I've spent 30 years in this trade, and it's given me everything. I started as a Navy-trained electrician, earned my California Journeyman card, and got my contractor's license. By 27, I'd started my own electrical contracting company and built it past two million dollars in sales. Since then I've run my own crews, estimated jobs, managed other people's companies, and for the last nine years I've taught the trade full-time as a credentialed CTE instructor — recently named my school's Teacher of the Year. I built every level of the electrical program where I teach, from the ground up. And I kept thinking: this knowledge shouldn't stop at one classroom in one town. That's why The Junction Box exists. I want to help the next generation of electricians not just pass the state exam, but build real careers — the kind that lead to your own truck, your own crew, your own company if you want it. The trade gave me a life. I'm here to hand that down. This isn't a faceless question bank. It's 30 years of hard-won, real-world knowledge — taught by someone who's actually done it. Let's get you licensed. — Todd

This one trips up more people on the state exam than almost anything else. A continuous load is any load expected to run for 3 hours or more. When you've got one, you don't size your conductors and overcurrent protection to the load itself — you size them to 125% of it. (Same thing said backwards: a breaker can only carry 80% of its rating on a continuous load. That's the "80% rule" you've heard old-timers talk about.) Example: a 40-amp continuous load isn't a 40-amp circuit. 40 × 1.25 = 50 amps. You size for 50. Miss that little 125% bump and you'll get the wrong answer every time — on the test and in the field.

We're just getting started, but I wanted to officially welcome you to the community. I'm building out a full electrical education platform here — from the fundamentals all the way through advanced code and state exam prep. Real training, built around the NEC, from someone with 30 years in the trade. The first course drops soon. If you've been looking for no-nonsense electrical education that actually prepares you for the real world and the state exam — you're in the right place. Stay tuned. Tell a fellow tradesman. And welcome to The Junction Box. 🔌