ELECTRICAL:  Introduction

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Following the release of the new electrical questions for the USCG Marine Engineering License Examination, Marine Engineers were at a loss because of the release of questions did not include illustrations.  Since the original release of questions, the USCG only released approximately 30% of the electrical illustrations.  To date, the USCG has now released approximately 91% of the illustrations.  The 2nd edition of Electrical addresses these new releases.

Following an immense amount of research, I have been able to reverse engineer the electrical illustrations and print them here along with descriptions, required knowledge, and the license exam questions for the illustrations.  The first edition of ELECTRICAL, published in 2014, contained 239 of the 261 illustrations plus descriptions of what to expect for the remaining illustrations that are too vague to define.  The 2016 updated 2nd edition filled in the gaps and now contains detailed descriptions for the 261 new USCG Electrical illustrations.  While I cannot guarantee that my illustrations are exact matches to the USCG illustrations, based on my research, I believe that they are extremely close to the actual illustrations.  

Close counts!  In my 15 years of teaching Engineering at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, I believe that the correct way to study for and pass the Marine Engineer exam is to understand the systems, rather than memorize questions and illustrations.  As such, I believe that if you understand a motor controller, be it simple or complex, then the slight differences between my illustrations and the USCG illustrations will be a moot point. 

ELECTRICAL also contains every electrical question that has a CFR citation associated with it.  For these questions, I have included the question and each of the four possible answers as well as the complete CFR citation number.  Remember that when taking the exam, the CFR answer will be word-for-word from the CFR, so knowing the CFR’s and being able to lookup a citation is imperative!

ELECTRICAL also contains the Mathematical solutions for every electrical question requiring a calculated solution.  I have detailed calculations, and as applicable, the illustration reference as well.  While you are allowed calculators in the exams, you are not allowed formula reference sheets.  You must know all of the formulas that are in these questions.  At the end of the section is a summary of required formulas.

To say I learned a lot during my research for this book would be an understatement.  I tip my hat to the National Maritime Center (NMC) at USCG for the depth they have added to the electrical exam.  Having reviewed every question, verified every CFR reference, and developed a math solution for each question needing one, I can say the NMC has done well.  While that means studying new topics, it also means understanding the electronics, controls, and PLC’s that are at the heart of our new electrical systems.

The layout of this book is intended to provide the student with a review of the concepts required for the license examination and is not intended to be in lieu of formal engineering courses and experience.  However, I did not write this as simply a study guide.  As I stated earlier, my goal is for the student to understand the systems described in this book.  Unlike many Marine Engineering study guides, I have not, with few exceptions, listed all of the questions and answers from the USCG database.  I preferred to present an illustration with discussion, then focus on the required knowledge for that illustration.  In a few cases, I have included the complete questions and answers to an illustration, but only if understanding the distractor choices would help to understand the illustration.  Again, I believe that knowing WHY is better than simply knowing the answer.

I suggest that there are three types of illustrations: Identity Illustrations, Operation Illustrations, and Knowledge Illustrations. Identity illustrations are those in which a number of symbols or equipment pictures are shown and the question simply asks for the correct name or purpose.  Operation Illustrations require knowledge of how a piece of equipment works, its applications, and troubleshooting procedures.  Knowledge Illustrations include specific characteristics of a component, those requiring mathematical solutions, or those that dig into the theory of operation for a piece of equipment.

A considerable amount of thought went into the overall layout of the book.  Originally I intended to put all illustrations of a certain type (motor controllers, PLC’s, etc.) together.   After finishing the illustrations and trying to sort them by subject, I felt that many illustrations cover more than one subject.  Additionally, sorting by subject could have an adverse effect if a student feels confident in one area
only to discover that an important concept was missed.  Therefore, I chose to keep the seemingly random illustration numbers that were assigned by the NMC so that sections can’t be missed, because there are no sections!  There are currently 2,297 electrical questions. ​ Of those, 1,048 have an associated illustration.  Understanding the concepts and systems identified in this book will help you pass not only the illustration questions, but the questions that refer to subject areas in this book.