Hello,
I'm in my early 20's and currently employed as a rail Sparkie. I have had about 6 years in the construction industry on generally the industrial/ commercial side of an electrician. I have worked on rails, tunnels, hospitals and high end apartments. Made this AMA because I was bored and generally wanted to know what the public think of the trades .Ask me anything and I will do my best to answer.
Head down the Winchester for a large V.A.T.
As long as you dont touch the copper, your all good, easiest way probably to stay away from live copper
Ironically, I got the idea to do this from one of those frightful UK public service adverts they had on TV in the UK in the 70's
that and what to do in the event of a nuclear attack
it's all learning innit?
edit: Blow me I found it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNzblpcZwyM
and the other
Yeah would say the same, although seeing in person an arc flash from making contact of 2 phases, you learn to take electricity very seriously, as they are generally life altering consequences
Sweet Jesus…
how lucky was I not to be harmed?
I see dead people
What percentage of people you are familiar with ask you for help? Be it free or not
.
All the time, mostly family members, as soon as they heard I was a sparkie, all sorts of request came in. Most of the time it wasn't related to my electrical expertise at all lol. I generally tell them I'm a industrial sparkie and that I don't do domestic because it becomes such a massive burden doing their domestic work, and you cant really charge them enough to cover all your margins. At the end of the day, I earn more working OT rather than side domestic jobs.
Yo cuz, I need some help with my plumbing, can you fix them?
Yea, i am a software engineer and my aunt asks me to fix her blender because i am an engineer
Haha, most of the type its IT related problems involving the computer not turning on, or their wifi is not working 😕
Being the top of the food chain of trades (and industrial variant at that) how do y’all sparkies handle the fame, fortune, loose women, fast cars and vip all access passes that come with the job?
The best advice I got from another sparkies is to watch out for other sparkies. They are the only people who are arrogant, cocky, think they are the best and backstabbers. They will pretty much throw you under the bus. I generally keep to myself and I'm a passive person, so I haven't experience much grief from other trades, but generally it is other sparkies who screw me over.
Ever received an electric shock, and/or had a tool destroyed, as a result of making contact with a live wire?
Yeah got an electric shock from a earth leakage, was getting 120V AC across the earths from a domestic job. Otherwise in the rails they have a lockout tag out system where the boards are locked and cannot be switched on until you lock off the box.
Otherwise in the rails they have a lockout tag out system where the boards are locked and cannot be switched on until you lock off the box.
but you still test for dead right :)
Yep, do all the test for dead (Multi meter, lamp tester) and the final check is to short the A+E will you pliers (not recommended) , with your head turned away lol.
Can you explain what an earth leakage is?
How much do you make?
It really depends on the EBA and Overtime as they are what push the pay up. Right now as a full time tunnel sparkie I make $52 an hour plus a bunch of other allowances we get depending on EBA. I think last year I made over 150k working 12 hour nights 5 nights a week. But I was a 4th Year apprentice then. Most sparkies, if they are on a eba job, doing all the OT (60+ hours week), are probably on 200k+
are probably on 200k+
Well when you get there you can officially join whirlpool forums. Have fun over there.
What are you on about, everybody knows because of inflation, you need a minimum of 300k to even think about whirpool!
/r/ausfinance wouldn't even look twice at him though.
I know no one will say they are overpaid, but do you think sparkies are generally very well paid for the jobs?
Yes they are very well looked after and protected. Its not like brick layers or scaffolders who get told to just eat concrete and harden up. Pay is probably the highest of the qualified trades (besides specialists like PLC and HV). Not that Im complaining though, I do like money 😉
@Bargain4Days: Any thoughts or suggestions for anyone getting a sparkie and not get ripped off besides getting three quotes? Thanks!
@OhNoUShiz: Hard to say, as generally most good sparkies dont do domestic, they get the better paying jobs in industrial. Unless you know what to look out for, its hard to know if you are getting a cowboy sparkie in. Try to find a referral of a friend, dont trust websites as they are often bogus
Do you own a lifted Hilux and a 300hp Kawasaki jetski? How many dirt bikes do you have?
industrial sparky - so actually more like full kit, lifted, blacked out raptor gen 2 🤙
That makes sense. Probably European dirt bikes also. None of that Japanese rubbish 😉
And asking how many dirt bikes… Like sparkies can count that high…
Ironically I actually drive a 2001 Camry, I don't really carry gear to work, as most companies provide onsite work Utes and vans. Driving in a shit box helps as I can park anywhere and however I like and not worry about the car.
2001 Camry
You have excellent taste
Wise financial move for someone in their 20s. I would've silly splurged on some high end euro investment at this age.
@skillet: Dont get me wrong, would to love to splash some money on a nice hilux or sports car, but always talking myself out of it lol. Insurance is too expensive, I would have to take it to the mechanics, I would have to baby it, cant park it anywhere, would have to fuel 98 in it and all the cons of buying a nice car lol. Everytime I see a new flashy car I just wish I could burn some money into one.
@skywards: And complain that the roof racks wont fit the car and I cant fit the kayaks now because something about being a pensioner and shame on toyota for something something.
If you’re early 20s and already have six years experience, when did you start in industry?
Apprenticeship at 16 would give them 6 years experience by 22.
Pretty much left school as soon as I could, dropped out and jump straight into a full time apprenticeship.
What gave you the courage to drop out as soon as you could? Did you have family recommending this path?
By the sounds of it, it has paid off in spades. Making a few assumptions here, but being a successful sparkie also means you're quite capable with technical knowledge and could have continued your studies into senior high school and university. This is generally the "safe" and encouraged route by society nowadays (it was the path I took anyway).
I was pretty bad at applying myself in school, could never sit down and constantly study and complete exams, assignments. I did pretty badly in school getting above 65% and Bs. I didnt know what I wanted to do in terms of career or future prospects.
I was just reading some news article about a trade shortage and thought "Why not give this a go" saw an opportunity and applied. Sent a barebones resume and go the job straight after the interview. If I wanted to change career paths after I got my Cert III, at least I got a trade backing me up.
Essentially, I saw no future in doing uni, I wasnt the best in school, let alone I will be compete with other genius for a spot that I wasnt even sure I would like
@Bargain4Days: I think you made the right choice. Uni grad salaries are low and in another life I would have liked to have considered the tradie life.
@magikz: To be honest, its not a bad time to do a career change, especially with this job boom, if you can secure a mature aged apprenticeship, your pretty much set if you can follow through.
@Bargain4Days: Love what you do, do what you love.
Do you like the job first or the money that comes with it later?
Do you know how many apprentices actually gone through and be qualified?
What are the skillsets and behavioural trails you reckon to be a successful sparkie?
@OhNoUShiz: I don't necessarily believe in the philosophy "follow your dreams" or "do what you love". Sounds great and all but I would rather work and get the money to do the things I like. I think this is the mentality most people have these days, do what they want to do. I chose the trade simply because of opportunity, job security, money and something that I could see myself follow through. I don't necessarily love sparkie work, but I gotta do something to pay the bills.
The pass rates were probably 50%, almost half the class either dropped out or couldnt pass the exams and had to pay through a private RTO to obtain their qualification.
Resilience and tenacity. Honestly, there have been so many days during my apprenticeship thinking to myself why didnt I just study at Uni and get myself an office job. Some days the job is just hard, under the sun, dust and sparks flying everywhere, its noisy, machines are at full speed. The most important skill I reckon is people skills, you dont need to be the best sparkie, you just need to be a people person, doesnt matter how good you are of a sparkie, if people dont like you, its very likely they will spite you. If other tradies like you, they are more willing to teach and accommodate you.
How much circuit theory do you practicing electricians learn? I've only ever seen from the Uni end, and while a lot of the stuff taught there is probably more useful for designing circuits rather than actually wiring things up, I'd have thought stuff like Ohm's/KCL/KVL probably finds a decent amount of use out in trade practice too. But maybe I'm wrong.
I did 4 years at TAFE, I only remembered the courses to get by. None of us industrial sparkies practice any theory, as the client has engineered and calculated all the demands and derating. We just get given a layout and cable schedules and run the cable. We pretty much don't even have any standards in our tool bags if that answers you question
Definitely should not rely on anything given by the engineeres. When you sign something off and use your licence number you're confirmed it meets relevant standards.
Yes an no, we simply install what the construction plans say regardless if its wrong or not. Unless it has the potential to harm or kill someone we just keep out mouths shut. In a sick way, your employers want you to simply follow the plans. If something goes wrong it goes back to the engineer and the company gets to charge the client/ engineers more money, thus we get more work.
@Bargain4Days: Have you ever tried suggesting a more appropriate solution to clients who had bad plans? If you did, how did it go?
@AwesomeAndrew: No, as generally I dont like to stick out and chances are the rework would fall on you 😉
@Bargain4Days: As an engineer i can confirm this. If anything goes wrong it always comes back to the engineer. Ideally though we prefer the trades to give us feedback when we've stuffed up or if they think there's a better way of doing things (read: better; not necessarily just easier)
Well, you're definitely a sparkie/tradie. Make a promise, say you will get back to us then leave us hanging with no reply. My bet is you will turn up late, rush through all the answers with half arsed replies and then ghost when we need more information.
Didn't neg you, but I was afk for a bit, you definitely don't like tradies though lol
Don’t care about the negs, was supposed to be a cheeky dig at the stereotype of tradies.
And I don’t hate tradies, I am one. :D
I'm looking for a source of small quantities of good quality cabling (mostly for data eg.CAT5e/CAT6a) by the metre without paying through the nose? If you know of one with an online presence that sells to the public, I'd greatly appreciate the tip.
I generally go to a electrical supply shop in Concord, he gives me the best prices, but sparkies direct has pretty good prices, although I dont know if they sell to public as I never used them before. Avoid hobby shops and department stores like Jaycar or Bunnings, cables are expensive. I think I paid about 160 ex gst for a 305m drum of cat 6
Thanks.
Yeah. I'm trying to avoid getting gouged on the per-meter price charged by the likes of jaycar. I only bother to buy cable and cut/terminate my own leads for larger jobs, but I rarely need a full 305m drum.
Sparky Direct doesn't appear to offer ad-hoc cuts of cable…their 20m offering works out almost the same $1.50 per-metre as my local bunnings.
Honestly its not bad to buy a drum, you will always have that ability to make more or even run them in your house anytime you want, not like cat 6 degrades or becomes obsolete any time soon
These guys are the best in Sydney, no trade discount BS, rock bottom for everyone - https://agmelectrical.com.au/
For OP's same 305m of Cat6, they charge $165 inc GST - https://agmelectrical.com.au/telephone-and-data-accessories/…
Yeah that's about my cost for most of the items there, that's really pretty good pricing.
is that Cat6, "solid copper core"?
as i read that 'solid copper' is necessary for CCTV set ups.
I dont think I ever worked with stranded cat 6 cables before, the core is already so thin, so it would be hard to imagine running flexible cat6 cores
@Bargain4Days: Also gotta watch out for cheap a$$ CCA…
https://www.neca.asn.au/sa/content/acma-warning-%E2%80%93-cc…
I'm assuming here they mean "solid" as in solid vs stranded. If so, keep in mind that "solid" cable is not as flexible as stranded.
Thanks, had a look.
Not the fanciest of sites, but I can get over that if the price is right.
The CAT6 listing is pretty low on detail… that doesn't exactly fill me we confidence that I'm getting quality.
If you are looking for genuine good quality Cat6/Cat6a cables you can consider CommScope Systimax. It's widely accepted and used globally in hospital, banks, government, education institutes etc. I am not sure if you can find it anywhere else other than Anixter.
CommScope Netconnect cables are also very solid quality. You can find 305m reels or boxes in Middys or L&H stores. They are not cheap though.
Yeah we used commscope cat 6a in hospitals, very nice quality cable, took a few metres of off cuts to take home and use myself
If people could use Force Lightning, from Star Wars, do you think rail companies would hire Sith to power their trains?
Unlimited Power!
wanted to know what the public think of the trades
Have a look on here, they think they are lazy and overpaid.
Yeah seems like it, I don't do domestic much, but every time I do, it is just a massive headache.
Have you ever forgot to check the mains?
No, thats usually the first thing that gets locked out in industrial. In domestic, I just take the main fuse out of the board and lock it so no one can tamper with it while Im working within
Q1) What is your opinion of us telecommunications technicians?
Q2) Why do sparkies keep depowering our equipment?
Q3) Milwaukee or Makita?
My personal opinion is that a trade is a trade, right trade for the right job. Never understood why there is a hierarchy of trade regardless weather your a labourer or an on site engineer, the job needs to get done somehow. Generally it is easier to Isolate a whole board rather than a certain breaker, regarding paper work such as permits and lock boxes. Sounds like in your case though the sparkie is not sure where the breaker feeds to/
I like and prefer Milwaukee tools, all the sites I have been on either use Milwaukee or Hilti. I personally have Makita because they are so cheap and decent enough quality, they also have the best redemptions and I have way to many tools invested in the eco system to switch to other brands
Haven't had much issues with warranty related issues, but generally if the customer supplies the materials and parts, they are liable for all faults not related to installation. Mainly the reason why I will provide the materials and equipment needed, as I know which parts are of good quality and are easy to work with and I cover the warranty then. I dont understand your second question though
I think… he means charge to do a quote… or maybe when a customer reports fault and it’s deemed not a fault the customer is to cover a non-warranty call out fee and costs fee…
Have you ever mis-wired an electrical item because the customer was being difficult with the intention to kill them?
Also, what's the empirical equation of surface current on a rectangular bus bar?
Lastly… What does one electrician say to another when they run into each other out in public?
Answer: "Watt’s up!!"
Nope
Way above my pay grade
Shocking!
Something involving yanks standard, looks like a typical main feed install, 2 phase plus neutral
Do you find that the quality of workmanship of electrical wirings have deteriorated over the years - and in addition to that the usage of poorer quality materials?
Yes and no, generally the standards are set by client, and QA crew will check if they are up to standards to hand over to client, client then checks themselves if it meets requirements. Poorer quality materials dont happen often, as generally you dont want to lose big government contracts over poor QC
Since you work in industrial and rail, you would have seen some powerful gear. What are some of the biggest voltages you have worked with and what about amperage?
Had a sparky friend who works at the power station show me a fuse one day that was something crazy like 600 amps at 60kV.
Not OP, obviously.
But I work on the following distribution/transmission voltages:
240V, 11kV, 22kV, 66kV, 220kV, 330kV and 500kV.
No 132KV?
Not me personally, but there are other voltages floating around.
when I was a little kid there was an old TV in my bedroom without a plug on it
so I stuck the bare wires into a GPO and watched (B&W) TV
from memory it was Minder
how lucky was I not to be harmed?