Customer Reviews

Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Wiring: Upgrade Your Main Service Panel - Discover the Latest Wiring Products - Complies with 2008 NEC (Black & Decker Complete Guide)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a Master Electrician and teach a class in Residential Wiring and I am always looking for good referance materials. This book has the best pictorials and easies reading that I have seen for a coule of years. I work basically with adults and they are finding the book helpful even after the class is completed. The book is clear and concise the chapters are well written. The only down side to the book is there are still items in the books both physical and written that do not meet or follow the 2008 NEC as advertized. The pictures are and can be misleading and the verbage can be also. None of the problems fall into the serious realm where someone can be hurt but they are just not the approved method of doing things today.

All in all the book is worth the money and the time that is takes to read it. It is easy to follow as I told the class that even a cave man can do it. I will purchase it or the next edition again.

Sincerely,


Larry Fadden

I have Wiring a House-by Pros for Pros, and though I think it's a good refence, I think the Black & Decker book is better yet. I have a cabin built in the 1930s that had a cobbled-together electrical system that needed to be completely redone, and this book gave me all the tools I needed to do it. I've done electrical before, but this project required more thorough knowledge, and this book gave me exactly what I needed. The assortment of wiring diagrams is very helpful and easy to follow, but rather than stopping there the author provides worksheets for determining whether the electrical panel is sufficient for the application, and also provides a worksheet for calculating the anticipated load that a planned circuit will carry. It's this planning stage that's omitted from a lot of other electrical books, and if you're doing anything beyond simple fixture replacement, it's a must. There's even a 2 page list of highlights from the 2008-2011 National Electrical Code, which does a great job of highlighting some of the key elements that will impact what the average person might choose to tackle. I had also ordered the Home Depot 1-2-3 book, and after a couple of hours reviewing them side-by-side, the HD book went straight back to Amazon. It's good for someone who wants a very basic treatment of wiring, but the Black & Decker book has everything the HD book does and a lot more.

I agree with most all of the reviews. This book is intended for beginner to intermediate level do-it-yourselfers. If you are a professional and are looking for guidance on a highly complex project, then this is not the book for you. The book is actually a very interesting read and is full of very explanatory pictures. I recently bought a house and considered hiring an electrician to install a couple extra sockets and light fixtures here and there. After reading through this book, I am quite sure I can do these projects myself. Furthermore, I'm having a detached garage built and was going to hire an electrician to run power out there, which would cost me at least $1,000 after trenching and a few lights. Now, I think I will be doing this myself. The book makes a very good point that you need to get permits for something like that. If you don't do something right, then the inspector will let you know and even give you some great advice on how to fix it. So if you're not confident in your abilities, then at least you will have a professional reviewing your work before you completely finish the project. Even if you don't do a lot of the work yourself, this book will help you understand what the electrician is talking about and help you make more educated decisions when negotiating electrical projects.

We recently bought our first home, and discovered that the previous owners had wired up many things incorrectly, to the extent that some of what they had done was extremely dangerous. I set about to remedy the problems, and after looking at several books on electrical wiring, chose this one. I'm not a stranger to electrical wiring, but I didn't know enough to complete the tasks at hand. I found the diagrams and text to be easy to comprehend, and most of what I wanted to know was contained in the book. It covers a lot of material. It's actually quite a nice read, and easy to use.

Using this book as a reference, I've found and fixed a lot of the electrical problems the previous owners left behind, and I installed and wired AC-powered smoke detectors. There are more tasks to do, and I'll be going back to the book as needed.

The nice thing about electricity is it follows physical laws. Electrical requirements and wiring methods were developed in accordance with those laws. Once you understand *how* electricity works, you'll grasp *why* wiring is done the way it is. This book will teach you these basic principles, and it won't be too long before it all makes sense.

Some things to keep in mind: every city, county, and state has its own electrical code. This book obviously does not contain your local electrical requirements in it. Be sure to find out what the local laws are, and get a permit for your work if required. That way your work will be inspected, and you'll know you did it correctly. You'll sleep a lot easier, I assure you.

Finally, let me state the most important thing: while this book gives (in my opinion) a lot of great instruction on wiring and electrical things, it won't (and can't) have everything in it. As you use this (or any other book) to perform electrical work, make sure you know your limits. The book will not make you an electrician. You are likely to come across a task that you do not have sufficient skills to handle. In that situation, to not hesitate to call a qualified electrician. Better to pay to have the job done right, than do a substandard job and risk fire or injury.

This book is saving me a lot of money. I dont hook up to electrical boxes but I do the inbetween stuff and have an electrician look it all over and hook up for me. It is very thorough and it has helped me identify electrical mistakes in my house from the previous occupants, such as reversed polarity on outlets which I was changing over to GFCI. This book is an excellent addition to any homeowners library and very much worth the 17 bucks. I live in an older house and I have had this book for a while now. It gets referenced every time I need to do electrical work. Even if I feel comfortable with what I am doing I still reference the sections pertaining to what I am doing just to make sure I am doing it right.

This is no doubt a great reference book. This book shows you basic wiring techniques. It also has many, more in depth wiring techniques, that can be used in a new or used home. This book has great illustrations and diagrams which are very useful, even if you want to rewire your entire home. Although this book at is great at demonstrating basic wiring techniques, there is still some information left out. This book could, but is not required to, have more in depth wiring codes for 2009. This book does give you basic wiring procedures and codes, but does not list the full range of wiring codes for 2009. Non the less, this book is awesome. It will show you simple to complex wiring and does, literally, illustrate basic wiring diagrams for the most common wiring techniques. I rate this book 5/5, but a 2009 code book is also recommended to help facilitate all up to date wiring codes.
I strongly recommend this book to the beginner or anyone who who is interested in wiring procedures.

This book is great. Color pictures, great organization, practical advice, step-by-step procedures and just when you thought it could not get better.....circuit maps! Need I say more?

It helped me reassure myself before I went ahead and put in 3 junction boxes and 3 additional outlets in my home for hanging HDTVs. Great for future projects.

This is the latest update of Black and Decker's book on residential wiring. It covers many common projects and provides a good overview of residential wiring. I've referred to it often to install recessed lights, light switches and wall outlets, installing new ceiling boxes, and wiring fixtures. I am not an electrician but am a homeowner experienced with home improvement projects and have found this book extremely useful. The diagrams and instructions are clear and easy to follow. It is designed for use by the practical homeowner and is thus limited to situations that most likely to be encountered in the home. I like having multiple resources and cross references, so I also bought the latest Taunton Press book on wiring (For pros by pros) at the same time. It is interesting to note that I received a notice of RECALL for that book due to incorrect- and potentially dangerous!- wiring diagrams. No such recall for the Black and Decker book!

Whether your a novice or advanced in electrical this is a great reference. Always make sure you check with local building codes and if you do not feel comforatable with working with electric than leave it to a professional. However, if you have this book you will gain the knowledge you seek to get the job done. Good luck with you project.