure out which contacts to use for NO and NC
- There are three ways to hook up the contacts on a single pole relay. NC, NO, and wrong. Pick any of the three other than wrong.
- Know what the difference between NO and NC is.
- spell PLC
- Understand that a water cooling circuit to a gearbox really has no bearing as to why the machine you just hooked up doesn't work.
- Union 12hr shift work so show up at least 10 days a month.
- If your drunk at the beginning of your shift, sober up a bit and then come in.

This was my week.

Seriously, I know the economy and manufacturing in most parts of the world is in the tank. I am in oil country and things are nuts and I can't find competent people. The area around the city I am in is sitting over millions of barrels of oil, and nothing else matters.

We are in a city of about 11000. Nice town with good schools and excellent actvities like hunting, camping, golf, fishing, etc.. nearby. We are about an hour north of the US borter. Our closest big center is about 300,000 people with ample shopping etc... and is only an hour away.

I will teach your but off on controls. Specfically plcs, motors, and drives.

If anyone is interested in finding a very nice place to raise their family, plus the added bonus of being a good place to hone their electrial controls knowledge please PM me, I'm getting desperate.

I asked my family if they would be interested in moving to Canada. My son, age 13, said, "No, I want to live where they speak English." I gotta have a long talk with that boy. Good luck with your search.

PhilipD said:

I asked my family if they would be interested in moving to Canada. My son, age 13, said, "No, I want to live where they speak English." I gotta have a long talk with that boy. Good luck with your search.

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\

C'est la vie lol. My spanish is actually better then my french.

MasterBlaster said:

I don't have one, valid or otherwise, but what is an IP?

And, I empathize with your obvious frustration!
Bill

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Been a tough week. You need to take a couple mental health days ie feels so good when you stop beating your thumb with a hammer.

Yeah what is an IP card? How does one qualify? Where in Canada or better yet what is the temperature?

Dan Bentler

leitmotif said:

Been a tough week. You need to take a couple mental health days ie feels so good when you stop beating your thumb with a hammer.

Yeah what is an IP card? How does one qualify? Where in Canada or better yet what is the temperature?

Dan Bentler

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IP is Inter-Province License (Ticket) I believe, as for the temperature...if he is where I think he is....it's -40 or so....

allscott said:

This should probably be in the classifieds but it is a bit of a rant as well so I am posting here.

If you hold a valid IP in Canada and have the slighest bit of controls knowledge and are willing to relocate PM me.

I don't need someone who can program a reactor, I don't need someone who can program anything. I need someone who knows basic electrical controls. Some qualifications;

- Know the difference between a solenoid valve and pressure switch. And also realize that if you hook an output up to a normally closed presure switch, a fuse might blow, and if you replace the fuse 10 times you might blow an output card.
- Can hook up something that involves more than two wires and not screw it up.
- Can connect a 600HP motor after being shown what nameplate wiring diagram to use and not screw it up.
- Know how to hook up a AB push button and actually figure out which contacts to use for NO and NC
- There are three ways to hook up the contacts on a single pole relay. NC, NO, and wrong. Pick any of the three other than wrong.
- Know what the difference between NO and NC is.
- spell PLC
- Understand that a water cooling circuit to a gearbox really has no bearing as to why the machine you just hooked up doesn't work.
- Union 12hr shift work so show up at least 10 days a month.
- If your drunk at the beginning of your shift, sober up a bit and then come in.

This was my week.

Seriously, I know the economy and manufacturing in most parts of the world is in the tank. I am in oil country and things are nuts and I can't find competent people. The area around the city I am in is sitting over millions of barrels of oil, and nothing else matters.

We are in a city of about 11000. Nice town with good schools and excellent actvities like hunting, camping, golf, fishing, etc.. nearby. We are about an hour north of the US borter. Our closest big center is about 300,000 people with ample shopping etc... and is only an hour away.

I will teach your but off on controls. Specfically plcs, motors, and drives.

If anyone is interested in finding a very nice place to raise their family, plus the added bonus of being a good place to hone their electrial controls knowledge please PM me, I'm getting desperate.

Click to expand...

If it helps we have those here. But I would add to your relay rant.

When wiring the coil on a DC voltage relay the + and the - are important details to consider when wiring up the coil.

Also before you throw said relay away because your meter said the coil was open..................................

TURN THE BLANKY BLANK BLANK LEADS AROUND THE + AND - APPLY HERE ALSO. The 2 cent device that has kicked your but is called a diode.

The truly sad part of this exchange... The electrician in question used to teach at a local comunity college...

So if your idiot is from NC my idiot probably taught him....

Below is a few of my favorite electrical "moments"

When a motor has extra leads....these are not bonus leads... These are more than likely the leads for a thermostat... If you look at the wiring diagram that comes with said motor it does show this.... At no time should these leads be hooked into the terminals B1 and B2 on a VFD... In case you didn't read that manual... Those terminals are for the brake resistor.... When thermostat leads are hooked across the brake resistor terminals the drive tends to take this badly... And no you can not send the drive back for a refund... The maker of the drive is not at fault when you can not tell the difference between a brake resistor and a thermostat...

Yes you can bypass a VFD by wiring the 480 3 phase directly to the motor... Stopping the motor once you turn power back on will prove difficult however....

6.3 Amps is not the same as 630 mA so NO you can not replace a 630 mA fuse with a 6.3 Amp fuse

Just beacuse a wire has an RJ45 plug on it does not automatically make it an ehternet cable. Especially if the other end is pluged into the DH+ port of an Allen Bradley PLC. And yes you can burn out every port on a router switch if you plug it into every port....

If you use a pair of channel locks to pull out a blown fuse you do run the risk of creating a ground fault large enough to trip out the switch gear and shut down the entire plant... And yes the lights are powered by the switch gear...why do you think it is so dark in here...

Yes 480 and 460 are the same..No 240 and 460 are not the same...If you wire a motor for 240 and power it with 460 the motor will not like it... bad things will happen...

Yes dropping a handfull of washers into a switch gear will probably lead to alot of arcing and flashing...

No submersable and washdown are not the same thing...

Spraying a live transformer with a pressure washer will shorten the life of the transformer...

If a heater (think Square D Nema 0) has a differnet number stamped on it... It is probably rated for a different current trip level... And If new heaters keep tripping out...Even though the new heaters you have selected are rated for 3 times the currrent of the correct heaters...Wedging a screw driver into it will probably not help much...unless your goal is to burn up the motor and the wiring harness.... And yes...when said motor is driving a fuel pump...extra care should be taken...


If you see something glowing red in a panel and it is not a fault light....Turn the power off to that device... Yes burnt wire is an indication that something is wrong...


Switching the input leads to a drive will not change the motors rotation...

Lossing a single phase on a motor will not make it run at half speed... It will make it stop...

Your right..taking the pexiglass out of the door is not the same as bypassing the door interlock switch... Yes I know you got introble for bypassing the saftey switches....This is a much better idea...

Your right...They put a DC and an AC setting on your metter so they could charge you extra money.... They really both work the same...

Sure checking a hydraulic valve by loosing the output hose is a great idea...Holding back 60 gallons a minute at 3000 PSI should be no problem for the 3 threads holding the fitting together.... And doing that right by a barrel heater is a stroke of genius... Cause we know hydrolic fluid by iteslf is not instantly flamable at that temp... You have to make it spray in a fine mist to really get a good flame...



And while your sitting there laughing... remember all of these stories are true and most of these guys are still allowed to own tools...

Clay and Allscott

I dont know if you need electricians but for sure I know a good safety guy trainer for hire - me.

Not that I NEVER make mistakes.
trouble shooting a motor relay (240 3 phase) and stumble on minor fact that control voltage was 480 - thank you contractor and business owner for labeling panel (what is that??)
Guy handed me the coil for the relay so I stuck it in never thinking to double check. 120 VAC coil goes boom on 480.

Same place - you need to have my former supervisor teach your guy that replacing same fuse 10 times is not cost effective - you use a bigger one of course - all problem goes away - sheesh!!!!!

Glad I am out of there.

Yes I have seen hydraulic lines rupture - real interesting on a submarine with all of shaft alley fogged with hydraulic oil and all the hydraulic pump controllers right there also. We were slightly nervous until after we ventilated. Hydraulics can get you just as quick as electrical.

Dan Bentler

Well thankfully all of those events did not happen at the same place...

The truly sad part about the 240 480 volt motor wiring.... What the guy was trying to do was test a vacuum pump. He needed to wire up a motor to run the pump in the maintenace shop. The lead he grabbed was for a 480 volt test receptical... Yes it was clearly marked... Thats how I was able to stop him beofre he fired up the motor...

As for the hydraulic stuff... I used to work in an injection molding plant... The fact that more had not been hurt or killed always amazed me...

Watching a guy randomly poke at valves on a 3000 psi manfold is almost to scary to watch... but at the same time you really want to watch to see how the mold machine smacks him one...

Seeing a valve going 100ft in the air after someone has defeated an interlock.....EEEJIITTT?!!!

leitmotif said:

Been a tough week. You need to take a couple mental health days ie feels so good when you stop beating your thumb with a hammer.

Yeah what is an IP card? How does one qualify? Where in Canada or better yet what is the temperature?

Dan Bentler

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For those outside of canada IP means Interprovincial Journeyman electrician. I believe if you are from out of the country you can get one by proving education and experience and then writing a test.

We are located in southeastern Saskatchewan. As far as the temps go when I woke up on Tuesday it was -38C, today we should hit a high of about -8C. You get used to it, our summers are beautiful. We get really cold snaps but its not like it lasts all winter.

I forgot to add my favourite of the week which I should have added to my qualifications. If you are given two drawings, one with an input card and a limit switch labeled "accumulator full", and one with an output card with a light labeled "accumulator full", we shouldn't have to have a 20 minute conversation as to why the limit switch in no way shape or form should be wired to the light....

Clay B. said:

Just beacuse a wire has an RJ45 plug on it does not automatically make it an ehternet cable. Especially if the other end is pluged into the DH+ port of an Allen Bradley PLC. And yes you can burn out every port on a router switch if you plug it into every port....

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Yep!!! It lets the smoke out!!!

I got a chuckle out of most, but especially this one.

I feel your pain Allscot and Clay the electricians where I work have similar difficulties reading schematics and manuals. let alone troubleshooting a simple solenoid. My favourite pet peeve is their jumpering out safeties and interlocks. Most of them here simply will not touch machinery that I am responsible for now due to me calling em an idiot everytime they screwed it up.

Many years and beers ago when I started my first machine building job I was paired up with a senior Enginner ( an idea I still think has lots of merrit) he made a statement that really stuck in my head. He told me "Just beacuse a man owns tools does not mean he knows how to use them."

In my carrer that statement has been proven right more times than I can count.

I like that one just as I like there is nothing more uncommon than common sense. I recently came across one electrican that was working on a 600 volt circuit here he was standing on a metal ladder with no rubber on the bottom of the ladder to insulate it from ground. Worse part was he was working on the circuit live. our company went and bought elctical isolation gloves rated for specific voltages for live work and the elcticians threw them out because they were too awkward to use. I've lost count of how many times I see electicians doing work on a capacitor bank without grounding out the capacitors. I think somewhere in there training they forgot to mention just how dangerous electricity is. Another lazy man repair that constantly happens is running extension cords through walls to fixed equipment. Clearly states in part one chapter one of the CEC that this is illegal.