Practical Electrical Wiring: Residential, Farm, Commercial & Industrial: Based on the 2002 National Electrical Code [Paperback]

Herbert P. Richter (Author), F. P. Hartwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

Written for practitioners - electricians, contractors, architects, and plant engineers - as well as for homeowners and apprentices, this classic reference provides all of the relevant National Electrical Code regulations for different types of jobs in a single volume. Completely updated to parallel the new electrical code and featuring 25 tables with reproductions and excerpts from the NEC itself, this on-the-job resource addresses today's wiring practices and industry technology, including electronic advances in circuit control and operation. Beginning with a basic refresher on codes, product standards, and basic concepts of electrical power, it covers the major segments of the trade - residential, farm, commercial, and industrial - and puts concepts into practice with samples of typical installations. Included in this revised edition are 475 all-new illustrations, a new 30-page index, and additional material on topics such as sizing conductors for all load conditions, selecting conductors for residential wiring, and installing underfloor and strut-type raceways.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Each revision of Practical Electrical Wiring aims to educate beginners in the field, yet stimulate those already engaged in electrical work. And, the 16th edition, which conforms to the 1993 NEC, is no different." -- Electrical Apparatus, 5/93 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

In this completely new version of Practical Electrical Wiring, the entire text has been updated and reorganized by NEC expert Frederic P. Hartwell. He has added vast amounts of new material to meet the requirements of the increased specialization of the electrical trade over the last several years.

Intended audience Practical Electrical Wiring is aimed at the person who wants to make a serious study of the field of electrical wiring—practitioners, students and apprentices, seekers of information about careers in the electrical industry, and general readers who want to learn the basics of the trade in order to do things right and become aware of what they don’t know so they can make a considered decision about how to proceed.

Guide to using this book Practical Electrical Wiring covers all phases of a wiring installation—beginning with the necessary background theory and principles and on to the planning, installing, and finishing of residential, farm, commercial, and industrial jobs. Readers of previous editions will note a more advanced level of discussion reflecting the greater technical complexities of today. All new drawings and illustrations plus a new page design make instructions easier to follow and understand.

To help you progress in your knowledge and skills, the book is divided into three parts—Wiring Principles; Residential and Farm Wiring; Commercial and Industrial Wiring. All three parts feature step-by-step instructions for quality work, with 475 drawings and photographs to enhance understanding.

Part 1, WIRING PRINCIPLES, provides the basic foundation for the parts that follow—the safety, practical, and legal considerations involved in wiring decisions and practices. This is essential reading before undertaking any electrical work. The standards and codes that help ensure safety are explained. Selecting proper conductors and how to connect them is covered in detail, followed by how to safely ground the installation. Specific wiring methods and their latest NEC rules are detailed. The explanation of how electrical power is measured and delivered to users connects your installation to the broader picture and helps in understanding regional variations in electric rates. Chapters on planning residential installations, principles of good lighting, and an overview of residential and farm motors conclude Part 1. The principles and theory presented in Part 1 provide the background that can be applied to solving problems that may be encountered in unique situations.

Part 2, RESIDENTIAL AND FARM WIRING, puts the principles established in Part 1 to work in the kind of wiring installations most commonly encountered in homes and on farms. Materials and step-by-step techniques are covered for every phase of the installation from installing and grounding service equipment, to roughing in a variety of outlets, and finishing with outlets, switches, and receptacles. Separate chapters cover specialized topics including limited-energy wiring, multi-circuits, old work, farms, on-site power generation, RVs and parks, and apartment buildings.

Part 3, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL WIRING, opens with Hartwell’s unique approach to understanding one of the primary responsibilities in the electrical trade—selecting the minimum allowable size of wire for a given load. This chapter is followed by discussions of how wiring methods, planning, and lighting differ for nonresidential installations compared with the residential and farm installations covered earlier in the book. The chapter on the wiring of motors in commercial and industrial applications (at not over 600 volts) builds on the motor basics provided in Part 1. The final chapter gives a preview of more advanced work in wiring specific installations that should be undertaken only by those who have had much experience with more ordinary installations detailed in Parts 1 and 2, or who have received expert training on installations similar to those in this chapter.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 678 pages
• Publisher: Park Publishing, Inc.; 18th edition (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0960329498
• ISBN-13: 978-0960329496
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,406,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only book you need to wire your house, December 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Practical Electrical Wiring: Residential, Farm, Commercial, and Industrial (Paperback)

We bought this hoping to get ideas for wiring our new house. With only this book we were able to wire our entire new house - from setting the power at the street - to wiring our well . Not only were we able to wire our entire house - it passed inspection on the first try with no corrections . A very valuable book for home owners and builders.

112 of 115 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PRACTICAL ELECTRICAL WIRING - 18th Ed., February 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Practical Electrical Wiring: Residential, Farm, Commercial & Industrial: Based on the 2002 National Electrical Code (Paperback)

This new (18th) edition of Practical Electrical Wiring is an excellent guide to basic (and also not-so-basic)residential, farm and commercial electrical wiring. It has been completely updated from the 17th edition, and reflects the latest changes in the 2002 National Electrical Code.

The text covers an astonishing range of subjects, from the basics of volts and amperes to some very solid material on grounding, wiring methods, residential service, and conductor sizing.

This book is quite different from the typical Sunset do-it-yourself guides that one picks up at Home Depot. It will not tell you how to rewire Aunt Sophie's favorite lamp. It will tell you about residential branch circuits, overcurrent devices (fuses and circuit breakers), outlet and switch boxes, residential and nonresidential lighting, special appliance circuits, safety, wiring methods, electric motors, and a great deal more.

It has an excellent section on how to modernize old work, including how to run wiring through ceilings, walls, and from floor-to-floor. And in case you've forgotten how, it also has a clear illustration of how to tie an Underwriter's Knot (see page 355)!

This really is an excellent book, obviously written by a person who has many years of practical experience and knows what he is talking about. It would serve well as a vocational school text and as a fine general reference book for the homeowner and for journeyman electrician.

To round it out, it is well illustrated, has useful NEC ampacity and load tables in the appendices, and has a very comprehensive index.

Recommended.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Codes in plain English, October 17, 2005

By 

L. Havrylik (Seekonk, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical Electrical Wiring: Residential, Farm, Commercial and Industrial: Based on the 2005 National Electrical Code (Practical Electrical Wiring: Residential, Farm, Commercial & Industr) (Paperback)

Frederic Hartwell gets my highest praise for taking a complex subject and presenting it in an orderly and understandable manner. From home wiring to industrial 3 phase circuits Mr. Hartwell provides sound information without sacrificing readablity. I have supervised an instrument and electrical department for a public utility for 18 years and found that the material presented in this book filled in a lot of the holes in my own knowledge. I think you would be hard pressed to find a better or more readable text on practical electrical circuits, devices and wiring techniques.