Carol Fey, PIG Press, Quick & Basic books on basic electricity

Quick & Basic Electricity - book, manual

Quick & Basic Hydronic Controls - book, manual

Quick & Basic Troubleshooting - book, manual

Quick & Basic House Wiring - book, manual

Quick & Basic Electricity and Troubleshooting - DVD

Carol Fey on Electricity, Controls & Troubleshooting - digital book, digital manual

"No technician should leave home without it. My lead technician read it once and immediately began to understand what it was that he was doing in the field of controls. It's a great confidence builder. It can open the eyes of some of the most experienced technicians, too."

--Mark Eatherton, Contractor and Industry Educator

Library of Articles & Useful Links

Here you will find a wealth of information on a wide variety of  subjects.  These articles originally appeared in Plumbing & Mechanical Magazine from January, 2003 through 2007.
Please feel free to contact Carol if you have any questions or comments on any of the articles, or if you have a suggestion on a topic you want to know more about.

Also see Our Online Toolbox Section for some great resources designed to help you in your business.

A Thermostat Is Just A Switch
How can a simple thing be complicated? Easy. So far in this column you've read that you -- not an electrician -- should be doing your controls wiring. I have written about the fact that a control circuit is a simple thing. It is a "circle" of at least one of each of these three things: power supply, switch and load.
Anticipation
It’s still a good idea to know how to tune an anticipator. Anticipation is such an interesting word. It has an implication of excitement, possibility, maybe even thrills.
Aquastats A quick definition of aquastats and their specifications.It's no mystery that an aquastat is a control that goes with a boiler. If you don't know much more about it than that, though, you have a lot of company. There seems to be confusion about exactly what an aquastat does, and especially about finding a replacement when one fails.
Everything Is Electronic
Electronics let us do things that would otherwise be impossible.Joe hates electronics. “Gol’dern new stuff. How can you fix it if you can’t see how it works?”
Grounding
Whether for safety or operation, knowing when to ground is essential. Wha'd ya mean?" says Bubba the plumber-recently-turned-heating-tech. "How come you're tellin' me I gotta ground that boiler ignition? I know better - my power saw works just fine without a ground, and it's bigger!"
How To Use A Troubleshooting Chart
Troubleshooting charts help you start at the beginning and not skip steps, the troubleshooting chart. Eyes glaze over.
Is It Spare Parts Or Junk?
Rule of thumb: If you can’t find it in 15 minutes, it’s junk. I was traveling with Steve, a plumbing distributor rep. As we pulled into the yard of Aesop’s Plumbing and Heating, there was an all-too-common view — junk everywhere.
It’s Picture Time
It’s always great when there are more pictures than words, right? Except when those pictures are wiring diagrams. Do you know how to read a wiring diagram? If you don’t, you have a lot of company. Most people don’t — even people in the heating business.
Meters & Troubleshooting
Don’t fear the meter — it’s an essential tool. A multimeter is an essential tool for working with controls. It’s as expected for a professional heating guy to have a meter as it is for a doctor to have a stethoscope. Digital electronic meters are very different from the old-fashioned analog items that were expensive, fragile and hard to read.
Modern Thermostat Mysteries
Comfort, not survival of the human race, is the purpose of a heating system.Is an electronic thermostat appropriate for hydronic heating? How about for in-floor heating? Can you use a setback thermostat for hydronic or in-floor heating?
Series Circuits
You could replace a thermostat with a light switch, and the heating equipment would never know the difference. One day long ago, when I was newer in this industry than I am now, I was sitting in the well-appointed office of a large homebuilder. I was there because the heating contractor had told me that the reason he was putting in the cheapest (in both meanings of the word) thermostat was because the builder told him to.
Switches Is Just Switches
How can a simple thing be complicated? Easy.So far in this column you've read that you -- not an electrician -- should be doing your controls wiring. I have written about the fact that a control circuit is a simple thing. It is a "circle" of at least one of each of these three things: power supply, switch and load.
With a control circuit we're trying to make things go on and off at the right times. That's done with switches.
That Retail Stuff
When your customers shop retail, think of it as a lead to long-term service. The subject at the distributor counter today is “contractor stuff” being sold at retail home handyman stores. Once again, perhaps as always, passions are hot. Water heaters and thermostats have been there for a many years, but each person makes his own discovery in his own time.
The Back Row Boys
Let’s give a hand to the hands-on people this industry relies on. There’s a special kind of guy who comes into a classroom and heads right for the back row.
The New Market For Solar
Solar heating is more similar than different from what we already do with hydronics.Solar. Solar heating. For some folks those are political fightin’ words. For others it’s hope for the future. Those of us who were around in the late-1970s and into the 1980s can remember solar as an energy laughingstock. Now it’s once again becoming an exciting idea.
Threads
When things fit together, why do they sometimes leak? How much have you thought about the threads on the controls you work with? I was in a test lab recently, and the engineer, Joe Beagen, was pointing out that there are NPT threads on an air eliminator.
“Wait a minute,” I said to Joe. “Say that again.”
Training Adults & Technicians
Adults learn differently. Adjust your training accordingly. We're all teachers at one time or another, whether we get in front of a class or not. Every owner, service manager and senior technician has to be a trainer. And, oh boy, it's not an easy job!
Troubleshooting With Wyoming Jack
Learning the basics of electricity through everyday items.A couple times in the last year, a neighborhood kid has come to my door looking for work.
“Er, uh, hi. My name’s Sam,” he said, looking at his over-sized shoes. “If you need someone to, er, do your yard work, I can do it.”
What, No Mercury?!
Mercury bulb thermostats have been ‘mandatory equipment’ for decades. Chances are, however, you’ll never miss them now. There’s lots of lamenting that the age of mercury thermostats is coming to an end. But I think it’s a positive step forward with not much lost at all. Mercury-free models look the same on the outside so you won’t get customer complaints.
Where Are The Newbies?
Continued education is the key to staying in the industry.There’s no debate about it — there is a shortage of new guys in our industry. We like to grumble and blame it on the new generation: “Those kids just don’t like to work. They just don’t have the skills.”
Wires, Cords And Cables
Learning the basics of electricity through everyday items.A couple times in the last year, a neighborhood kid has come to my door looking for work.
 
 
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