Electronics You Might Not Have Learned In College: Lesson 1 - The Electrical Toolbox

In Electronics You Might Not Have Learned In College: Lesson 1 - The Electrical Toolbox, you'll learn ...

• Wire types, insulation and resistance, current, and voltage specifications
• Wire connection hardware and methods
• Plug connectors for low voltage equipment
• Conduit types and applications

Overview

Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.

Credit: 6 PDH

Length: 90 pages

The “TECHNICIAN’S TOOLBOX” is the beginning lesson of the “ELECTRONICS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE LEARNED IN COLLEGE” course series. The focus of this lesson is mainly hardware and tools used for low-voltage DC circuits utilized in electronic equipment, such as audio amplifiers and computers, and also higher voltage (over 90 volts) AC hardware used for residential and industrial wiring.

Depending on the specialized branch that engineers eventually choose, there might be instances where they need to “get their hands dirty,” working with the actual hardware that is used to create what they have designed. Due to engineers’ technical nature and curiosity, many are “handymen” who know their way around a hardware store. However, even they might not have picked up enough knowledge to be able to communicate intelligently with Journeymen technicians that are working on their projects. Any Professional Engineer is naturally assumed to know everything about anything related to their area. Sadly, this isn’t always true. The PE will understand many things that the technician doesn’t, but the technician will often know more about his specialized world than the P.E.

This course begins with the basic concepts of voltage, resistance, current, and power because this knowledge is necessary when learning about conductors and electrical hardware. The specifications for even simple wire cannot be understood without knowing the basics of Ohm’s Law.

Once the basic electrical terms are understood, the main body of this lesson provides an overview of many of the tools of the electrical trade that technicians take for granted after years of experience, but are commonly missing in engineering courses, even for Electrical Engineers. This course presents basic technical knowledge that is essential to actually putting electronics to work, such as wire sizes and specifications, wiring tools, connectors, and soldering. It is a technical school for engineers.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain how electron and hole migration creates current flow through conductors.
• Distinguish the basic concepts of direct current from those of alternating current.
• Explain the analogy between electricity and water flow in a pipe.
• Calculate resistance, voltage, and current in simple circuits.
• Describe common wire types, AWG sizing, wire resistance, and ampacity.
• Distinguish common types of insulators and wire insulation.
• Explain the basics of single-wire and multiconductor cables.
• Identify methods used to distinguish and identify wires.
• Interpret common wire-insulation type designations.
• Describe methods for marking and tagging wires.
• Compare insulated and uninsulated crimp terminals, their application methods, and the associated crimping tools and dies.
• Identify single- and multiple-conductor plug connector terminals.
• Describe multiple-conductor crimp-on connectors.
• Explain terminal blocks and wire-attachment methods, including screw terminals, barrier terminals, and cage-clamp terminals.
• Describe the role of DIN rails in mounting terminal blocks.
• Identify common pluggable terminal types.
• Classify common types of metal and plastic conduit.

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 40 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.