American You Tube electrics

[jackhammerJIM]

So i watch a few companies working on you tube and have stumbled across some American sparky channels and after watching have come to the conclusion that American electrics are untidy ,overcomplicated and 50 years out of date in comparison to Uk its laughable .

The receptacles and switches are hideous , huge fuse boards similar to crabtree and square d of the 1960s to accommodate 110v and 220v .

How can it be so bad ?

 

[pirate]

Have you seen their appliances???
Massive stove-enamelled monstrosities in cream and beige!

 

[FatAlan]

Perhaps their appliance market will go the same way their automotive industry went and get flooded with European and Far East products like in the U.K.

 

[gnuuser]

i agree! the you tube videos should be banned because it prompts people to do things they clearly aren't qualified to do!
as far as the boards they are what our suppliers stock
I wish we had better to work with.
many of the sparks install everything as fast as they can and the results are often sloppy work.(that crap makes my blood just boil)
often jobs are contracted at fixed rates so the faster they do the job the quicker they get paid.
the sense of pride in a job well done is not taught in schools and to me that's a crime.

 

[jackhammerJIM]

Dont get me wrong the work of the tradesmen i have watched has been very good its the installation methods i don't get .
Why is this fella installing 20 runs of conduit when 1 x length of tray or trunking would do the job ???

 

[jackhammerJIM]

non IP rated meter boxes , switch fuses and panels seem to be installed on external walls .

 

[Deleted member 26818]

20 runs of conduit along that wall.

 

[jackhammerJIM]

20 runs of conduit along that wall.

Thats not a mornings work

 

[gnuuser]

Dont get me wrong the work of the tradesmen i have watched has been very good its the installation methods i don't get .
Why is this fella installing 20 runs of conduit when 1 x length of tray or trunking would do the job ???

trunking would indeed be a better solution but is rarely used in non industrial situations.
typically in many major cities like Chicago conduit is required due to possible rodent damage. and most residential electricians have little or no skills in tray or trunk systems usually found in larger commercial and industrial installations
kind of redundant labor i know but you lads have the schools that teach the 5 week wonders and we have then too but you tube isn't helping any
and we cant make them teach to a high standard (much to my annoyance)

 

[GeorgeCooke]

The receptacles and switches are hideous , huge fuse boards similar to crabtree and square d of the 1960s to accommodate 110v and 220v .

How can it be so bad ?

How old are those youtube videos? It's been 120v and 240v in the US since before youtube was invented.

 

[jackhammerJIM]

44 conduits

 

[Dustydazzler]

American conduit is very mild steel and can be manipulated by hand or using a small (plumber like) hand bender.
They also don’t thread anything , they use fittings with a small grub screws.

 

[Dustydazzler]

One of favourite youtube sparks

 

[Deleted member 26818]

American conduit is very mild steel and can be manipulated by hand or using a small (plumber like) hand bender.
They also don’t thread anything , they use fittings with a small grub screws.

Con Lok?

 

[gnuuser]

American conduit is very mild steel and can be manipulated by hand or using a small (plumber like) hand bender.
They also don’t thread anything , they use fittings with a small grub screws.

actually 3 different types.
emt thin-wall connected with collars and setscrews or compression collars (used in dry places with little chance of movement).
rigid conduit (threaded) in steel, aluminum, coated or anodized aluminum.
and pvc (with protective ground conductor) usually glued to seal out moisture (used a lot in barns or corrosive environments).

 

[Dustydazzler]

actually 3 different types.
emt thin-wall connected with collars and setscrews or compression collars (used in dry places with little chance of movement).
rigid conduit (threaded) in steel, aluminum, coated or anodized aluminum.
and pvc (with protective ground conductor) usually glued to seal out moisture (used a lot in barns or corrosive environments).

You also use a lot of this type of cable?

 

[Dustydazzler]

Surely installing some tray & large galvanised trunking

would be better than having to run 40 flexicons

 

[jackhammerJIM]

Surely installing some tray & large galvanised trunking

would be better than having to run 40 flexicons

All seems like madness to me ....

 

[Pete999]

Surely installing some tray & large galvanised trunking

would be better than having to run 40 flexicons

It's not called trunking and Tray Mate, it's Raceway

 

[gnuuser]

tech or flex armor is used in residential areas with possible rodent issues as well but limited to dry areas only.
raceway primarily in industrial, trunking in centralized power control panels from floor to floor. and tray mostly for communication cabling.
depending on the branch they work the most (residential, commercial, or industrial) many of the sparks are basically limited to a set type of conduit or cabling. residential usually nmc (romex) or mc (armored cables) some pvc conduit with very little exposure to rigid or emt.
heavy commercial usually emt and coated or anodized rigid, and industrial usually rigid, raceways, trays, and trunking
office building for instance require stringent fire proofing and fire blocking materials for every wall or floor penetration and depending on some inspectors it could cost you your license for failure to comply.

i would say the major difference between a residential spark and an industrial one here is whether they are complying with de-rating rules.
not knowing what a customer is going to load the circuits with they are limited to the materials they have to use and generally overkill the size to prevent possible problems (and its still a crap shoot because you don't know if the home owner is going to put in larger over current devices after you have left)
its one reason that i always took photos and made a detailed list of components of every panel I installed and had the inspector sign it as witness.