Electrician, The (1942)

[Music] kind's most valuable servants without it there would be no electric lights or in offices factories or in your own home even this motion picture you're watching would not be possible people have become so accustomed to electricity and the many conveniences it provides that they give little thought to the tremendous amount of work necessary to make it possible after electrical devices are produced their installation and maintenance provides work for a large group of mechanics who are electricians although they commonly are described by various names according to the exact work they do electrical wiring within the walls of houses and other buildings must be install installed properly according to the fire Insurance underwriter's code in order to prevent injury to people or damage from fire if you were to follow the electric wires from your house to the street or alley you would find that they connect to a Transformer which changes the voltage to the proper pressure for use in the home in cities and larger towns many of the lines are run underground along with sewer and water mains and other utilities larger Transformers change high voltage electricity to a pressure that can be carried safely on city streets the high voltage electricity may be received from a high line which runs across country from a distant Powerhouse the handling of high voltage electricity is more specialized work than handling low voltage especially designed tools and materials are used and workers are especially trained for it in this way the danger has been taken out of the work in the the power plant the generators driven by steam turbines water power or engines generate the current and Electrical Workers are needed to maintain and repair these generators and their controls from the generators the current is distributed through a switchboard equipped with many safety devices electrics who are usually called mechanics repair smaller generators such as the ones on automobiles the replacement of bearings and the rewinding of field and armor coils is often part of repairing both large and small generators closely associated with generator repair is the maintenance and repair of motors and their controls automatic controllers are used to regulate the operation of electrical motors and Machinery in Railway shops steel mills packing plants and many other industrial and manufacturing plants in many Factory electrical repair departments and also in specialty motor reconditioning shops Motors are torn down to the bare castings new bearings are put in new coils made and installed armatures rebuilt and the whole job refinished so that it hardly can be told from new in operating efficiency these rebuilt motors are generally as good as new also repaired and rebuilt are smaller Motors such as those used on fans vacuum cleaners sewing machines and countless other electrical appliances still another important job of the electrical worker is the repair of toasters irons electric ranges and other Heating and cooking devices if you have business ability you may be able to establish a repair shop of your own the installation and maintenance of various types of illuminated signs also provides work for the electrician the electrical equipment which controls and operates the signs such as this sign flasher must be installed and then kept in adjustment and repair there is another large group of Electrical Workers in the communications field which includes the telephone the Telegraph and the radio for the most part this work is similar to the electrical work performed by the Light and Power Electrical Workers the lineman's duties are somewhat alike in both jobs but the communications lineman works with low voltage cables which contain many wires and circuits introduce problems which are different from those of the Light and Power lineman in the central office Specialists connect the wires from newly installed telephones to the right terminals so that the operator or the automatic switches can give service to the people who use the telephone in this job the work must be done under exacting conditions and the mistake could damage many circuits a thorough knowledge of electricity along with the ability to handle tools skillfully is necessary on the part of the worker in Communications including the telephone man who installs home or office telephones he must run his line and connect the telephone to the right circuit to the central office the repair of telephones switchboards and other apparatus is still another phase of electrical work and many of these devices require very delicate adjustment as does the equipment of the telegraph companies in fact the general problems of maintaining Telegraph facilities are much the same as those in telephone work modern Telegraph offices are equipped with automatic machines known as teleprinters which must be kept in perfect operating condition the operator types out the message on the teleprinter just as a typist types A Letter the teleprinter is connected to the telegraph line and at the receiving end the message is automatically typed in the radio field there are many men with electrical training repairs must be made wiring must be installed or replaced and equipment must be kept in perfect working condition in order that programs may be broadcast without interrup eruption much electrical power is used in the field of transportation and although fewer street cars are to be found than in former years in many places they are being replaced by trolley buses which take their electricity from overhead trolley lines electric Interurban Subway and elevated trains provide jobs for the electrician in the maintenance of equipment these cars operate on the same principle as do the street cars having powerful Motors mounted on the wheel trucks electric current is brought to the motor through contact with a third rail or an overhead trolley line either of which is connected to the power station at some distant location in some parts of the country entire trains are pulled by large electric motors instead of steam many railroads have put into operation trains which are electrically driven by diesel units installed in the power cars at the front of the trains the diesel units burn fuel oil to provide Power to turn the generators the generators in turn are connected to the motors on the driving trucks such trains are entirely self-contained requiring neither trolley nor third rail similar to these trains in their principle of operation are diesel electric buses which are becoming increasingly numerous in different parts of the country and there also are diesel electric freight trains all of these developments in electrical Transportation require mechanics and electricians to service and maintain them another job in electrical work which is very interesting is that of the troubleshooter who uses modern scientific instruments in checking electrical equipment he makes minor repairs himself and offers recommendations for more extensive repairs that will be made by other electricians many mechanics with experience in electrical work find jobs in aircraft and automobile ignition service electrical engineers continually are working out new uses for the photo cell or electric eye such as devices which open doors and those which count pedestrians and vehicles in traffic and others which count assembly line products and reject imperfect ones these electronic control systems are installed and kept in working order by electrical technicians associated with the electrical field are air conditioning and Refrigeration which have increased in importance during recent years especially in the growth of air conditioning in industrial plants as well as in homes and offices the top job in the electrical field is that of the electrical engineer whose responsibility it is to design and direct the installation of electrical devices like any engineering work this requires a great amount of ability and training in mathematics and you should have some courses in a recognized engineering school to qualify as an electrical engineer all types of electrical work require A thorough knowledge of the principles of electricity this Foundation can be laid in a study of physics and in special electrical courses which many schools offer manual skill is also needed in the handling of tools which the electrician uses some companies in the electrical field will train people for specific jobs if they show ability correspondence schools offer theoretical work work in the various electrical Fields And there are many reputable vocational and trade schools with good equipment in which a young man who is mechanically inclined can get both Theory and practical training such schools should be investigated thoroughly however for there are some which are not first class institutions the electrician must have the courage and tenacity to stay with the problem until it is solved correctly as halfway measures cannot be tolerated in the electrical field and he must be accurate and careless electrician may make installations and repairs which could result in damage to property and possibly an injury to people most of the work in the electrical field is interesting it will pay you to investigate it for yourself because of the increase in the uses of electricity and the growth of electrical Industries there is a steady demand for trained and skilled Electrical Workers and this demand promises to continue oh