Trade test

[GaryDoherty]

Hi, got recently made redundant and i'm being pushed towards my trade test. I haven't been shown anything about testing circuits and have never even been in the same room as a motor nevermind wire one! If anyone has any links or information that might make my test a bit easier i would be very thankfull. BTW im sitting it in Scotland so its called the FICA, not sure if its different from the AM 2 test...
cheers, Gary.

 

[bhm1712]

so your gonna fail then.......this isnt the place to try and get people to blow sunshine up your bum to make you pass a test which your not ready, nor trained adequately enough to take.

Its like lying in a CV to get a job, but actually not knowing how to do the job when it comes to the crunch. Only you will be sorry... Go back to the training.

 

[GaryDoherty]

Ha! Should have expected someone on this to be an electrical snob. Maybe you should get off DIY forums and go socialise with some females you sad sad sack of a man.

 

[bhm1712]

Im not an electrical snob, its the truth..... if its too hard to accept then that is not my problem.

How can you be 'being pushed towards a trade test' when you dont know the trade??? its like 'being pushed towards a driving test, but ive never sat in the driving seat of a car'

Reality check time...."I haven't been shown anything about testing circuits and have never even been in the same room as a motor nevermind wire one!"

So your not trained enough nor have the experience to take the trade test.....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It's nothing to do with snobbery, you cretin - it's to do with this:

I haven't been shown anything about testing circuits and have never even been in the same room as a motor nevermind wire one!

Then you aren't ready to take the test yet. And that's not personal criticism, it's not code for "you've got a small d***", it's a simple and unarguable fact.

If anyone has any links or information that might make my test a bit easier i would be very thankfull.

Someone did, and they gave it to you:

Go back to the training.

But you weren't even slightly thankful, let alone very.

 

[BigJon]

The FICA replaced the AM2 around 15 years ago ( I think).
Your best bet is to contact the SJIB or your training officer if you were doing your apprenticeship through them, maybe they can get you another start elsewhere?
Colleges do a 'pre' FICA course, where the lecturer talks you through the test and you can ask questions/take notes, there is a charge for this but probably worth it.
The FICA is fairly straight forward as the containment is all there already, you just have to wire your booth and test, then there is a multiuple choice test on the following day.
Meantime get your head stuck in to the on-site guide and familiarise yourself with testing procedures, and anything else you think your unsure of.
Good Luck!

 

[bhm1712]

So this is why there are so many so called electricians out there, who end up killing themselves or others..

A bit of reading, lecturing and the onsite guide, pass the trade test and whey hey......

I call it electrical by colours ( much like painting by numbers) you dont need to know how or why something works, just that 'brown one goes 'ere, and Blue one goes 'ere, oh and dont forget the green un goes in 'ere) and If it dont work, then pull out the brown 'un and check it wi back of yer hand son...to see if theres owt there on the live.

NOT condoning bad / malpractice with electrical here....just trying to stress a point.

 

[BigJon]

Even when folk pass there test they still have a lot to learn IMO. Even a seasoned spark will learn something new from time to time.
Some companies don't have a wide scope of work resulting in a lack of experience on the tools, tradesmen not got time/cant be arsed to teach the boys properly then before you know they have a trade test, atleast the OP is trying to do something about his lack of knowledge.
Agreed that there are probably a lot of "electrical by colours" sparks out there though.
I've seen many apprentices come & go that I wouldn't trust to wire a plug , the standard of them seems to be slipping, who knows who's fault it is. Maybe its just me and I attract the numpties

 

[ericmark]

In my varied career I have met many an electrician who has worked in a small section of his trade for many years and was frankly rather lacking in other areas. However they did their job well.

The problem is when they move areas of the trade and suddenly are confronted with something they have never seen before.

The correct answer is of course ask. When the problem arises is where they are too proud to ask so make avoidable mistakes.

While working on the Building of Sizewell Power Station I was rather dismayed to see apprentices who had spent the best part of their time fitting cable tray. They only had what they learnt in college to give them any insight as to what other electricians did.

I myself many years ago went back to college to do my C&G2391 when I realised I was measuring earth loop impedance and writing down the readings without knowing if these readings would be considered as a pass or a fail.

So I can understand why some one would be worried when taking a sidewards move into new aspects of being an electrician.

I found this link interesting and it does roughly say what is expected.

The main problem to most is we are tested on what we should do rather than what we really do. In all my time only when working for a petrol chemical plant in rock savage were the rules on safe isolation and proving dead strictly followed. Not having a proving unit to hand was instant withdrawal of site pass.

So there is only one route to pass these tests and that's through a training establishment. They have been designed as part of a training system and to try to pass these tests without formal training is likely to be a failure.

I remember being given a board to test. I failed the sockets as the impedance was too high. I was told this was an error as it was within the regulation requirements to which I answered yes but this socket is only 1 foot from the consumer unit there is clearly a fault when the impedance is so different. It seemed the board had resistors to emulate a normal house. I pointed out if the sockets had been used it would likely have resulted in a fire so I was right to fail them. Reluctantly the tester agreed but this does show how the real world is different from the college world and really one should take these tests as designed as part of a college course.

 

[RF Lighting]

Im not an electrical snob, its the truth..... if its too hard to accept then that is not my problem.

How can you be 'being pushed towards a trade test' when you dont know the trade??? its like 'being pushed towards a driving test, but ive never sat in the driving seat of a car'

Reality check time...."I haven't been shown anything about testing circuits and have never even been in the same room as a motor nevermind wire one!"

So your not trained enough nor have the experience to take the trade test.....

Don't forget there are a lot of people who do have experience in these things that fail the AM2.

It's not meant to be easy. It is there to asses wether you actually have the skill to be an electrical contractor.

Anyway OP please let us know how you get on.