Understanding Electricity, Basics and Common Components

AC / DC Explained, Single / Three-Phase motor circuits, Test Equipment, House Wiring, Ohm's law and fault finding.

Created by: Johanna Christina Hälbich
Electromechanical Technician

What Will I Learn?

• Fundamentals of electricity / Electrical Circuit basics (Conductors/Insulators, Open/Closed Circuits, Series/Parallel Circuits).
• Voltage, Current, Resistance, Power, and Energy explained in a manner that can be visualized.
• Direct Current and Alternating Current explained with oscilloscope graph examples.
• Frequency, Peak values, Peak-to-Peak values and RMS values explained with example of basic calculations for each type of measurement.
• Alternating Current power generation explained (Alternators, Power Stations, Transformers, Long Distance Transmission).
• Electrical Transformers explained (Step-Up / Step-Down Transformers, Single / Three-Phase Transformers).
• Ohm's Law Triangle and Wheel explained with examples.
• Ohm's Law applied to five different scenarios (1. Matched Load and Supply / 2. Over-Current / 3. Under-Current / 4. Under-Voltage / 5. Over-Voltage).
• Power Supplies and Loads in Series explained.
• Power Supplies and Loads in Parallel explained.
• Capacitors and Capacitance explained.
• Inductors and Inductance explained.
• Capacitive and Inductive Reactance explained (Simplified).
• Impedance explained (Simplified).
• Single / Three-Phase transmission explained with Wye / Delta examples.
• Three-phase voltage potentials explained.
• Electrocution, Protective Earth and other safety components explained.
• Single / Three-phase circuit layouts explained.
• Earthing systems explained (TN-C, TN-CS, TN-S, TT, IT).
• Multimeters and how to use them (Layout, AC/DC Voltage, AC/DC Current, Resistance, Capacitance, Frequency, Display Count, Accuracy, Category ratings).
• Clamp Meters and how to use them (Layout, AC/DC Current).
• Insulation Resistance Testers and how to use them (Layout, Normal Resistance, Insulation Resistance Testing, Capacitance Discharge, AC Voltage measurements).
• PSC/Loop Testers and how to use them (Testing Loop Impedance, Testing Prospective Short-Circuit Current, Calculating Prospective Fault Current).
• Earth Resistance Testers and how to use them (Layout, Testing The Earth Resistance).
• Phase Rotation Testers and how to use them (How to determine phase rotation).
• ELCB/Polarity Testers and how to use them (Testing the Earth Leakage trip current, Socket outlet polarity testing).
• Three-Phase motors explained (Wye / Delta configurations).
• Three-Phase motor and control circuits explained with several upgrades.
• Star/Delta starters explained (How to start a Three-Phase motor in two mild stages, instead of a single but more aggressive startup).
• Single / Three-Phase motor inspections explained (External and Internal).
• Fault Finding procedures and circuit inspection.
• House hold wiring basics.

Requirements

• There are no requirements for this course, this course was designed to explain electricity and electrical systems in such a way that someone who does not have any electrical work experience will understand it. This course is not math intensive, but we will cover a few basic formulas. If mathematics is not your strong point, there is no shortage of online calculators that can do the calculations for you.

Target audience

• Anyone who wants to learn more about Single / Three-Phase electricity in general.
• Anyone who wants to learn more about Single / Three-Phase transformers. (Step-Up, Step-Down)
• Anyone who wants to learn how Single / Three-Phase motor circuits work.
• Anyone who wants to learn more about Single / Three-Phase Induction Motors and how to inspect them.
• Anyone who wants to learn how to use electrical test equipment. (Multimeters, Clamp Meters, Insulation Resistance Testers, PSC/Loop Testers, Phase Rotation Testers, ELCB/Polarity Testers, Earth Resistance Testers)
• Anyone who struggles to understand the difference between Voltage, Current, Resistance, Power and Energy.
• Anyone who struggles to understand the difference between Direct Current and Alternating Current.
• Anyone who struggles to understand Three-Phase Voltage Potentials.
• Anyone who struggles to understand the difference between Wye and Delta configurations.
• Anyone who want's to know why transformers only work with AC electricity and why we mainly transmit AC electricity over long distances.
• Electricians
• Electrical engineers
• Electrical designers
• Industrial workers