Fundamental Electrical Skills Training: Powering the Path to Success
No matter their experience, skill level, or desired specialty, all individuals aspiring to become electrical professionals need the same fundamental electrical skills. These include understanding the basic principles of electricity and working with common electrical components, such as wiring, motors, and circuits. By mastering core skills like these, learners can help ensure they work safely and efficiently in whatever specified path they choose, whether that is industrial, commercial, or residential electrical careers.
As with any discipline, learning fundamental skills establishes a foundation from which a learner can build more complex concepts and skills. An electrician who now wires entire buildings for manufacturing processes was once a student learning about electric current. Furthermore, that same electrician could choose to expand their skills into more advanced or niche areas, such as performing industrial maintenance for the robotic arms they run power to, which would require that they rely on their understanding of basic PLC operation to progress to the complex coding needed to ensure manufacturing level precision.
Additionally, an electrical technician’s understanding of basic concepts and their abilities helps build confidence that translates to efficiency. For example, an HVAC technician is able to quickly restore air conditioning to a home because they understand how the circuit board, fan motor, compressor, and other components work both individually and together to create a working system. However, if the technician did not have a knowledge of wiring practices, the job would move much more slowly and, if done wrong, could even be dangerous.
In the same vein, industrial workers that know the do’s and don’ts of electrical practices can help recognize and prevent risky electrical setups. This makes a workplace safer for everyone and can help a company avoid downtime. In essence, fundamental electrical skills help prepare future technicians of many career paths to handle any job they will face in the field and provide the first step in pursuing a successful career in the electrical field.
DAC Worldwide’s Electrical Training Systems
DAC Worldwide offers many training systems that teach learners the fundamental electrical skills they need for a successful career. Each trainer is compact and sturdy, allowing for ease of relocation and longevity of use. By using these systems, learners will practice crucial hands-on skills related to focused electrical topics. Below, we’ve included a sampling of our most popular electrical trainers.
400-PAC – Modular Basic Electricity Training System Plus
The 400-PAC covers basic AC and DC electrical principles, including installation, operation, and troubleshooting for multiple applications. Learners can expect to gain a greater understanding of how electricity is used for power and control in industrial, commercial, and residential settings.
This trainer uses 43 activities to engage learners in lessons covering topics such as terminology, background theory, component examination and testing, circuit design, and more. A built-in circuit breaker, transformer, and internal power supply create working voltages of 24VAC/24VDC. This allows learners to gain hands-on experience with skills like calculating and regulating voltage in a circuit, operating a clipper circuit and full-wave bridge rectifier, loading dry cells, utilizing indicator lamps and toggle switches, and much more.
420-000 – 1-Phase Motor Control Training System with Manual Starter
The 420-000 is a single-topic trainer that allows learners to focus solely on navigating the operation, wiring, troubleshooting, and application of an industrial single-phase AC motor with a manual starter. With redundant safety systems provided and a keyed instructor power switch, learners can safely study individually or in small groups.
The system also comes equipped with a motor, manual motor starter, circuit breaker, electrical interlock, pilot light, e-stop switch, and four instructor fault switches. Learners use shielded banana-jack connections to wire the motor. While self-contained, the trainer may be expanded with supplemental components, such as a piloting switch module and a motor loading device, to teach additional topics.
422-000 – 3-Phase Motor Control Training System with Manual Starter
Like the 420-000, the 422-000 is a self-contained, single-topic trainer that allows for independent or small group study. Multiple components, such as a keyed instructor power switch, permanent internal grounding, circuit breaker with lock-out/tag-out, and a large emergency stop switch, ensure learner safety. All equipped components are UL and CE certified.
This trainer offers 21 activities for learners to practice hands-on skills for operating, wiring, and troubleshooting an industrial three-phase AC motor with a manual starter. Some examples of these skills include wiring a three-pole pushbutton motor starter as a motor controller and employing the instructor fault switches to troubleshoot a drum-type reversing switch manual starter.
429E – AC Variable Frequency Drive Training System Plus
The 429E uses industrial-grade components, such as an industrial 3-phase motor and an Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 40 variable frequency drive, to teach AC drive programming, system troubleshooting, control wiring, and other industry-relevant skills. Various inputs and outputs and a programmable acceleration/deceleration with an on-board PID control loop allow learners further practice in understanding voltage, relay, resistance, and amperage.
Other course content includes topics like minimum and maximum frequency, jog parameters, skip frequency bandwidth, and checking and setting acceleration and deceleration timing. Eight fault insertion switches provide thorough real-time troubleshooting practice.
461-000 – Basic PLC Training System (AB Micro850)
The 461-000 provides a wealth of information for learners to develop a firm understanding of industrial PLCs, with emphasis on the current generation Allen-Bradley Micro850. This trainer features eight DC input switches, eight DC output LED lights, two 25-pin D-Sub input/output connectors, multiple safety components, and more. Eight fault insertion switches are also built into the system to help learners increase their proficiency with PLC troubleshooting.
An optional textbook offers more study for relevant topics, such as introducing Boolean algebra and Veitch diagrams, understanding logic gates, creating subroutines and sequencers, and much more. The trainer can also be expanded by connecting it to other training systems that teach process control, sensors, motor control, fluid power, and more.
Boost Your Electrical Training Program Today
We aim to make training more memorable and effective so future electrical technicians can thrive in their chosen career paths. For more information on which training aide may best fit your needs, contact a DAC Worldwide consultant today.
- Published in News
Hands-On Training Essential for Nation’s Utility Workers
Click HERE to view Hands-On Training Essential for Nation’s Utility Workers as a multimedia presentation.
Do you ever daydream about going “off the grid”? For many, the thought of unplugging for an extended time away from life’s troubles sounds refreshing.
The reality underlying this common dream of escape is how thoroughly tied our lives are to the grid. What would our everyday routines be like without the utilities we so often take for granted?
We don’t give them much thought until Mother Nature intervenes with a foot of snow or an ice storm. When the lights go out, the Internet stops streaming, water freezes in the pipes, and furnaces quit heating, we think about nothing but our precious utilities until they return.
The unsung heroes in these situations are the nation’s frontline utility workers that must brave the elements to do their jobs in the worst circumstances. We wait anxiously and depend upon their expertise and dedication to restore our lives back to normal.
One day soon, though, we could find that wait lasting longer and longer. Why? Our nation’s utilities are facing an unprecedented — and worsening — shortage of workers with the skills necessary to keep the grid functional.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the looming shortage of utility workers across the country. We’ll also examine how one training center in Kansas is addressing the issue. Finally, we’ll discuss easy-to-use training options that any utility can use to provide safe, hands-on skills training to their frontline workers.
The Power & Utilities Skills Gap
Industries of all kinds across the nation are facing a critical shortage of skilled workers, and the power and utility industries are no exception. Demand for workers in these industries remains strong, but finding new workers to replace the many workers ready to retire is proving to be a substantial challenge.
In an Energy Central article, author Karen Marcus notes:
“As older workers retire, many utilities are finding it difficult to replace them, and to attract employees with the skills needed to advance a 21st century industry. According to T&D World, Airswift and Energy Jobline found in a survey of over 17,000 professionals that ‘48 percent of power professionals are concerned about an impending talent emergency, with 32 percent believing the crisis to have already hit the sector and 38 percent reporting that their company had been affected by skills shortages.’”
The shortage of skilled workers is real, and experts predict it’s only going to get worse in the future. According to Marcus:
“The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) reports that, according to one study, the industry will ‘need 105,000 new workers in the smart grid and electric utility industry by 2030, but expects that only 25,000 existing industry personnel are interested in filling those positions.’ The remaining 80,000 employees in this supply-demand mismatch will need to be filled through recruiting and training. However, the industry is not expected to meet the forecasted need with its current recruitment and training rates.”
Obviously, something needs to change. As the DoE QER states, “Industry hiring managers often report that lack of candidate training, experience, or technical skills are major reasons why replacement personnel can be challenging to find.”
If the power and utilities skills gap is to be bridged, utility companies must find a way to effectively provide safe, hands-on training to equip current and future workers with the critical skills they need to fill frontline positions as quickly as possible. Fortunately, solutions are available, and in the next section we’ll examine an exemplary approach taken by an association of municipal utilities in Kansas.
A Training Pioneer
Nearly two decades ago, Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU), an association of more than 100 public utilities across the state of Kansas, recognized a dire need to effectively train the next generation of field workers. The groundbreaking solution KMU pioneered was finally brought to life a few years ago in the form of a $3.2 million training center.
As author Rick Aguilar notes in a T&D World article, KMU’s 20,000-square-foot training facility was seen as “a way to short-circuit the learning curve so utilities could swiftly prepare new hires to work as effective front-line employees.”
KMU’s training center allows for safe year-round training. Not only does the facility feature dozens of wood poles, but it also boasts a variety of industrial-grade components to create the most realistic distribution system possible.
For utility workers, real-world, hands-on training is essential. As Aguilar notes in his article:
“Because safety is an integral part of all utility work, the new training center helps the students learn through hands-on instruction. While they can pick up on key knowledge through sitting in class and reading books, the real rubber meets the road when they are actively participating in hands-on learning.”
For example, KMU’s training center allows workers “to get hands-on training in a controlled environment…[that] mitigates some of the hazards inherent in utility work, and it allows the field workers to make mistakes in a safe environment.”
KMU has found that a combination of classroom work and hands-on training is the ideal training experience. “For example, if KMU offers a workshop on transformer theory and connections, then the linemen can get hands-on experience immediately after they receive classroom instruction to connect their learning to actual work.”
Training Solutions for Everyone
As Aguilar notes in his article, “[m]any of the members of KMU are small in scope, and as such, they don’t have the ability to provide a comprehensive training program or build a facility of their own.” That’s why the KMU training center is such an important and valuable resource for Kansas utilities.
Nevertheless, “every utility needs to have a safe, qualified workforce.” So what are utilities in other states without the benefit of a KMU training facility supposed to do? Fortunately, there are a variety of training solutions that offer any utility the ability to provide critical hands-on skills training.
For example, DAC Worldwide manufactures a variety of unique training systems and industrial component cutaways that teach the essential hands-on skills frontline utility workers need most. In this final section, we’ll learn more about how utilities can use these systems to meet their training needs.
Transformer Wiring Training System (408-000)
DAC Worldwide’s Transformer Wiring Training System (408-000) is a realistic training device that replicates the conditions and circumstances that a utility worker encounters when making common power transformer connections in the field. This convenient tabletop training system provides hands-on training without the danger of full-voltage field experience.
For example, a 208VAC, three-phase source is stepped down, creating a 41VAC, three-phase system. The training system includes two complete sets of three-phase transformers so that paralleling can be explored. Users will also get first-hand experience using banana jacks, ground/primary connections, and secondary connections using both three-phase and single-phase applications.
Learners will study topics like analyzing transformer single-phase/three-phase voltages, identifying transformer turns ratio (TTR), and demonstrating how connections can produce incorrect motor rotation. They will also practice hands-on skills, such as performing transformer connections, interconnecting multiple transformers in Wye or Delta configurations, and simulating a burned-out transformer in a three-phase bank.
Transformer Connections Training System (491-000)
DAC Worldwide’s Transformer Connections Training System (491-000) teaches the key skills that a utility worker must master in order to confidently operate modern generating equipment, such as the paralleling of generators and connecting to a larger power grid. The system replicates the conditions and circumstances utility workers encounter when making common transformer connections in the field.
For example, learners can practice ground connections, primary connections, and secondary connections easily using banana jacks. Both three-phase and single-phase applications are provided, and a 208 VAC, 3-phase source is stepped down to a 41 VAC, 3-phase system for safety.
Users will find that the Transformer Connections Training System provides a safe and efficient, yet realistic alternative to a full-voltage field experience. Standard accessories include patch cords, fourteen (14) transformers, a panel-mounted voltmeter and phase rotation meter.
Industrial Transformer Cutaways
DAC Worldwide’s Single-Phase Transformer Cutaway (273-912) and Three-Phase Transformer Cutaway (273-915) are detailed, professionally-crafted transformer cutaways that depict a shell-type, single-phase transformer and a coaxially-wound, three-phase, delta-wye wired transformer, respectively.
Through careful sectioning, the complete internal configurations of these transformers can be seen. Details shown include the laminated steel core, primary and secondary windings, and primary insulation.
Common transformer brands and models are chosen for sectioning for industrial relevance. Users will gain valuable insight into the inner workings of these transformers that they will encounter on a regular basis in the field.
- Published in News