boy here go again, if you were able to find and post this kind of question here, it's amazing how you were not able to find the answers thru google search or maybe thru wikiped.............. go search man.............
Asad, according to your CV which was your first post on this site, you have completed two years of a BS course in electrical engineering, and several internships in the electrical industry.
Therefore it seems strange to us that you are still asking for explanations of the most basic electronic concepts.
Wikipedia will give you basic concepts, and here are some websites which offer free courses of instruction and advice for beginners. Have look at a few, and discover which one(s) suit you.
Old (allegedly Chinese) proverb: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.”
www.learnabout-electronics.org/index.php - Descriptions of components and principles, good diagrams, animations, & fault-finding techniques
Why get upset about this …. I don’t anymore, I consider that this is an extension of current engineering standards
Having seen most modern so called imports from big companies as well as small together with the non co operative attitudes and having dealt with companies and looking at the catastrophic results and inspections failures , that’s without having to write one report after another in relation to these problems
Is this a surprise anymore when you see these questions and the expectation of the answers they feel ought to be provided when they can’t do the job themselves?
Is this any wonder why you see so many companies closing doors and so many companies who are in a diabolical shambles? Simply because questions such as this
Do you actually need to comment on this subject at all , save that of looking at the base problems and also the real difficulties in leadership in some cases combined with the ultra low level of training , education , government proposals and legislation , high taxes , rents , rates etc which all point to this problem
I only base my comments on facts which are hate to say staring all of us in the face
I dont believe in hiding the truth about this regardless of feelings You need to say something wether they like it or not
They may become extremely annoyed about this and red in the face , but they are only angry because they know full well its the shear hard truth about themselves
Are you that worried about this anymore Im not my answer is simple FO and find out for yourselves seeing as your that clever I am roaring with laughter some of this
I think thats about as polite as Im going to get with some of them Ultra polite of course in the true Bristish sense
I’ve got plenty of time for people that listen and try
I’ve got no time at all for people that don’t The answer is easy They don’t bother, I don’t bother and let them get on with it
My life as is yours , is far to short to get wound up over people like this
WHY WASTE YOUR TIME , TIME IS MONEY!!
Especially when you could be spending time looking for answers to questions you have yourselves and making good use of that time instead of wasting it on questions such as this They know what they have to do as well you do Their objective is to do just that , distract you , pull you away from what your doing , stop you from earning and get you to waste your time and money and patience annoying you rather than let you progress
I am sorry If i hurt any one actually i have completed 2 years in an electromechanical industry and most of the times i spend in power engineering or 415 volts projects, even i m not using these all but the thing is now i want to re-fresh my mind i completely lost my electronic and i checked from the internet but could not find any reliable answers i can trust on www.eeweb.com but not at all other websites. and one anther thing you can imagin " Electronics is not a part of my job but i want to re-fresh my concepts. I am doing almost 14 hours job daily now let me know how one can imagin after 14 hours i should come and sleep and do some other works inside my home or take books and search those questions answers but believe me i consider www.eeweb.com as my family and i am very younger then you please i am really sorry if any one hurt from my actions i shall never do it again... Sorry
Hi Asad thanks for your reply. No-one was hurt, just slightly puzzled !-)
Please have a look at some of the websites I have listed for you, I believe they will be very helpful for refreshing your knowledge. They have many pages which provide clear information and answers to the kind of questions you are asking.
This site does not have a basic training course, but welcomes all kinds of technical questions.
(But some of the engineers here get a bit grumpy when they think a questioner has not done his homework before asking us !-)
Be encouraged ! All the best to you from all your family here, Frank.
What do you mean by basic concept is not known. Basic function of components is as follows.
Capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by an insulator. I stores electric charge, its unit is farad. As farad is large unit its smaller unit microfarad and Pico farad is used. capacitor retains the charge even if it is removed from circuit, if charge is less it does not matter if charge is large it is necessary to discharge by shorting its terminals. It is used in ac as well as in dc circuit. They are the basic component in electronic and electric circuits. it is a passive components.
Inductor stores charge in magnetic field which develops around the coil. when coil is removed from circuit ac or dc magnetic field collapse In fraction of a second and energy becomes zero. coils are us ed in AC as well as in dc circuits. its unit is henry. normally small units like milli henry and micro henry are used in practice. They are the basic component in electronic and electric circuits. it is a passive components.
diode is an electronic component or is called active component. it conduct only in one direction, thus it is used in converting ac to dc. thee are many other applications in electronics. it has two terminals one is anode and other cathode. when cathode is made negative with respect to anode it conducts. there are nearly 18 different types of diodes, in electricity only rectifier diode is used.
Thyristers is a family of devices, they are electronic components, used in power electronics to control ac and dc power efficiently. It replaces variable resistor applications which consumes lot of power. There are numerous application in power electronics.
Thank you so much sir for your encouragement. sir can u guide me if u don't mind???
I have Bs engineering degree specialization in power and i really not good in electronics but i have good idea about electrical machines and transformers. I did internships in a switchgear and distribution transformer manufacturing company than i move out from my country in Dubai and working as a power distribution electrical designer in buildings my job is usually in construction related. Now my visa in Dubai is almost ending and i have two options one is to join another company or go for master degree which have more related to renewable energy resources and power plant engineering programs
please guide me as my senior what should i do now???
Asad, one thing I advise first: In this, the 21st century, an electrical engineer needs a good knowledge of electronics. So from now onward, please use the websites I have given you, to gain a more thorough technical knowledge.
You will greatly benefit from adopting electronics as a hobby. As you build your own circuits, test your own circuits, fault-find your own circuits, design your own circuits, you will gain enormous practical experience and knowledge and insight.
This will help to make you a real expert, a really capable engineer. As for your career choices ! ! ! I cannot tell you ! But here I will try. Write down answers to these questions:
(1) What fields of engineering most interest you ? (2) Can you work for perhaps a year or two, earn and save and gain practical experience, and then later go back to college for further qualifications ? (3) Is it more practical to gain the qualifications first, before going back into industry ? (4) What are your personal talents and interests and realistic capabilities ?
Now consider what career advice would you give to the person you have just written about !
1- Power distribution designing such as designing of electrical panels, distribution boards, power control panels, selection of power cables, earthing works. all of these are part of my current job which i am doing from past two years. but i feel much comfortable in machines like transformers, generators, motors.. 2- yes i can but now i am just 23 years and i think it is a time to put my all efforts in my master degree and learn new technologies i am very conscious for the designing of medium and high voltage system this is may be because i feel much comfortable now in L.V designing. 3-It is my own thinking that after getting master degree from Germany which include some internships as well as some thesis in industry i shall learn new ways of designing. i know that i will lost my this distribution designing field because there they have more focus on generation but i am confuse now what should i do. 4- As far as my skills and abilities. I feel much easy in transformers, switchgears designing, distribution system, autocad, or even complete power distribution in buildings. at once i think i should go in building service engineering master degree then i think i should go in building automation. well i have applied in 3 universities for my admission and two of them having their major focus on power generation and one in smart grid technology... Looking forward your reply
Dont want to upset you to much but these days Asad you have to know both electrical , electronic , IT in fact you also have to be able to network and network program as well as deal with mobile communications Thats without Cad etc etc which Im sure you very good at but control systems me old mucker are combinations of the lot
Thats what we term masters degree All of them combined without specialised thoery
Hence this is where it pays to have done lots of jobs very varied and a combination of all skills and whats more you also need to understand microcontrollers , embedded architecture in conjunction with your very short list and its is ever so small in comparison to what students in britian have to learn wether they like it or not just for a single degree be that mechanical , electrical or electronic or IT
In Fact to give you an idea all electronic design engineers have to learn software programming and part networking as well as Networking engineers who have to learn part electronics as well
Yes me old fruit pie We don’t have it easy at all despite belief to the contrary
Most of us have worked in nearly all fields including myself so that we have a very good overview of the Industry
You can also include in this mechanical engineering, technical drawing within this as well plus office and intergration , automation All plays a vital roll in control systems
Plus just as another huge shock to your ego , We also like to see uni students service equipment as well so that they have a good idea of just how NOT easy it is to service their designs so that they think harder when it comes to designing equipment what ever that is they going to do at completion No good having a degree if you cant fix what you’ve designed
Any one can get a computer to design for them Not everyone who use a computer understands what he / she is actually designing more importantly what exactly do you do with this stuff when it goes horribly wrong especially under emergency situations IE Power failure for my questionare who thinks rocket science technology comes for free when it comes to home automation and sms
Didn’t quite think about power failure or error encrypting messages or How he / she is going to fly out to another country because the blasted lights in the swimming pool or pump being activated or the boiler didn’t turn on because he / she didn’t bother to build in fault diagnosis into the system and get adequate ACK or NACK on returned messages
I hope this is sinking in because now its arbitration time lots of money being paid out in court costs damages and lost earnings and the client suing the merry hell out of you Or even worse still your fantastic electrical enginnering / electronic project has just been hacked and theyve gotten hold of the codes for your alarm system
So you can also include all the following software technologies for encrypting messages explained in full on Microsoft web page
Over 110 subjects to be covered just on this !! Good luck Free huh Interesting
Huh ,,, you wait till you start this one ,whoo hoo You is going to be running to the hot seat in the toilet wondering who has cained your beloved behind , Screaming in agony with extreme cases of Vindalloo never mind onion baji's while the blue bird of happiness is flying over your head dropping giant ostrige eggs on your homes and YOU
Get ready for the next atomic explosion !! May you duck when this bird flies above you
Insured heavily are you !!! You want to be
And thats the very start of the problems
Otherwise we wind up with this abortion of untold catastrophic errors
Pretty useless to everyone if you cant sort this mess out and GOD HELP YOU IF IT FAILS
The same applies to this new alarm system thats shuts the car down Imagine this on a Highway causing a multiple pile ups and subesequent injuries resulting in death Wont make any difference who designed or fitted it at that stage
✨ The discussion centers on the basic concepts of key electronic components: capacitors, inductors, diodes, and thyristors. A capacitor consists of two conductive plates separated by an insulator, storing electric charge measured in farads (commonly microfarads or picofarads). It retains charge even when disconnected and is used in both AC and DC circuits as a passive component. An inductor stores energy in a magnetic field generated around a coil, with its unit being the henry (often milli- or microhenry in practice). Inductors are also used in AC and DC circuits, but their magnetic field collapses rapidly when disconnected. The discussion also touches on the importance of foundational electronics knowledge for electrical engineers, especially those working in power distribution, transformers, and switchgear design. Several online resources and websites are recommended for self-study and refreshing electronics fundamentals, including learnabout-electronics.org, allaboutcircuits.com, and electronics-for-beginners.com. The conversation also highlights the evolving demands on electrical engineers to integrate electronics, IT, networking, and embedded systems knowledge, especially when pursuing advanced degrees or careers in renewable energy and power plant engineering. Generated by the language model.
TL;DR: Capacitors store charge, inductors store magnetic energy, diodes pass current one way, and thyristors efficiently control AC/DC power; there are “nearly 18 different types of diodes,” and a diode “conduct only in one direction.” [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
Why it matters: If you design, test, or fix power or electronics, these four parts are your everyday building blocks.
A capacitor stores electric charge between two plates separated by an insulator. Its unit is the farad, though circuits use microfarads or picofarads. Because it can hold charge after power is removed, discharge it before handling. Capacitors appear in filters, timing networks, and power smoothing. [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
How do I safely discharge a capacitor before working on it?
Capacitors can retain charge even when removed. To discharge per the thread’s guidance: 1. Power off and isolate the circuit. 2. Confirm isolation. 3. Short the capacitor’s terminals to release the stored charge. This simple method avoids surprises but still use caution. “It is necessary to discharge by shorting its terminals.” [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
What does an inductor do?
An inductor stores energy in a magnetic field around its coil when current flows. Its unit is the henry; designs often use millihenry or microhenry values. Inductors are key in filters, chokes, and power converters. [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
Why does an inductor’s energy vanish when power is removed?
When the circuit opens, the magnetic field collapses in a fraction of a second, so stored energy drops to zero. This behavior shapes how inductors respond to switching and why they resist sudden current changes. [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
What is a diode and how do I orient it correctly?
A diode is a two‑terminal component that conducts in only one direction. Terminals are anode and cathode. For forward conduction, the cathode must be negative with respect to the anode. Diodes are the basis of AC‑to‑DC rectifiers. [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
How many types of diodes are there, roughly?
The thread notes there are nearly 18 different types. That figure reflects the variety used across rectification, switching, light emission, and regulation tasks. “There are nearly 18 different types of diodes.” [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
What is a thyristor and when should I use one?
A thyristor is a power‑electronics device family for efficient AC/DC control. Use them where you would otherwise waste power with variable resistors, such as dimming, motor control, and soft starts. They enable high‑efficiency power regulation. [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
I work on 415 V systems—do these components still matter?
Yes. Power distribution and 415 V projects still rely on diodes for rectifiers, capacitors for filtering, inductors for chokes, and thyristors for efficient control. The OP highlights 415 V work in practice, underscoring their relevance. [Elektroda, ASAD ALI, post #21667070]
Where can I quickly refresh electronics after long workdays?
Use beginner‑friendly tutorials and online textbooks, then practice by building and fault‑finding small circuits. The thread lists resources and encourages self‑study to rebuild fundamentals. [Elektroda, Frank Bushnell, post #21667067]
Should I start a master’s now or work more first?
List your interests, consider saving and gaining experience first, weigh practicality of timing, and match choices to your talents. Then advise yourself based on those answers. This reflective method helps clarify the path. [Elektroda, Frank Bushnell, post #21667074]
Why do forum engineers ask for prior research before answering?
This site welcomes technical questions, but engineers expect basic homework first. As one reply notes, “some of the engineers here get a bit grumpy” when that seems missing. Do initial reading to get better help. [Elektroda, Frank Bushnell, post #21667071]
What’s the difference between passive and active components here?
In this thread’s framing: capacitors and inductors are passive because they store energy without amplification. The diode is called an active component here and is used for rectification and control functions. [Elektroda, Shrikant Kamble, post #21667072]
How can I build real expertise beyond reading?
Adopt electronics as a hobby. Build your own circuits, test them, and fault‑find. Designing and iterating gives deep, practical insight that complements theory. “You will greatly benefit from adopting electronics as a hobby.” [Elektroda, Frank Bushnell, post #21667074]
