How do you help someone learn wiring?

I have a friend who is terrified of electrical stuff. He just locks up whenever he runs into any sort of car wiring. I just taught myself in the garage what not to do, and then learned how to get by.

I want to help him out, but obviously you can't make a camel drink.

Any tips? Any good resources?

Colored pencils and wireing diagrams?

Worked fairly well when the teacher made us do it with hydrolics...

Then teach him how to you a volt meter to avoid getting shocked and your done.

it's one of those things you are either good with or not..

to me, it's not rocket surgery- but some people i know just freak out at the sight of a popped fuse..

Waaay back in the day I got my Ham radio license. My basic understanding of circuits starts there.

This hokey couple on the VHS cassettes taught me the basics. The guy thought the old "Watt did you say?" joke was the best thing out there. It was cheesy, but fairly effective.

I want to say their name was King, and back in the day you could get them to teach you anything from flying an airplane to getting your Ham license.

Anyhow, might think about that.

I learned as a kid with some batteries (AA and 9v) some wire, a switch and a few light bulbs and toy motors. Start there, then go over ohms law.

Impersonate Christopher Walken and threaten to stab him in the face with a soldering iron?

MG Bryan wrote: Impersonate Christopher Walken and threaten to stab him in the face with a soldering iron?

Best idea thus far.

In reply to Taiden:

when your friend gets tired of paying shop labor or his friends stop bailing him out he will gladly learn

Electrons are like water, they flow downhill from + to negative (actually the other way around, but ignore that for now)

Wires are the pipes. Switches and solemoids are on/off faucets. Sensors are regular faucets where you control the flow.

If it is acting really weird, it is a grounding issue.

Done. Thats pretty much all you need to know.

To add to NOHOME's beginning, voltage is the water pressure and amperage is the diameter of the hose. The amount of water you feel hitting your face if you look into the hose with the tap turned on is the wattage. If you had a really large diameter hose with high pressure you have a lot of wattage.

Water wants to return to the earth it came out of which is why if the water isn't flowing right, it's a ground issue.

I started with a project board from radio shack. Teaches basics, You can get them on amazon for 50.

I STILL hate wiring, but i learned out of necessity. I have no real tips on how to get him to learn other than potentially at gunpoint.

make him a copy of the article "ZAP" published by...GRM. Its an older article from one of the ro-spit articles.

NOHOME wrote: Electrons are like water, they flow downhill from + to negative (actually the other way around, but ignore that for now) Wires are the pipes. Switches and solemoids are on/off faucets. Sensors are regular faucets where you control the flow. If it is acting really weird, it is a grounding issue. Done. Thats pretty much all you need to know.

+

pres589 wrote: To add to NOHOME's beginning, voltage is the water pressure and amperage is the diameter of the hose. The amount of water you feel hitting your face if you look into the hose with the tap turned on is the wattage. If you had a really large diameter hose with high pressure you have a lot of wattage. Water wants to return to the earth it came out of which is why if the water isn't flowing right, it's a ground issue.

=

Water and pipe explanation is probably the best way to help someone understand it who knows nothing about it, nor has taken any sort of electrical engineering courses. Then teach them safe operating procedures by analogy: A plumber doesn't work on your water lines in your house without shutting off the main right? So unplug your battery before working on anything...

I have used the water anology many times. I have even been laughed at.

Volts = pressure

Amps=amount of flow

Reistance= faucet

Watts= how nuch in the bucket

Its 12v DC. What's to be scared of?

iceracer wrote: I have used the water anology many times. I have even been laughed at. Volts = pressure Amps=amount of flow Reistance= faucet Watts= how nuch in the bucket

Guess being an aquarius this makes sense to me!

Keep in mind that in the case of electrikery, the electrons go from - to + terminal even though it is counter-intuitive.

Also, our entire waterborn theory gets murky once we delve into modern digital electronics with CAN buss systems; these wires are more akin to a single pipe that delivers beer, water and coke down the same pipe and separates it at the point of delivery.

NOHOME wrote:

iceracer wrote: I have used the water anology many times. I have even been laughed at. Volts = pressure Amps=amount of flow Reistance= faucet Watts= how nuch in the bucket

Guess being an aquarius this makes sense to me! Keep in mind that in the case of electrikery, the electrons go from - to + terminal even though it is counter-intuitive. Also, our entire waterborn theory gets murky once we delve into modern digital electronics with CAN buss systems; these wires are more akin to a single pipe that delivers beer, water and coke down the same pipe and separates it at the point of delivery.

More like oil and water they don't actually 'mix' since you have recessive and dominant bit arbitration where the higher-priority ID gets to transmit first and the lower-priority has to stop and wait, but I won't go into boring details since someone already did all the work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus

stan_d wrote: I started with a project board from radio shack. Teaches basics, You can get them on amazon for 50.

My dad bought me one of these for me when I was a kid. Tremendous learning experience.

In reply to N Sperlo:

IC's get killed pretty easily with misapplied power.

N Sperlo wrote: Its 12v DC. What's to be scared of?

Someone who says:

N Sperlo wrote: Its 12v DC. What's to be scared of?

Or exploding batteries and melting wires when someone connects a large + wire to a large - wire while saying

N Sperlo wrote: Its 12v DC. What's to be scared of?

I like to teach it using water as an analogy.

Pressure is voltage, volume is amperage, wattage is the bucket you're trying to fill. The positive terminal on the battery (or anything hooked to it) is like a hose bib or faucet.

In a car you have fixed voltage (pressure), so if you have something small to supply like an LED (or a drip irrigation system) you don't need a big wire (hose). Something big like an amplifier (shower head) needs a big wire (1/2" copper pipe). So with 12v (or 12psi) if you need to fill a bucket fast, you need a big pipe.

The battery is like a water pump. It generates energy to pull electricity (water) from the ground (well), and when the water is done doing its work it needs to go back to the ground. In the case of the 12v electricity, ground is the negative terminal. In the case of water, its a drain pipe which takes it to the septic tank, a sewage treatment plant, or a river... but it eventually goes back to the ground.

Some people get that analogy instantly, but I've been around those "camels" who refuse to learn because they think its too complicated. If you could just get them to shut up and listen up, they'd find it easy.

Well, you learn something new every day.

While I may not be a stubborn desert dwelling mammal, I'm one of those guys that just never spent the time to learn the basics. Hopefully now I'll have less of that "dumb look on my face" when dealing with wiring. Thanks guys!

wclark wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: Its 12v DC. What's to be scared of?

Someone who says:

N Sperlo wrote: Its 12v DC. What's to be scared of?

Or exploding batteries and melting wires when someone connects a large + wire to a large - wire while saying

N Sperlo wrote: Its 12v DC. What's to be scared of?

If you don't disconnect the battery first, you shouldn't be messing with anything automotive.

Shock therapy.