Alright,
As the son of a Union electrician (scored the highest ever on the Union's electrician test), i know squat about electricity. If someone handed me a voltmeter i would not know what the heck to do.

Any good books/literature that you guys recommend to get me in the right direction?

 

Google, Fluke insturments, they had a good tutorial section last time I looked. Also they had CD's and educational materials available. I run a refresher class on basic electricity for my coworkers at one time and it was helpful.

Also if you are near a community college, their bookstore will often have basic electricty textbooks. Knowing Ohm's Law is very useful too. One book that I used was Basic Electricity and Dc Circuits by Ralph Oliva.
Found this automotive site www.autoshop101.com/autoshop16.html.

I have a couple of older Fluke 25 and 27 digital multimeters around and they are useful when working on my Dodges.

sprntpshr

 

go to FAQ and download the service manual. take it to work and print it up. in my opinion nothing beats a hard copy. my fingerprinted shop manuals can prove that.

 

I'm in school to be an electrician now. I have 1 more year and will have my journeyman license. once you start looking at it you will finger it out its not that hard. I cant remember any of the books we used.

 

Why not ask you're father?
Many masters can't understand Three phase systems, and many can't deal with DC. But the theory is mostly the same Like ohms law ETC.
You're father should be able to point you in the right direction on SAFE use of a meter, better than a book I would say.

 

Electricians know about the electrical codes and conduit benders, and most of them know next to nothing about electricity.

 

I know where you are coming from but you need to stress the word most because I have worked with a lot of good electricians

 

I wasn't knocking electricians, not at all. I was just pointing out that a deep understanding of electrical theory isn't required for the job they do. I've worked with hundreds of electricians, liked most of them, and respected a few enough to subcontract to them and/or recommend them to any commercial client who needed some plumbing done.

 

Fluke was the first name that came to mind. Radio Shack has a good one. You can get a decent Greenlee at Home Depot. I have a very good friend who has been a Master Electrician for probably 15 years and he'll be the first to tell you there's a huge difference beween an Electrician, an Electronics Technicain and an Electrical Engineer.
If I asked my friend about a capacitor or the Hall Effect, he would be clueless unless he could somehow think back to high school physics.
I would point you to a simple Greenlee meter from Home Depot and the electronics section of a Hyans Manual. If you have a specfic question, just ask.