The topics that fail the most candidates
Failing is rarely about one bad day. It is the same handful of topics, year after year. Find yours, drill it, and stop bleeding points where everyone else does.
Last reviewed June 2026
The six that sink the most candidates
Load calculations
Dwelling and commercial load calcs have the most steps, so the clock runs out before the answer does. One missed demand factor sinks the whole question.
Dwelling load practice→Grounding and bonding
Candidates confuse the grounding electrode conductor (250.66) with the equipment grounding conductor (250.122) and size off the wrong table.
Article 250 questions→Motors
Article 430 spreads one answer across four sections. People use the nameplate where the table belongs, or the table where the nameplate belongs.
Motor questions→Conduit and box fill
Three different Chapter 9 tables plus the box-fill volume math. Easy points if you drill it, lost points if you do not.
Conduit fill practice→Branch circuits and feeders
The continuous-load 125 percent rule trips people who size at 100 percent, and the branch-versus-feeder distinction adds another trap.
Branch circuit practice→Codebook lookup speed
Not a topic so much as a tax on every other question. Slow lookups cost the time you needed for the calculations.
Codebook navigation→Why these and not the obvious ones
Notice what is not on the list: definitions, theory, safety trivia. Those are quick to answer. The topics that fail people are the ones with steps, tables, and a clock. With 100 questions in 4 hours 30 minutes, a topic that takes you four minutes per question is a topic that costs you the exam.
Find your weak topics in 15 minutes
The free diagnostic shows which of these six are costing you points, in priority order, so you drill the right ones.
This isn’t another article. It’s the prep system.
15 questions, no signup. A domain-by-domain weakness map for the DIR General Electrician exam, so you study the gaps, not everything.
Take it freeVoltage drop, conduit fill, box fill, dwelling load. The math builds one step at a time, so you learn the pattern, not just the answer. Free, no login.
Open the calculatorsWatch one worked, run one with help, then drill it cold. Every calculation type the exam tests, in plain language.
See the lessonsOriginal California questions and code-navigation drills. The platform resurfaces the calculation types you keep missing until they stick.
See plansDon’t run the same prep that failed you.
Your score report is vague. The diagnostic pins your two weakest domains so the 60-day wait goes to the right work, not a re-read of what you already knew.
Start your retake diagnostic