AM2 help!

[SouthyBCFC]

Hi I am a 3rd year apprentice working at my local council coming towards the end of my apprenticeship (not a frequent poster on here) however I have came across various threads on the forum regarding the current AM2 test. Having read through many of them which have helped hugely with thoughts on how to prepare myself for my upcoming AM2 in two weeks time (which I admit I feel comfortable about given the amount of testing/fault finding I have been involved with recently) is there anymore thoughts/help/advice on the current AM2 test that anyone out there who can offer that I should look into/practice that may not have been already covered on here or not as immediately obvious as first thought. It would be of a great help to me ( and there might be a pint on offer if it saves my bacon) :bucktooth:

Many thanks Tom

 

[Farmelectrics]

Contact your local college you can do a pre am2

 

[Ste69]

Since you seem pretty confident, just relax, read the information correctly, dont rush, pick the correct size cable (if in doubt and in a rush the bigger cable), pick the correct size and type of protective devices and put in correct places in the DB, know how to work out thermal overload for the motor, make sure you use correct cable for each circuit, use correct clips for fp500.

On the testing and fault finding, talk to the assessor as you are doing it explaining what you are doing, remember to do full safe isolation every time its needed. keep key in pocket etc.

any more specific questions, just ask and ill try and remember. I passed mine in March

 

[shanky887614]

follow farma advice, every test centre does it differently if you go to an am2 refresher day there you can ask about how that centre likes things done.

dont ask directly like that though, ask the staff what they like to see in certain things.

write on the test sheet max zs for each circuit in the comments box.

this proves to the examiner you didnt just blindly test but proves you understand the results are within spec

dont give the examiner the key no matter what you do till the end and all barriers have been replaced.

i did mine not too long ago so pm any questions about it if you like

 

[enlighting]

Make sure you manage your time well. A number of lads failed when I was doing mine as they spent to much time on the install and left vey little for testing.

Plan out the order your going to tackle the jobs in then get on with it. Keep the spec close at hand as silly mistakes can easily be made simply because a sentace was not read correctly. Also make sure you read the whole specification initially as if I remember correctly information relevant to one task may be contained on multiple pages.

Dont panic just try and treat it like another day at work and remember the examination is split into sections so if you mess up on one thing you do not necessarily have to resit everything else, some of the lads messed up on there fault finding and allowed it to knock them off there game for the install.

From the top of my head you need to make sure your familiar with:
SWA, intermediate switching,ringng finals, motor starters, FP, S-Plan Heating systems, fault finding, inspection and testing and terminating data (remember to seggregate).

Hope this helps and good luck .

 

[calpol91]

And follow the spec they give you to the letter. One of the lads I work with failed his just because he used t&e instead of singles or vise-verca, i cant remember now) Seems like an obvious thing to say but it's too easy to just skim over it and do what you think is right (and not against regs) and end up failing.

It's all there for you.

And as enlighting said, time management is key. I only just finished on time...

 

[shanky887614]

And follow the spec they give you to the letter. One of the lads I work with failed his just because he used t&e instead of singles or vise-verca, i cant remember now) Seems like an obvious thing to say but it's too easy to just skim over it and do what you think is right (and not against regs) and end up failing.

It's all there for you.

And as enlighting said, time management is key. I only just finished on time...

one lad failed safe isolation by giving the examiner the key and another lad failed by not following the spec when wiring lighting. they wired it a different way to spec

 

[calpol91]

one lad failed safe isolation by giving the examiner the key and another lad failed by not following the spec when wiring lighting. they wired it a different way to spec

Ha, I bet he was gutted....

 

[shanky887614]

the best advice anyone can give you is slow down.

i was nervous at the start and was double and tripple checking everything.

start with something easy.

put breakers in the board and put the clamps on the pipes.

then start wiring, check the paperwork as it will tell you what the circuit order should be

 

[Sparkie30]

read the specs, understand it, follow them. read the specs, understand it, follow them.

did fault finding 1st thing. a bit nervous at 1st but did it with 35 mins to spare. dont panic mate and you will be fine.
do the monoxide detector 1st fp cable to unswitched, 3amp fuse (same with heating) from spur to md fp cable use fp clips and m4 and bolt to fix the cable to tray.

 

[calpol91]

i did fault find first too, found it quite easy to be fair, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't revise, practice beforehand. as sparkie30 said you'll be fine. just get your head down.

plus, ideally you obviously want to pass first time but remember its not the end of the world should you fail. it depends on your collage but when i did it one lad (who we all thought would never get as far as the AM2 to be honest) did it 4-5 times. he did one of his at the same time i was doing mine, and i remember turning round while we were doing our installs and he was sat on a bench flicking through a screwfix catalouge. he was there for a good half hour. i never found out if he eventually passed.... hes probably still there doing it.

 

[vjsmarwick]

This is not advise and wont help you but will probably give a few a laugh !
When I went for my finals I went in to do the safe isolation of a supply and before I even started I was told there was no actual supply but to do the tests as I would !
I was still thinking about them telling me there was no supply so I didn't check for supply before switching off because I wouldn't have seen the results I would be expecting anyway but because I had failed to display this action I therefore failed the exam.
So take nothing for granted and do everything just as you have learnt it and good luck!!!
Things have changed so much since I did mine 30 years ago. LOL

 

[SouthyBCFC]

cheers for the help guys, any more in depth information regarding the central heating system and the motor would be of great value to me as it's fair to say I'm pretty inexperienced regarding both circuits

 

[shanky887614]

cheers for the help guys, any more in depth information regarding the central heating system and the motor would be of great value to me as it's fair to say I'm pretty inexperienced regarding both circuits

motor circuit

it will have L1,L2,L3 and earth thats about it.

simply connect to u1,v1,w1

outputs to u2,v2,w2. simple

the central heating is easy just put the numbered cables in the right numbered slot.


for testing, one the central heating remember you can manually open the valves with a switch to prove your cables.



another thing to note for future reference is if you have to connect to a seperate isolator check if it is 3p and early make late break N or put in neutrel block.


there are 4+ pole isolators that are not, they are used for control circuits sometimes

 

[SouthyBCFC]

also as regards to the safe isolation procedure is that done on the board that I myself have wired up or is it a separate rig altogether housing different fuseboards; kinda just want to familiarize myself in fairness

 

[shanky887614]

also as regards to the safe isolation procedure is that done on the board that I myself have wired up or is it a separate rig altogether housing different fuseboards; kinda just want to familiarize myself in fairness

hmm it depends.

it will be the same setup on a tpn board

there are 10 tests can you name them and what two items do you use for the test

 

[SouthyBCFC]

It's frustrating having 95% of my work that I carry out day to day only on single phase CCU in domestic properties I wish my line of work was a lot more varied!, having said that I do a good bit of testing just need to keep in mind the obvious differences involved between a 3-phase and a single phase board

 

[SouthyBCFC]

Another quick one if anyone out there has 5 minutes on their tuesday evening, I can hazard a guess but as regards to fault finding what are typical examples I can expect to receive or possibly genuine job cards you may have received during your am2 exam, this would be of a great help to me.

Many thanks for all the support you guys have shown, ill be sure to let you know how I get on