Practical Electronics Guide for Electricians: Build Real-World Skills in Circuit Testing, Diagnostic Troubleshooting, Fault Finding, Sensors, Motor Controls, PLCs, and Industrial Automation - Softcover

Norcrest, Callan

9798175871433: Practical Electronics Guide for Electricians: Build Real-World Skills in Circuit Testing, Diagnostic Troubleshooting, Fault Finding, Sensors, Motor Controls, PLCs, and Industrial Automation

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798175871433

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

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A meter reading tells you what is happening. It does not tell you why.

A machine refuses to start.

The proximity sensor lights up, but the PLC never sees the signal. A 4–20 mA reading appears believable—and is completely wrong. A drive reports a fault that does not immediately explain the real problem.

The meter is still essential. But knowing what to measure is no longer enough. You need to know what the reading means—and what to measure next.

Practical Electronics Guide for Electricians bridges the gap between traditional electrical training and the electronics, signals, controls, and automation found inside today’s industrial equipment.

Written from an electrician’s point of view, this book avoids unnecessary semiconductor physics, advanced circuit design, and heavy mathematics. Instead, it focuses on practical understanding: how a device should behave, how to measure it correctly, how it fails, and how to narrow the fault logically.

FROM THE METER TO THE PLC—IT’S ALL CONNECTED
Across 18 practical chapters, you’ll build skills in:
• Voltage, current, resistance, and power as diagnostic tools
• Digital multimeters, clamp meters, and oscilloscope troubleshooting
• Schematics, wiring diagrams, and ladder drawings
• Resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers, diodes, rectifiers, and DC power supplies
• Transistors, MOSFETs, IGBTs, and solid-state relays
• Systematic electrical troubleshooting and fault finding
• Inductive, capacitive, photoelectric, temperature, pressure, level, and position sensors
• PNP, NPN, sourcing, and sinking
• 0–10 V and 4–20 mA analog signals, scaling, grounding, and noise
• Contactors, overloads, interlocks, permissive, and motor-control circuits
• PLC hardware, field wiring, discrete I/O, timers, counters, and sequencing
• Reading PLC logic to discover why a machine will not run
• HMIs, drives, networks, and integrated industrial automation systems

STOP RANDOM PROBING. START DIAGNOSING.

At the center of the book is a six-step diagnostic method designed to replace guesswork with a repeatable troubleshooting process. The goal is not simply to collect readings, but to use each measurement to eliminate possibilities and decide what comes next.

The diagnostic reasoning is written down, not implied. When a reading could mean more than one thing, the book explains the possibilities. When a measurement may mislead you, it explains why. When another test is needed to separate possible faults, it shows you what to check next.

PACKED WITH PRACTICAL LEARNING TOOLS
Inside you’ll find:
• 111 illustrations, including 90 purpose-built technical figures
• A chapter-opening photograph
• 68 numbered tables
• 204 review questions
• Complete worked solutions to every review question—solutions, not answers
• Worked examples using representative, realistic electrical values
• SAFETY FIRST, DIAGNOSTIC TIP, COMMON MISTAKE, and ON THE JOB panels
• Formula and symbol references
• Troubleshooting quick-reference material
• Glossary, references, answer key, and full index

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

Designed for industrial electricians, maintenance electricians, electrical apprentices, maintenance technicians, controls technicians, and electrical instructors.

It assumes you already understand basic electrical work and Ohm’s law, but does not assume prior electronics knowledge.
Whether you’re trying to understand a strange meter reading, trace a disappearing control signal, diagnose a miswired sensor, interpret a 4–20 mA loop, follow PLC logic, or understand why an automated machine refuses to run, this book gives you a structured way forward.

DON’T JUST FIND THE SYMPTOM. FIND THE FAULT.
Learn what the reading means. Understand why the circuit behaves the way it does. Know what to measure next.