Practical electrical wiring : residential, farm, and industrial (12th edition) - Hardcover

H. P Richter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0070523894 ISBN 13: 9780070523890

Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 1982

Synopsis

The updated 16th edition of this book - a widely-used reference for both electricians and do-it-yourselfers - provides complete, detailed instructions for making safe and efficient electrical wiring installations. Based on the new, 1993 National Electrical Code, the book explains not only how to perform the operations covered but also why they are necessary. It aims to provide the background needed for a clear understanding of electrical principles without burdening the reader with overly-complex technical explanations and advanced mathematics. The book leads the reader step-by-step through the planning and layout of an electrical wiring system and provides complete requirements for each of the more commonly used wiring methods, overcurrent protection, grounding, and installation of devices. A wide variety of examples, tables and illustrations prompt the user through every step of the way.

About 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.

From the Author:

Practical Electrical Wiring has achieved the status of a classic. Originally written by H.P. Richter, the book has an unparalleled ability to do two things at the same time. First, using everyday language, it makes the majority of electrical installation practices accessible to the beginner. Second, it includes enough detail to maintain its usefulness as an essential reference work on the shelf of any who continue in the trade.

This edition follows seven prepared by W. Creighton Schwan, who ably continued Richter’s original work. Changes in the electrical trade prompted a decision to produce a fundamentally rewritten and reorganized work that more adequately reflects the challenges of a new century. We are rapidly approaching the point at which the majority of electric energy consumed in the U.S. is processed electronically, and therefore involves substantial harmonic components. Today’s apprentice needs some understanding of how these loads affect wiring decisions, or risks being left behind.

Nevertheless, I have tried to keep the presentation accessible to all, for a personal reason. In 1957, at the age of ten, I helped my father extend a branch circuit in our home. My father, although handy, was never in the trade. Yet he correctly understood my intuitive fascination with what we were doing, and the next day I came home from school to a brand new copy of the fifth edition, just out, of Practical Electrical Wiring. I was riveted, and read the entire book cover to cover. It seemed as if I had been given the key to the inside door to a training room of a wonderful profession.

I didn’t actually enter the trade until many years later, but I never got the book out of my mind. After college, I returned to my true calling, and I returned to this book as well, which was always an invaluable reference. It is now my great honor to carry on a wonderful tradition.

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0070523894
• ISBN 13: 9780070523890
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 662