Best books for starting as an electrician

sivoodoo · Sep 15, 2008

Hi all,

I am due to begin working with my friend, a long established domestic and commercial electrician. I shall be his side kick, cable puller and pint buyer until I have completed all the relevant City and guild courses he sees fit (probably all of them!)
I know a copy of the 17ed is a must but what other good books would you recommend I have as bed time reading? Which would you advise I should have.

thank you all in advance.
Cheers guys.
Si.

sivoodoo · Sep 15, 2008

Ha ha! nice one ive already got that one! but surely not all sparkys are wan#ers!

anyone? your help would be appreciated.
Thanks

spark-doctor · Sep 15, 2008

I have just payed for my apprentices books. He was told to get 2, sorry i don't have the titles just the ISBN.

0-7506-8114-4
978-0-435449-36-0

Do not bother with the 17th BS7671 yet, you will not need it till the 3rd year. Save yourself £60.00

Grae79 · Sep 15, 2008

sivoodoo said:
I shall be his side kick

does he call you Robin??

Dinosaur · Sep 15, 2008

HI there,
good books - good question - have not found any that i would call 'good bed time reading'. However another must is the On Site Giude - full of lots of very usful info. Yhe ECA have a book out 'A Guide to the 17th ed of the wiring regs - well laid out easy to read and some pretty nice pics (not quite to Razzles standards). As you start studying for the inevitable exams the C&G Exam Success books might be worth a look.

Happy reading, good luck, welcome to the premier trade.
Dino

tony.towa · Sep 15, 2008

I agree with Dinosaur the ECA book is verygood and quite an easy read but I would suggest you ask your course tutor as he will recommend books that are relevant to the course work.

Like others have said, don't get yourself a 17th Edition yet, by the time you actually need it they will have most probably ammended it goodness knows how many times and also reprinted it in a more upto date issue.

Possibly when you get well into your job an On Site Guide might be useful so you can see a bit of the theory of what you are doing (Amazon cheapest at the moment) but have a chat with your boss first so that he doesn't think you're trying to see if he's done things right.

Good luck with your future career, let us know how things are going and if you have questions you want to ask just post them on the forum.

Oh yes, don't try reading them in bed unless you want to get to sleep quickly!

sivoodoo · Sep 15, 2008

Thanks everyone, ill keep you posted.

codger · Sep 16, 2008

Hullo there.
I teach Apprentices and there are two books I'd recommend you get if your starting out. They're the "Electrical Installation" Books 1 & 2. Heinneman Press. Really clear diagrams....concise explanations and some Self Assessed questions at the end of every chapter to let you see how you're doing.
They do a "Revision" book as well and it has multiple choice assessments for you to try.

There are more....

Hope this helps and good luck...