57 lessons for the HVAC apprentice, built on the Arc Workforce Academy HVAC program. Read Lesson 0.1 first. Each lesson opens as a PDF with videos to watch, the idea, a bench procedure, field gotchas, and a check-yourself quiz. Draft 1 (October 2026): Unit 8 (Heat Pumps), the rest of Unit 7, and Units 10 to 12 are still being written.
Start here. Every main part of a residential heat pump with electric heat strips, what each one does in plain words, what usually breaks on it, and how big the repair is. It ends with a five-question flowchart that walks you from a dead thermostat to the part at fault, and a table of the meter readings you want on hand.
The full changeout, step by step, built around sizes. How much air a unit needs (400 CFM per ton), what size register and flex go in a bedroom, bath, kitchen, and living room, how big the return and filter grille have to be for each tonnage, which duct goes in an attic versus a crawlspace, what size line set, wire, breaker, and heat strips each unit takes, and how the drain, pad, and platform are done. Then the day-by-day procedure, the order list, and the startup checks.
Heat pump wiring, every wire. The two electrical systems (240 V power and 24 V control), where the 24 volts comes from, every thermostat terminal (R, C, Y, G, O/B, W2, E) and what turns on when each gets 24 volts, what the stat sends in each mode, the path outside through the pressure switches to the contactor and reversing valve, the power side wire by wire (contactor, capacitor, compressor C-S-R, fan, crankcase heater), the air handler side (heat kit, sequencers, strips, limits, transformer, board, blower, door switch, float switches), how to wire it from scratch, and where to put the meter. Two drawn wiring maps.
An air conditioner does not make cold. It moves heat from inside the house to outside. You learn the four parts the refrigerant passes through, what the refrigerant is doing in each one, and how to touch-trace the cycle on a running unit and know which lines will be hot and which will be cold.
Open a real unit and point to every part by sight: the big four plus the service valves, filter drier, accumulator, capacitor, contactor, and defrost board. You learn to tell the three compressor types and four metering devices apart, and how to pull tonnage, refrigerant, charge, and MCA/MOP off a rating plate.
When refrigerant is boiling or condensing, its pressure and temperature are locked together. You learn to read a pressure-temperature chart for R-410A, R-32, R-454B, and R-22, hook up gauges, and read the two saturation temperatures off the gauge set for the first time.
Superheat tells you the compressor is safe from liquid. Subcooling tells you a full liquid line is feeding the metering device. You learn to measure both from two readings each and say what each number is for.
Cooling means two jobs: lowering the temperature and wringing out moisture. You learn to measure the temperature split across a coil, judge it against the humidity, know where condensate comes from, and stop mixing up Delta T with design temperature difference.
Relative humidity, dew point, dry bulb, and wet bulb are four different things. You learn to measure wet bulb with a psychrometer, which you need later for target superheat, and why relative humidity by itself can fool you.
Decode a model number for capacity and voltage, translate SEER2, EER2, HSPF2, and AFUE into plain English, name the five residential system types on sight, and explain why the tonnage on the nameplate is not what the unit actually delivers.
Read a tape to a sixteenth without counting ticks, add and halve mixed fractions in your head, and apply the seam and overlap allowances that turn a duct sketch into a cut list.
Convert between BTU, tons, watts, degrees F and C, and CFM without getting lost. You learn the strip-heat math (kW times 3,412) and how to smell a wrong number before it costs you.
The trade uses four pressure scales: PSI, inches of water column, inches of mercury, and microns. You learn which tool reads which, how to convert the ones that matter, gauge versus absolute, and how to zero and read a manometer.
Ohm's law and Watt's law, used in the field. You learn to predict what happens to amps when a heat strip shorts, compute the expected amp draw of a strip and compare it to the clamp, and why 208 V makes less heat than 240 V.
CFM equals area times velocity. You learn to spin a ductulator to size round and rectangular duct, convert round to rectangular, and apply the velocity limits that keep a house quiet.
Every residential unit has two electrical systems: line voltage for power and 24 V for control. You learn the four quantities (volts, amps, ohms, watts), how to trace both the power path and the control path on the shop unit, and never confuse which one you are touching.
The multimeter, every function, hands on. You learn the live-dead-live check that comes before every hands-in-the-box moment, how to read AC volts, clamp amps, and ohm a dead component without the rookie mistake that lies to you.
Every circuit has a source, switches, and a load. You learn the switch types by name (SPST, SPDT, DPST, DPDT), the difference between an open and a short with meter evidence, and how to draw a simple ladder diagram.
How a transformer makes 24 V from 120 or 240, how to test one completely, how to wire a multi-tap replacement, and how to size one by VA so a smart thermostat and zone panel do not starve it.
Discharge a capacitor safely first, every time. Then read its rating, test it three ways, apply the 6 percent rule, and replace one start to finish with photos of the wiring before you touch it.
A small coil closes a bigger switch. You learn the three questions that convict or acquit a contactor, how to replace a condenser contactor including the one-leg-always-hot trap, and how to test a general-purpose relay.
Connection diagrams show where wires land. Ladder diagrams show how the logic flows. You learn to find your way into any manufacturer diagram, trace one circuit through a real one, and predict the voltage at each point before you put the meter on it.
Full lockout and tagout on an HVAC circuit, sizing wire from MCA and the breaker from MOP, what a HACR breaker is, and how to install and inspect a disconnect so it passes.
ACR copper versus plumbing copper, reading sizes by outside diameter, cutting square with a tubing cutter, deburring without dropping a chip inside, and bending soft copper by hand, spring, and lever bender without kinks.
Swaging so tube joins tube without a coupling, and the full flare ritual that makes a mini-split flare that does not leak: cut, deburr, ream, set height, eccentric cone, oil, form, inspect, torque with Nylog.
Set up an oxy-acetylene rig from bottles to tip, leak-test every joint, run the startup and shutdown sequences from memory, and dial a slightly reducing flame for copper. Acetylene rules, flashback arrestors, and heat protection for everything near the joint.
If the torch is lit on refrigerant pipe, nitrogen is flowing through it. You learn the regulator and flow setup, what nitrogen prevents, which filler rod and flux for copper-to-copper versus copper-to-brass, and how to braze a service valve without cooking it.
The standing nitrogen pressure test that follows every braze and precedes every evacuation. You learn to pick the test pressure from the nameplate, bubble-test every joint, and temperature-correct the reading so a cold front does not get called a leak.
Evacuation removes air and water, and microns are the only honest scale. You learn to rig a fast deep vacuum with core tools and a micron gauge at the system, pull below 500 microns, and read the decay test that separates dry and tight from wet from leaking.
The leak-search order: history and visual, electronic sniffer, bubbles to pinpoint, ultrasonic or UV for the stubborn ones, nitrogen as the referee. You learn to use a heated-diode detector properly and the top ten places leaks hide.
Identify any refrigerant by label, cylinder, and pressure fingerprint. The story from R-22 to R-410A to R-32 and R-454B, what A1, A2L, and A3 mean, and how to handle disposable and recovery cylinders legally.
EPA 608 is the gate for every refrigerant competency and the Period 3 raise. You learn the venting law, the required recovery levels by appliance type, the leak-rate rules, and how to pass the ESCO Universal exam.
Run a complete recovery: machine, cylinder on a scale, hoses, purge, run to the required level, shut down clean. You learn the 80 percent fill rule by weight and how to recover faster legitimately, including from a dead compressor.
On a fixed-orifice system you charge by total superheat. You learn to confirm the metering device, find the target from outdoor dry bulb and indoor wet bulb, measure the actual, and adjust in small, patient moves after airflow is verified first.
A TXV holds superheat steady, so charge shows up as subcooling. You learn to find the target on the data plate, measure the actual, adjust to within a few degrees, and keep superheat as the bodyguard.
Charging by weight: factory charge plus trim for line length, computed before the bottle opens. You learn to run the weigh-in cleanly and to use weigh-out and weigh-in as the referee when superheat and subcooling argue.
Read superheat and subcooling as a pair and the system confesses: low charge, overcharge, restriction, low airflow, or a compressor that is not pumping. You learn the matrix and the third witnesses that break ties.
R-32 and R-454B are mildly flammable. You learn the A2L rule-set as reflex, the leak sensors and blower interlocks on new equipment, and how to charge and diagnose them with the same skills as the rest of Unit 5.
Shaded pole, PSC, X13, and variable-speed ECM motors on sight and from the wiring. You learn each motor's control story and the diagnostic gold: a PSC slows and amps drop under duct restriction, an ECM pushes harder and amps rise.
Diagnose a dead PSC blower in minutes (tap voltage, capacitor, windings, bearings) and an ECM the right way (constant high voltage plus the command, then module versus motor). Replace a blower or condenser fan motor with the wheel and blade set right.
R, C, Y, G, W cold. You learn to replace any conventional thermostat with the photo-label-kill-swap-land-configure-test ritual, solve the no-C-wire problem three ways, and wire from the furnace board to the stat and condenser from scratch.
O/B for the reversing valve, W2/AUX for strips with the compressor, E for strips instead of the compressor. You learn which brands energize the valve in cooling and which in heating, why Y runs in both modes, and how to configure a smart stat for a heat pump.
Every 24 V complaint is either an open or a short. You learn to voltage-trace an open and divide-and-isolate a short with a resettable fuse, plus the probability map of where thermostat wire actually gets chewed, chafed, and pinched.
A board is a box with inputs and outputs. You learn the universal test (inputs present, conditions met, outputs delivered), how to map a furnace or air handler board, read the fault LEDs, and never condemn a board for a dead input or a dead load.
The full compressor electrical exam: find C, S, and R by resistance, check windings against spec, megohm to ground, recognize the internal overload. You learn the three electrical deaths and when a hard-start kit is legitimate.
Walk a furnace top to bottom and name every part: inducer, pressure switch, igniter, burners, gas valve, flame sensor, heat exchanger, limits, rollouts, blower. You learn 80 percent versus 90 percent from ten feet and how to keep the two airstreams straight.
The gas furnace sequence of operation from a cold call to steady heat, recited forward and backward. You learn to watch a furnace fire and narrate it live, and to use the sequence as a diagnostic address: the fault is the first step that did not happen.
Hot surface igniters, intermittent spark, and standing pilots. You learn to ohm an igniter cold, do the live voltage and amp split, handle igniters like the ceramics they are, test spark systems, and run the thermocouple millivolt test on the old attic units.
A mini-split compressor never just clicks on and off. You learn the inverter power path (AC in, DC bus, inverter, variable-frequency AC out), why there is no single normal pressure on an inverter system, and how to spot one on sight.
A complete single-zone mini-split install from bare wall to running system, in order. Locations, wall plate, penetration, line set, outdoor pad or bracket, and the replacement-versus-new-install difference.
The mini-split flare is the number one leak point in the ductless trade. You learn to make a leak-free flare under real field conditions, inspect a suspect flare on a service call, and reject the shortcuts that become your callback.
Mini-splits use a DC communication signal, not 24 V thermostat wire. You learn to land the interconnect in matching terminal order on both ends, size the circuit from nameplate MCA and MOP, and install the disconnect and surge protection.
Plan the condensate before you mount the head. You learn to slope a gravity drain, select and wire a condensate pump with its interlock, and why most wall heads run without a trap.
Charge an inverter mini-split by weigh-in trim from the factory charge and line length, then verify it with live service data: compressor Hz, EEV steps, thermistor temperatures, and calculated superheat.
Pull a fault code by display, blink pattern, controller, or app, and treat it as a neighborhood, not a house. You learn to isolate indoor board, outdoor board, and interconnect wire, and to spot the terminal-order mistake first.
Safely verify the DC bus is discharged before you touch a board. Then test thermistors against their chart, test an EEV stepper coil, and run the diode-mode pattern on an inverter power module.
How multi-zone piping, branch boxes, and connected-capacity rules differ from single-zone. You learn the multi-zone weigh-in, where VRF begins, and how to clean an indoor head in place without wrecking the wall.
29 modules for the residential service truck: install, troubleshoot, estimate, plus masterclasses. Each opens as a PDF. Draft 1 (October 2026): pictures are still being added, and code numbers are NEC 2026, so ask your journeyman which edition your inspector uses.
Start here. You learn to prove a wire is dead with a tester and a meter before you touch it, every time. It covers every tool on the service truck, ladders, hot attics and crawl spaces, and how to act inside a customer's home.
The big one. It follows power from the utility pole to every outlet, then walks you through wiring a whole house with the studs open, room by room, to code. It covers the panel, circuits, boxes, the service, grounding, and the order of work from rough-in to trim-out.
How to pick and run NM, UF, and MC cable: where each one is allowed, how far back from the stud face, nail plates, and staple spacing. It shows you how to count box fill step by step and how to mount new-work, old-work, and fan-rated boxes.
How to wire receptacles, GFCIs, single-pole, three-way and four-way switches, and dimmers on the screw terminals. It shows where GFCI, AFCI, and tamper-resistant protection is required, which rooms need their own circuits, and how to match the breaker to the wire.
The panel change, step by step: survey, load calc, permit, utility call, demo, set, land, bond, ground, label, inspect, and turn the power back on. It covers torque, the main bonding jumper, subpanels, ground rods, the outdoor disconnect, and the surge device a service change now needs.
What grounding does and what bonding does, and why they are not the same. It shows the legal ways to fix two-wire ungrounded outlets, how to spot a bootleg ground, and how to bond water pipe, gas pipe, and CSST.
Swapping fixtures, cutting in recessed and canless lights, hanging ceiling fans on rated boxes, and matching dimmers to LED lamps. It includes the YES eight-step flush-mount swap and the closet light clearance rules.
Where smoke and CO alarms go, how to wire 120 V interconnected alarms, and when wireless interconnect is the answer. It also covers when a remodel or panel job triggers an alarm upgrade and how to read the date on an old alarm.
What a whole-house surge protector does and why every new or replaced house service needs one. You learn the three SPD types, how to mount one with short leads, how to check its rating against the fault current, and what to tell the customer.
Portable generator inlets with interlock kits, and whole-house standby generators with automatic transfer switches and load shedding. It shows how to size the generator with worked examples, ground it correctly, and leave the customer a startup sheet.
Level 1 and Level 2 charging, sizing the circuit at 125 percent of the charger, and choosing hardwired or a 14-50 receptacle. It works the load calc for adding a charger to an existing house and shows how energy management helps when the service is small.
Running new circuits through finished walls, ceilings, attics, and crawl spaces without tearing the house apart. It covers fishing tools, tandem breakers and subpanels for full panels, and when extending an old circuit triggers AFCI or GFCI.
Ranges, dryers, water heaters, dishwashers, disposals, and microwaves: the right circuit, cord or hardwire, and disconnect. It also covers AC and heat pump disconnects sized from the nameplate, baseboard heat, doorbells, and 24 V thermostat wiring.
How to run a service call from the knock on the door to the write-up. It covers the intake questions, safety, looking before you touch, explaining what you found in plain words, and handing pricing and payment to the office.
The meters and testers for house work and how to use each one right: non-contact tester, plug-in tester, GFCI tester, multimeter, clamp meter, and circuit tracer. It shows what a healthy reading looks like and what a bad one is telling you.
A step-by-step way to find why outlets or lights went dead. You learn mid-pointing: split the circuit in half, test, and keep splitting until you find the bad splice, tripped GFCI, or failed backstab.
Why breakers trip and how to find the cause: overloads, shorts, ground faults, and AFCI or GFCI trips. It walks you through the tests in order so you fix the problem instead of just swapping the breaker.
Flickering and dimming lights, from a loose lamp to a lost neutral on the utility side. It shows how to tell a house problem from a utility problem with a meter, and why a lost neutral is an emergency.
Switches that don't work, three-ways that act strange, dimmers that buzz or flicker, and fixtures that won't come on. It gives a test order for each symptom so you find the fault fast.
Hot outlets, burning smells, buzzing panels, aluminum wiring, and backstabbed devices. You learn how to find heat damage safely, what to fix right away, and what to tell the customer about the risk.
Troubleshooting the equipment YES installs: generators and transfer switches, EV chargers, surge protectors, and smoke and CO alarms. Each one gets a symptom-by-symptom test order.
How to do a whole-house electrical safety inspection, top to bottom, and write it up in plain language. It covers what to check in the panel, at the devices, outside, and in the attic and crawl space.
How to scope a service job so the office can price it: what to look at, what to count, what to photograph, and how to estimate your hours. It shows how to write the scope so another tech could do the job from it.
How to count the five jobs we sell most: panel changes, generators, EV chargers, surge protection, and lighting. Each one gets a full material and labor checklist so nothing gets left off the count.
How to scope remodel work in a house where people live, and how to handle changes once the job starts. It covers extra time for finished spaces, protecting the home, and writing up a change so the customer signs before you do it.
Residential load calculations, done by hand. You work the same house the standard way, the optional way, and the existing-house way with an EV charger added, then use a year of utility bills, and pick the service and wire size each time.
Everything outside the panel: overhead masts, weatherheads, drip loops, clearances, underground laterals, meter bases, and the outdoor disconnect. It explains what Alabama Power provides, what we provide, and the order of calls on service-change day.
Working in older homes: knob-and-tube, cloth-covered cable, fuse boxes, two-wire circuits, aluminum branch wiring, and panels with known problems. It shows how to inspect them, what is safe to leave, and what to upgrade first.
Low-voltage and smart-home work on a service call: doorbells, thermostats, smart switches, coax, and network cable. It also teaches how to recognize solar and battery systems and why you stop and call before touching them.
28 modules: install, troubleshoot, estimate, plus masterclasses. Each opens as a PDF.
Houses run on single-phase power. Commercial buildings run on three-phase power, which means three hot wires instead of one. This module explains why, how the four common voltage systems work (120/208, 277/480, 240 delta, and the high-leg delta), and gives the step-by-step way to approach a live panel: read the label, suit up, prove your meter, and take the seven readings that tell you which system you are standing in. It shows how to find and mark a high leg, balance a panel schedule, read what the neutral current is telling you, size capacitors to fix power factor, spot harmonics, and check motor rotation before anything turns. Take this one first, because panels, transformers, and motors all build on it.
Commercial jobs run off drawings and a written spec book, not a walk-through. This module shows you how to open a drawing set in the right order, read the panel and feeder schedules, scale a run, and what to do when the drawings and the spec disagree. It gives the step-by-step operating sequence for the rotary hammer, powder-actuated tool, knockout punch, band saw, and pipe threader, with the silica-dust rules for drilling concrete. Then it walks through setting wedge, drop-in, and sleeve anchors to the right depth and torque, building a trapeze and checking its load, and chalking out the working space a panel needs before other trades move in.
In a house the cable is the wiring. In commercial work the pipe (called raceway or conduit) is the wiring, and the wire gets pulled in after. This module covers the six everyday types of conduit and where each one is allowed, then walks step by step through cutting, reaming, threading, gluing, and connecting them, including how to check a thread and why you never use a running thread. It shows how to bond the pipe at the box on 480-volt work, how to do box fill and conduit fill math with worked examples, how often each type must be strapped, how to firestop through a rated wall, and how to set expansion fittings so PVC can grow and shrink with the weather.
Bending conduit is the skill that separates a commercial electrician from a helper. This module explains the four marks on a hand bender and what each one is for, then walks step by step through the core bends: the 90-degree stub-up, back-to-back bends, offsets, and the three-point saddle, with a worked example and the take-up, multiplier, and shrink numbers for each. It covers four-point saddles, rolling and parallel offsets, cutting rigid to length using gain, concentric and segment bends, and how to run the Greenlee 1800, 880, and 555 machine benders. It ends with the two rules you can never break (no more than 360 degrees between pull points, never tighter than the minimum radius), a mistakes table, and a practice order.
Commercial wire is big, stranded, and long. This module shows how to size a conductor, lower its rating for a hot room or a crowded pipe, and check it against the lug's temperature rating, with worked examples. It covers the color code and the posted-legend rule, then walks step by step through planning and running a feeder pull: the tugger, rope, taped basket grip, how much lube to bring, the crew and radio calls, and the tension math that shows why a dry pull can break a grip. Then it covers landing wire on mechanical and crimp lugs, where to find the torque number, matching crimp dies, splicing, and the inspection checklist before the power goes on.
The panelboard is where the feeder comes in and the branch circuits go out. This module explains the difference between a feeder and a branch circuit and the 125 percent rule for loads that run three hours or more, with a worked example that sizes a 200-amp feeder from start to finish. It shows how to balance a panel schedule across the A, B, and C phases, then walks step by step through installing a panel the way the manufacturer's instructions say: knockouts, interior, feeder, breakers, torque, fillers, directory, the insulation test, and the order to turn things on. It also covers the one bonding rule you can never get wrong (neutral and ground bonded once at the service, never in a subpanel), shared-neutral circuits, and where GFCI is required.
This module covers the big gear: the main switchboard that takes power from the utility, and the transformers that step 480 volts down to 208/120. It explains the ratings and labels that matter, how many service disconnects are allowed, and when ground-fault protection and arc-energy reduction are required. Then it walks step by step through rigging, setting, splicing, anchoring, and torquing a switchboard the way the manufacturer's bulletin says, the megger test and checklist before power goes on, and the order to energize. It finishes with sizing transformer protection, setting taps, connecting a dry-type transformer, and grounding its secondary as a new system, with worked examples throughout.
Switchgear sits at the top of the building's power system and carries the most fault energy of anything you will touch. This module explains how switchgear differs from a switchboard or panelboard, then walks step by step through racking a draw-out breaker in and out, the interlocks that protect you, remote racking, and the PPE each task needs. It sorts out three ratings people mix up (interrupting, withstand, and short-circuit current rating) with a worked fault-current example, and explains selective coordination with time-current curves and LSIG trip settings. It ends with arc-energy reduction, safe working space, how a lineup is received, set, spliced, and torqued, and the commissioning checklist before it is energized.
Every time voltage changes in a commercial building, there is a transformer doing it. This module shows what is inside a dry-type transformer and uses real nameplate numbers to explain percent impedance, voltage sag, and how much fault current the secondary can push out. It covers the four ways to connect the windings, then walks step by step through picking and setting taps from a measured supply voltage, and grounding the secondary as a brand-new system with the right bonding jumper and electrode conductor sizes. It explains K-rated transformers for buildings full of electronics, sizes the breakers for three common transformers, and ends with the full install, test, and energize sequence from the manufacturers' instructions.
Motors are the biggest loads in a commercial building, and every rooftop unit, pump, and compressor is one. This module breaks the motor circuit into its six parts and sizes two real motors start to finish: wire, breaker, fuse, overload, disconnect, starter, and the feeder that serves both. It explains why the breaker is sized high to ride through startup while the overload dial is set at the nameplate amps, not above it. Then it walks step by step through connecting a nine-lead motor, wiring a start-stop starter with a seal-in contact, picking heaters from a table, installing an MCC bucket safely, meggering the windings, and the checkout before the motor runs coupled.
Grounding and bonding are two different jobs that most people blur together. Grounding connects the system to the earth. Bonding ties all the metal together and back to the source so a fault has a low-resistance path that trips the breaker, because dirt will not trip a breaker. This module covers every type of grounding electrode and how to tie them into one system, then walks step by step through driving and clamping ground rods, testing a rod with a fall-of-potential tester, making a CADWELD, and bonding a service. It sizes the grounding electrode conductor, equipment grounds, and bonding jumpers with worked examples, and ends with the mistakes inspectors catch and their checklist.
This module teaches how power wiring runs underground on a job site and comes back up to the equipment. It walks step by step through calling 811 before digging, keeping a trench safe, burying pipe at the right depth, building a concrete duct bank, and gluing and expanding PVC pipe the right way. It shows how to build the riser that comes out of the ground, size pull boxes, pour a transformer pad, and set light-pole bases. It explains voltage drop on long runs and how to pull wire without hurting it, with an EV charging site as one worked example. It ends with the inspection checklist, a field exercise, and the code sections to know.
This module picks up at the top of the riser, where the wiring meets the equipment box. It explains the NEMA enclosure types so you pick the right outdoor box, and how to mount and seal it so water stays out. It walks step by step through driving ground rods, laying a ground ring, making a CADWELD, and grounding light poles and transformer pads. It shows how to hook up HVAC units, motors, and EV chargers with the right disconnects, flex, working space, and labels. It ends with how to test the ground rod, the wire insulation, and the connection torque before the power goes on.
This module follows electricity from the power company's lines all the way to an electric vehicle charger. It explains each piece of equipment on the way, like switchgear, transformers, switchboards, and panels, and how to spot each one in the field. It walks step by step through asking the utility for service, sizing a charger circuit, sharing power among many chargers with load management, and sizing a big fast charger and its transformer, with nine worked examples. It shows how to set a charger on its base and start it up safely. It ends with the 2026 code changes for chargers, common mistakes, and a hands-on field exercise.
Installing is building on a dead circuit, but repair means working near live equipment, which is when people get hurt. This module teaches a seven-step way to find a problem instead of guessing, with a worked example that splits a circuit in half. It walks step by step through the eight NFPA 70E steps for shutting off, locking, and testing equipment so it is safe to touch, including group lockouts and shift changes. It shows how to read an arc-flash label, pick the right protective clothing, and know how close you can get to live parts, then covers rubber gloves, insulated tools, ladders, and lifts. It ends with common mistakes, a code checklist, and a hands-on lockout exercise.
You cannot see voltage, current, or failing insulation, so your meters are your senses. This module walks step by step through the multimeter, clamp meter, insulation tester, phase-rotation meter, thermal camera, ground-rod tester, and power logger, using the steps from each maker's manual, and explains why a meter must carry the right CAT rating for 480-volt work. It gives the pass and fail numbers for each test, so you know when a motor, wire, or connection is bad. It also shows what simple plug-in testers cannot tell you and how to keep meters calibrated. It ends with a table for reading results, common mistakes, and a hands-on test exercise.
Most service calls are a dead outlet, a GFCI that will not reset, a switch that only works from one side, or a breaker that keeps tripping. This module walks step by step through each one, including splitting a circuit in half to find a bad connection, finding the right breaker with a tracer, and testing GFCIs and AFCIs. It explains why a broken shared neutral can send too much voltage to equipment and burn it out, and how meter readings can fool you. It also covers 3-way and 4-way switches, LED fixtures, 0-10 V dimming, and the code sections that moved in the 2026 edition. It ends with a 14-step troubleshooting procedure, a list of common mistakes, and hands-on practice.
This module teaches how to find out why a breaker keeps tripping and how to fix the real cause instead of putting in a bigger breaker. It walks step by step through reading the breaker label and trip chart, checking the 125 percent rule for long-running loads, testing a breaker properly, and finding hot connections with an infrared camera. It shows how to repair only the joints that scan hot, with the power off, and how to test a panel's feeder with a megger and a voltmeter. It also covers arc-flash safety for taking off a panel cover and how to find a hidden neutral-to-ground connection that trips big 480-volt services. It ends with a list of common mistakes, the code sections to know, and a hands-on exercise.
This module teaches how to troubleshoot the biggest electrical equipment in a building: transformers, switchboards, and switchgear. It walks step by step through checking a hot or noisy transformer, measuring all six secondary voltages to spot a blown primary fuse, and testing a transformer with real pass and fail numbers. It explains what to check when a big breaker will not close or trips with almost no load, and how to find hot joints in switchgear and busway. It also covers oil-filled and pad-mount transformers, recording power quality with a logger, and the safe order for turning power back on after an outage. It ends with common mistakes, the code sections to know, and a hands-on exercise.
This module teaches how to find out why a motor will not run right by deciding whether the problem is in the controls, the power wiring, or the motor itself. It walks step by step through tracing a control circuit with a meter using wire numbers, checking fuses and contacts, and catching a motor that has lost one phase. It shows how to set an overload at the nameplate amps, how to figure current and voltage unbalance, and how to read drive and soft-starter fault codes. It explains how long to wait for a drive's capacitors to drain before touching it and how to test motor windings with a megger. It ends with common mistakes, the code sections to know, and a hands-on exercise.
This module teaches you how to prove that the grounding and bonding in a building still work. It explains why a ground rod and the equipment ground do two different jobs, and why a good rod cannot trip a breaker. It walks step by step through checking the equipment ground with a meter, testing a live outlet with a circuit tester, and measuring a ground rod with a fall-of-potential tester and stakes in the dirt. You also learn a checklist for the service, how to find hidden bonds and wiring mistakes, and a table that matches each problem to the test that finds it. It ends with a test report form, a practice graph to plot, and hands-on exercises.
This module teaches you how to take care of electrical equipment so it does not fail. It explains the three kinds of maintenance and how the NFPA 70B standard sets how often each job is done. It walks step by step through cleaning and checking panels, switchboards, transformers, and motors, and through infrared scans and insulation tests with their pass and fail numbers, and it explains why you re-torque only what a scan flags. You also learn the required tests for generators, emergency lights, GFCI outlets, and ground-fault protection, and how to keep good records. It ends with a sample yearly calendar, a list of mistakes to avoid, and hands-on exercises.
This module starts the estimating phase and teaches you how to count and measure a whole job from the drawings. It shows what to read first in the bid package, like the drawing list, the specs, and the addenda. It walks step by step through coloring and counting devices, measuring pipe and wire with real rules like adding 15 percent to wire, and adding up the worksheets. You also learn how to build assemblies, figure boxes and plates from your counts, and catch work that is easy to miss. It ends with the scope letter, how to ask questions before bid day, a bid-day checklist, and hands-on exercises.
This module teaches how a takeoff becomes a price. It explains what a labor unit is, what NECA's units include, and how to pick the Normal, Difficult, or Very Difficult column with a score sheet. It walks step by step through extending hours, adjusting for conditions like height and overtime, and building a burdened labor rate from Birmingham wage data and payroll taxes. It shows how overhead, margin, markup, sales tax, bonds, and proposals work with real numbers. It ends with a small tenant-improvement job priced line by line and a bid review checklist.
This module teaches how real job conditions eat labor hours and how to get paid for them. It explains the 16 industry productivity factors, how overtime makes crews slower each week, and what the standard AIA contract says about changes. It walks step by step through a change order from spotting it to getting it signed, with a fully priced 40-hour example, daily T&M tickets, and a weekly labor report by cost code. It also covers pay applications and Alabama payment, retainage, and lien deadlines. It ends with closeout steps like the punch list, panel labels, as-builts, and final payment.
This module teaches how to spot and safely handle the old electrical gear still working in older Birmingham buildings. It shows how to recognize old panels, fuses, and wiring, which ones are dangerous, and what to tell the customer honestly. It walks step by step through making old fuse boxes safer, adding protection to old ungrounded outlets, handling aluminum branch wiring the right way, reading strange voltages on old delta systems, and finding a hidden ground fault one circuit at a time. It also covers checking whether old gear can handle today's fault current, why rebuilt breakers and panels are no longer allowed, and how to stop and get help when you find PCBs or asbestos. It ends with a field identification table, a red-flag checklist, the code numbers to know, and a hands-on exercise.
This module teaches commercial lighting, from warehouse high-bays to office troffers, parking-lot poles, and emergency exit lights. It explains what is inside each fixture, how warm or cool the light looks, how true it makes colors, and how much light each kind of room needs, with the IES footcandle levels. It walks step by step through hanging fixtures, supporting lights in a drop ceiling, setting a light pole, wiring an emergency battery driver, wiring 0-10 V dimmers and occupancy sensors, and running a 277-volt lighting circuit. It shows how to count how many fixtures a room needs and how to test emergency lights every month and every year. It ends with a troubleshooting table, common mistakes, an inspection checklist, the code numbers to know, and a hands-on exercise.
Half of being fast in the field is knowing the material on sight and calling it by its real name. This module is a picture guide to the materials a commercial electrician uses every day, from cable and conduit to boxes, wire, breakers, panels, devices, lights, connectors, and anchors. For each one it shows how to tell what it is by looking at it, how to pick the right one, and which code rule covers it. It walks step by step through jobs like running MC cable, gluing PVC, checking box fill, setting up a panel, installing a receptacle, and setting concrete anchors, and it covers firestopping, labels, parts lists, and storing material on the job. It ends with common mistakes, an inspection checklist, the code numbers to know, and a hands-on exercise.
8 modules for a brand-new plumbing apprentice: how a house's water and drain systems work, the pipe, fittings and valves you will handle, the fixtures and what is inside them, the code numbers, the thirteen most common repairs, a full repipe start to finish, and the tools. Written in plain language. Each opens as a PDF with photos and diagrams. Draft 1 (October 2026).
Start here. A house has two one-way roads for water: the supply side that brings clean water in under pressure, and the drain-waste-vent side that lets dirty water roll downhill and out while air pipes let it breathe. This module walks both roads in order, from the meter at the street to the vent on the roof, and explains the P-trap, the water heater, and why every drain needs a vent.
The pipe you will cut, carry, and join: PEX, copper, CPVC, PVC, ABS, cast iron, galvanized steel, and brass. For each one you learn what it looks like, where it shows up in a house, how it is joined (crimp, expansion, push-fit, solder, press, glue, no-hub bands, threads), and what you will find when you tear the old stuff out.
Every fitting and valve by name. Supply fittings (coupling, elbow, tee, reducer, adapter, union, nipple, cap), drain fittings (sanitary tee, wye, combo, long sweep, closet flange, trap adapter, cleanout), which fitting is allowed where, and the valves: ball, gate, globe, stop, check, PRV, T&P, sillcock, mixing valve, washer box, and gas shutoff.
What is inside the fixtures you will take apart: the toilet tank and its flapper, fill valve, and wax ring; the sink drain from strainer to trap arm; the tub waste and overflow; the shower drain; the water heater's dip tube, anode, elements, burner, and T&P valve; the disposal and dishwasher hookup.
The numbers the inspector checks and the apprentice gets quizzed on: pipe sizes by fixture, 1/4 inch per foot slope, trap arm lengths, vent takeoff height and roof height, toilet rough-in (12, 15, 21 inches), supply and drain stub heights for every fixture, pressure limits, hanger spacing, drilling rules, and the tests for rough-in and final.
The thirteen repairs that fill a service truck's week and how each is done: running toilet, clogged sink and tub, clogged toilet, main sewer stoppage, dripping faucet, leaking stop valve, leaking water heater, no hot water, burst or pinhole pipe, toilet leaking at the base, jammed disposal, low pressure at one fixture, and a leaking hose bib.
Demoing the plumbing out of an old house and replacing all of it, in order: planning and permits, shutdown, demo of supply then drain, DWV rough-in, supply rough-in, gas, the rough-in inspection, closing walls, trim-out, testing like a customer, and final inspection. Ends with how long it takes and what it costs.
Every tool a plumber uses, grouped the way a truck is organized: what rides in the pouch, what sits in the bag, the joining tools for each pipe material, drain cleaning machines, testing gauges, fixture-setting tools, safety gear, consumables, and the first $300 of tools an apprentice should buy.
14 modules on how cars work, how they break, and how a shop fixes them, written in plain language for a new helper or anyone buying a cheap car that will not run. Each opens as a PDF with photos and drawings.
Start here. A mechanic breaks a car into twelve systems, from the engine to the air conditioner. This module lists each one, what gets repaired or replaced in it, and which ones the cheap non-runner plan is built around.
The parts that actually get swapped on a $1,500 to $2,000 car that will not run, grouped by how hard the job is, with rough hours and parts prices. It shows why a crank sensor car makes money and a head gasket car does not.
Every part from the battery to the chip key, explained in plain words with an everyday comparison: the alternator is a bike light that gets brighter as you pedal, the timing belt is what keeps the valves out of the piston's way.
Follows the power from the gas tank to the road in eleven steps: fuel in, explosion, crankshaft, valves and timing, cooling and oil, transmission, axles, steering and brakes, springs, electrical, and exhaust.
Inside the engine: the block, pistons, crankshaft, head, valves, and the four strokes (suck, squeeze, bang, blow). It ends with the compression test and what the numbers mean before you buy a car.
A ten-step order for a car that will not run, cheapest check first. Look and listen, key on, scan tool, then crank and branch: no crank, cranks but no start, or will not turn. It ends with the buy, price, or walk-away decision.
The ten jobs that fill a shop's day and how each is done: oil change, brakes, battery, alternator, starter, plugs and coils, tires and bearings, struts and joints, cooling parts, and check-engine diagnosis.
Twenty-two noises a broken car makes, what each one means, and the quick sort: engine speed, road speed, braking, turning, or bumps. Read this before you go look at a car.
Body on frame vs. unibody, car vs. truck vs. van vs. SUV vs. crossover, front vs. rear vs. all-wheel drive, gas vs. diesel vs. hybrid vs. electric, turbos, engine layouts, interference engines, and transmission types, each with what it means for a shop.
What the car's computers do, what a trouble code is, what a scan tool can and cannot do, and how a mechanic goes from a code to live data to a hands-on test. Includes the P0171 and P0301 walk-throughs.
The fifteen tools that get picked up every day and how each one works: jack and stands, two-post lift, impact, torque wrench, sockets, scan tool, meter and test light, compression and fuel gauges, smoke machine, pressure tester, hoist, compressor, presses, and lights.
Why most mechanics are worn out by fifty and what prevents it: the lift, floor mats, never lifting heavy parts by hand, letting tools do the fighting, and protecting eyes, ears, hands, lungs, and skin. Ends with a priced list.
What a bad engine means (seized, spun bearing, thrown rod, broken belt, cracked block, worn out), the three tests that tell you, why a used engine beats a rebuild on a cheap car, and the engine swap step by step.
Body work from door dings to frame damage: how paint is layered, how a dent works, what paintless repair, filler, and panel replacement cost, plastic bumpers, rust, and what a lot can do itself versus send out.