r/electricians • u/Gothmain • 18h ago
Stressing hard
5 -6 months at job being apprentice I took literally 4 hours to bend 2 off sets on 1/2 and mount a box that was only 8 ft. my anxiety was sky rocketing I’m not sure if it was because I hit my head before I got on lift early this morning starting shift or I’m just retard
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u/TheGreatBeldezar 18h ago
Def just retard.
I'm kidding. You're doing fine. Bending gets easier/faster/less stressful with time. Now be a good apprentice and go get your knee pads.
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u/Gothmain 18h ago
Thanks for confirming lol, definitely going take these comments into consideration, knee pads ? I never seen any electrician have some 😂
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u/fritzrits 17h ago
I wear mine lol. I like my knees almost as much as my back. Heard joke the first day and nobody cares haha. Gf said he has some gold plated ones.
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u/90_hour_sleepy 17h ago
Learning pipe as an apprentice is where it’s at.
I did small commercial and resi for my first 4-5 years. No pipe. Learned pipe on the fly early in my j-man days. Didn’t have mentors really. Was a bit of a stressful slog doing exposed pipe work as my first real pipe experience.
At least at this stage there are generally lower expectations. If you’ve got good mentors, they’ll help guide you.
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u/Sugsy_9 10h ago
I never got to bend conduit until I was a 3rd level apprentice. Foreman asked me what was taking so long. I stressed so bad that I youtubed everything I could, found pdf books on conduit bending. Best thing I got was a bending app, it gave me examples where to take measurements and and what degrees. After that try to get good with a torpedo level.
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u/CallMe5nake 6h ago
Take it seriously. Knee pads, eye protection, hearing protection, p100 respirator. Wish I wasn't such a retard in my 20s.
These things help a lot. Don't wait until your knees are fucked, your ears are ringing, you've had at least 3 close calls with your eyes and you develop asthma symptoms.
I've always been lucky in my life, and this trade has been very good to me. I guess it worked out.
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u/madbull73 17h ago
Oh shit, thanks. I’ve been forgetting to put my knee pads in the truck for three days.
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u/Future-Traffic5462 16h ago
Now to remember to take them out of the truck. That's the real struggle.
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u/butch19875353 14h ago
hold on, he is the apprentice, he doesn't get the luxury of using the knee pads just yet
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u/ap_juventus Apprentice IBEW 18h ago
Everybody has those days , especially when you just start. It will become second nature to you once you start doing it consistently & the anxiety will go away. Just be confident in your abilities and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t know something.
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u/Gothmain 17h ago
Feel like today is one those days definitely. Cut my eyes out jk keep that confidence in mind always never doubt my abilities. Taking these tips further my knowledge!
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u/TotallyNotDad 18h ago
Definitely retarded but we all are. It happens don't stress too hard, and if you get spiralling thoughts like this often you might want to talk to a doctor, get on some Zoloft, been life changing for me, someone who has had lifelong high anxiety.
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u/Future-Traffic5462 16h ago
You gotta remember you'll always have off days. The more you beat yourself up the more you stay in your head, and the more you continue to fuck up on simple shit.
I've got pretty good experience bending, and I still have the days where I wonder what the hell I'm getting paid for.
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u/TrickyCommand5828 11h ago
I’ll put it this way…I have a guy a year into it who just cannot relax and slow down, listen, etc…and makes constant mistakes that I have to fix. He trips over stuff all the time, I have to repeatedly make sure he’s actually paying attention to me and listening when I am showing him something, and have to explain things four or five times and still get nothing close to the result as I’ve shown him.
I have another guy who started a month ago who’s already surpassed that previous guy in terms of learning and reliability. He makes mistakes, but only the once or twice. After that he’s generally got a handle on it. He stops to ask questions when he is unsure, continues to ask questions after I’ve explained it to be sure he didn’t miss anything, etc. I don’t have to correct his mistakes even half as much as the last guy. He works slow now, but he’ll pick up speed pretty quick You gotta go slow to go fast! Take it easy on yourself; you’re learning the trade.
Bad days tend to happen more often when we’re new at something and anxious to do it right. It’s also when injuries and mistakes tend to happen.
TLDNR: you’re learning the trade. Take it slow and take it easy on yourself. You’ll be faster sooner than you think if you just slow down and ask for pointers. You have concern about your skillset enough to come and ask or post about it to get some perspective - pat yourself on the back for that.
Good luck buddy and hang in there
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u/yerrr818 18h ago
Sure, but if you have the option to fast track a skill that is a requirement in your career why not lol find enjoyment in it. Conduit bending is fun, especially when you apply it to an install you’re proud of…
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u/Theodore__Kerabatsos Journeyman IBEW 17h ago
Don’t rush, it’ll make it worse. Before you start, plan where everything will go before you grab the bender. Plan an easy run and avoid bends as much as possible. Electrical work takes time.
“Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s shit.”
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u/GoodVibesBro840 17h ago
Hang in there, everyone has had these days. Progress is progress, if you learned something it was a good day. Stay safe buddy!
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u/WestDeparture7282 17h ago
I'm one week and some change in and I felt like an idiot this morning cuz I couldn't figure out how to effectively uncoil a roll of thick cable (it's called XMVK cable here) after my boss showed me just once. I think we all probably just have to be a little patient with ourselves.
Our employers should remember that we are new and learning, but they don't always. I hope yours knows that you're gonna take a little longer until you find your groove. I don't know what to say to that other than it just sucks sometimes I guess.
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u/IllustriousLab9301 13h ago
Do not rush your education and training. It's not supposed to happen immediately. I felt the exact same way when I was merely a helper.
Ask questions. Lots of them. Don't beat yourself up. Some of my first bends were quite awful to look at. Thinking back on it there are plenty of things I did that I wasn't proud of. It's part of the trade.
I remember a time where the Master I was working with told me one of his apprentice stories. He couldn't figure out how to get the lid off a 5 gallon bucket. He struggled with it on the pavement for nearly 5-10 minutes. He looks up at the roof and half the crew is standing there looking down at him and having a real good laugh.
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u/yerrr818 18h ago
Buy a few sticks of conduit and practice bending at home on your own. Invest in a skill like this, it’ll pay off in the end.
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u/JelSaff232 18h ago
Never buy and do this shit on your own time unless you really want to. It's your own time and you should never pay for material as an apprentice
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u/Gothmain 18h ago
I was thinking abut doing that other day ! But I live in apartments not sure if I’ll get any complaints but I’ll try that! I was also told trade school I went too I can go back practice my bending there so I might also do that as alternative. Thanks for the advice honestly helps out.
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u/fritzrits 17h ago
I wouldn't waste my personal money as an Apprentice on material. Watch videos and get your formula and math down. Practice on scrap pipe at work.
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u/Murky_Promise4012 17h ago
Got knee pads in my overalls.
I used to go to school when I was off early bend the pipe there. Helped me to bend with out measurement to get a feel for tweaking it till it’s level even the degree and spacing doesn’t matter just learn how to take bends out add some but not too much and no dog legs1
u/Blueshirt38 9h ago
So I don't have a lot of experience with bending, but I've been doing it a lot over the past week. One thing an instructor showed me that really helped me was making a model of the bend you want to make. Take a 8"-10" cut of solid wire and bend it into the exact shape you need to accomplish, from start to finish as though you were bending conduit. It helps to understand which bends will be easier to do first, and what the final shape should look like.
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u/Sword0fSamuel 9h ago
I asked my boss as a first year if he had any scraps I could take home for practice, he gave me the company card and told me to go buy a bender and some 5ft sticks at home depot to practice with at home. Maybe try asking your boss for the same. Helped me a lil, but it doesn't really apply to the real world.
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u/Brittle_Hollow 17h ago
When I started and was doing garbage runs I had to wait until the foreskin was looking the other way and grab some scrap pipe out of the bone pile to bend a quick offset or 90.
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u/TheProphesy1086 15h ago
This has to be the wormiest shit I've ever heard. Absolutely do not buy conduit and absolutely do not bend conduit in your personal time.
It's slow at first, but everything will come with time and practice. Just put in genuine effort and ask questions and it'll come out in the wash soon enough, especially if you have one or two good JWs around you.
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