lineman books

[linemanlearning]

I am a new lineman learning the trade. I have went to lineman school and i have worked transmisson for a while but i recently have gotten hired on at a local utility and i am completly lost. Everything is so different i was woundering if there was a book to read that would help me speed up my learning process as far as learning wire sizesthat houses needs andwhat size pots. cut outs they need. Along with other just general knowleadge. Does the guide book for cable man and lineman have this type of knowledge in it. Or will it just take time and experiance.

[wudwoker51]

I am a new lineman learning the trade. I have went to lineman school and i have worked transmisson for a while but i recently have gotten hired on at a local utility and i am completly lost. Everything is so different i was woundering if there was a book to read that would help me speed up my learning process as far as learning wire sizesthat houses needs andwhat size pots. cut outs they need. Along with other just general knowleadge. Does the guide book for cable man and lineman have this type of knowledge in it. Or will it just take time and experiance.

Lineman and Cablemans Handbook. New edition was due out on March 1st. Every linehand should have one and I hear the new edition is top of the line. Also take a specbook home from whatever utility you are working for, at least that's a start. I take it that you are working for a company that doesn't have an apprenticeship program? One bit of advice, if you don't know ask and use your PPE. When this shit bites it bites hard and doesn't give many second chances. Good Luck and the IBEW door is always open.

[linemanlearning]

yes we do have some what of an apprentice program its not as well organized as some others. I have a spec book that i have looks over several times such as framing and terms such as single phase and three phase being called a3's and c5s and what not. I have recently started taking different wires home so i can try to remember the different sizes. But after working transmisson i had a some what clear idea of alot of stuff and now this distrubtion is all new and i just want to speed up the process and was wondering about the guide book for lineman and cable book i well defenitly look in to it. Thank you for your response

[wtdoor67]

Wudwoker is giving you good advice.

There's 3 major methods to learn linework, especially distribution. #1. Talk about it. #2. Read about it. #3. Doing the work or OJT. Not necessarily in that order. Don't worry about learning the wire sizes. I expect there's only about a half dozen ACSR sizes used there. Ask some of your workmates about all the common wire sizes.

You won't have any trouble. Like he said. Get a Linemans and Cablemans handbook. I don't even think it's necessary to get the latest edition. You can get some of the older editions on Amazon or such for very little. The 6th edition is very good. The principals of linework have changed so little over the years that the info in the books don't vary that much.

Any time you have a question your workmates can't answer, put it on here.There's a myriad of experience on here.

[e30kawi]

I have always heard a saying that one can make a distribution grunt into a transmission grunt but not the other way around.

Just keep your eyes open and watch what is going on, you will pick it up.

[Highplains Drifter]

Or will it just take time and experiance.

Don’t listen to e30kawi, it is the exact opposite. Linemanlearning, it takes time and experience and if you can retain I new thing a day you are doing good. At first there is so much thrown at us and being opened minded and wanting to learn is the right attitude. Hopefully your co-workers are willing to teach you unless you where hired with the same rate of pay as a seasoned one, I then could see you might be in a bad situation.

[Divemaster]

If your work mates are worth their weight they'll teach you. Other than that, a Lineman/Cableman's Handbook is good reference. In my work truck I carry an Ugly's book (from Menards) a transformer amperage slide rule (from Solomon Corp.) a metering handbook (from Landis & Gyr) and the Lineman/Cableman book from college that has all the notes that I have made in it over the last 20 years. I bought it, I wrote in it. If you learn something that you may not use much but you think that info may come in handy some other day, make note of it in a corresponding chapter in the book. It'll be simple to find and for what you spend for a new book, I'll guarantee you won't throw it away. Best of all, some day, some newbee'll look through it and wonder how you ever learned all that information, and you can look him in the eyes and say three words. 'The Hard Way!'

[hdmagnum]

just a note on how i learned our wire sizes. between the sevices, secondaries, and primaries, we had about 20 different sizes. i was fortunate enough that when i got on a crew i stayed on that same crew (my foreman and my lineman) till i topped out as a journeyman. i tell everyone i was "paper trained". they got about a six inch chunk of every size and kept them under the seat of the truck. every morn'n the foreman Larry would buy a newspaper and read it with his coffee. then my lineman Neal would get it and roll it up. while we road out to the job Neal would pull out a piece and ask what size and type he had, if i got it wrong he would rap me on the back of the head with that rolled up news paper. it didn't take long to learn them. reason being is cause when you or your lineman is on his hooks you don't want to be standing up there all day while your help on the ground keeps runn'n back and forth. that was fifteen years ago and i still appreciate all they taught me.

[Highplains Drifter]

just a note on how i learned our wire sizes. between the sevices, secondaries, and primaries, we had about 20 different sizes. i was fortunate enough that when i got on a crew i stayed on that same crew (my foreman and my lineman) till i topped out as a journeyman. i tell everyone i was "paper trained". they got about a six inch chunk of every size and kept them under the seat of the truck. every morn'n the foreman Larry would buy a newspaper and read it with his coffee. then my lineman Neal would get it and roll it up. while we road out to the job Neal would pull out a piece and ask what size and type he had, if i got it wrong he would rap me on the back of the head with that rolled up news paper. it didn't take long to learn them. reason being is cause when you or your lineman is on his hooks you don't want to be standing up there all day while your help on the ground keeps runn'n back and forth. that was fifteen years ago and i still appreciate all they taught me.

That is a funny story and what I like is you don’t resent the man hitting you with the news paper. I can remember being humiliated by the lineman to teach me what they wanted. My self I am glad they thought enough of me to go that far.

[linemanlearning]

I will be investing in a lineman guide book. Thank you to all who have given me advice.