Panzerman Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Even the 2377 PAT courses can be a nightmare if you have no background in electrics. I did mine a few years ago and whilst I could have easily sat the exam straight away, I had to sit through the "instructional course" (ie. how to fill out paperwork and look at a Code of Practice book). It was like pulling teeth sitting there for a day and a half listening to some geezer dribbling on to justify the time and price involved. Myself and 2 other sparkies there were bored to tears, I got 97% in the exam (and I was going to complain to C&G about the ambiguous wording on the questions I dropped), it's not exactly taxing. HOWEVER, there were others on the course who were absolutely lost at sea, general maintenance men. They'd been sent by their companies to get the qualification and become the competent person in their workplace, but couldn't grasp the basics of electrical theory - what an Ohm is, what resistance/voltage/current is, the theory behind earthing etc etc. I felt sorry for them because the lecturer clearly didn't appreciate how little they knew, he just rattled on, us sparks grunted now and again, and the maintenance men just sat there baffled. 2377 is an absolute walk in the park for anyone with a bit of electrical background, but if you don't KNOW the basics (as opposed to "think you know the basics") you will come a cropper. It's amazing how one or 2 basics can throw you totally if you aren't familiar with them, things that sparks don't even have to think about, let alone explain to anyone else. I would suggest getting on a night-time or day release 2330 course or similar. Even if it doesn't strictly help you right now, it will teach you the theory right from the start and mean you can sit 2377 easily. Sounds stupid, but I was grateful when I sat my C&G's years ago that the lecturer started on Day 1 with "What is Electricity?" and then going through the very basics of what it is, how it is measured etc. I knew that I wouldn't find myself looking back at a big hole in rudimentary terms that could stuff me later at work or in exams, things that he assumed everyone knew so wouldn't bother to cover (as the bloke doing the 2377 course did). Well worth those nights at college even if it was sometimes confirming what I had already picked up along the way at work, I knew that from then on, my foundations of electrical theory were solid. The time flies by, in reality "1 year" at college is actually 9 months, it will be time well spent, trust me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony g Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Panzerman has some good points here, of course as a spark myself the PAT test course seemed really basic (yes I was bored stiff too), but I can see where Panzerman is coming from, a good grasp of electrical basics is needed for most electrical course unless you start from the beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxy1977 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I have seen electricians fail the 2377, I have also seen non electricians pass, finish the course and have no idea how to P.A. test or use a tester. The 2377 is a 30 question mulitiple choice exam, with the COP in front of you, if you can use an index you will pass. You really want to do a course that provides strong hands on experience, not just theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony g Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I have seen electricians fail the 2377, I have also seen non electricians pass, finish the course and have no idea how to P.A. test or use a tester. The 2377 is a 30 question mulitiple choice exam, with the COP in front of you, if you can use an index you will pass. You really want to do a course that provides strong hands on experience, not just theory. Any spark who fails the 2377 should re-train as a plumber as soon as practicable. Of course there is so much more to PAT testing than just using the tester, firstly theres the whole visual element and then on top of that the vast product knowledge you need to do it well (for example very few unmodified patt. series lanterns would pass, but the knowledge will tell you why, and alow you to judge if any alteration is needed), a few years ago schools up and down the country panicked and threw out their excellent Labpack power supplies because they will fail the PAT test *, the fix is dead easy, but it's amazing that very few people did it and ended up slinging good kit!!! *The neon "on" indicator is wired between live and earth, changing to neutral corrects the problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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