G3 Study Guide

[nash668]

Going to write my G3 in 2 weeks time. I've been studying every night for an hour or two. Just wondering what exactly i should be studying and how. Anything would be helpfull.

Thanks.

[Porcupinepuffer]

Where have you taken the G3 course? I'm writing mine next week. I can certainly let you know what questions you may have... You can try the free practice exams on hvac exam guide. Just be careful with some of the questions, the guys pipe sizing is wrong, in many of his questions, and his portable appliance question is wrong.

How well do you know your way through the codebook? Have you tagged areas, and highlighted important stuff?

Apparently, if you know your way around the codebook to perfection, you can essentially pass the exam on that alone, without having every taken a course, or even worked in the field.

[nash668]

Algonquin College. As for knowing where to find things in the code book, I would definitely need some practice. All my tables are marked and every section in my code book are also marked. Other than that, knowing your electrical is essential as well.

[Admin]

I would also read Ontario Regulation 212/01 and learn the defintions at the beginning of the document.

Of course a $20 donation for the G2/G3 exams is a great deal and good practice.   

[Porcupinepuffer]

Did you take full-time or part-time?

Yup, the electrical part with calculating resistance,current,ohms,volts and watts needs to be down to a fine art as there should be at least 2 questions for that.
You definitely don't need to know the really advanced crap in the electrical book. You also need to have the whole conduction, convection, radiation forms of heat transfer fully understood. You can expect to see a good 3 questions on that.

Make sure the area/table for pressure testing is marked. Be well aware of the piping codes in section 6. Know the dirt pocket requirements, and where to find them. Definitions on pg.5 should easily give you direct answers to many of the questions.
In the definitions alone, you don't have to remember any of the 4 categories of appliances, nor any of the 4 or 5 different types of pilots. The definitions are right there in your face.

Pages 248-252 are also essential since they contain a pile of crap you don't need to waste your time trying to memorize.

[nash668]

Wow! So much information. Thanks a lot. I took it part time. Im actually writting next Wednesday.

I've got the electrical part pretty much tweaked down. Also the convection, conduction, and radiation part is pretty fine tuned. Shouldn't have any problems with those. Like you said, everything is basically in the code book. You just have to know where to find it.

Matt

[Porcupinepuffer]

I took the test yesterday. I was quite confident going into it and I'm pretty sure I passed, but I was tossed several questions I had completely forgotten about and I'm not overly pleased knowing how much better I could have done.
Right off the bat, within the first 10 questions, I had about 4 annoying questions about the different classifications of ABCD fire extinguishers. Each had the same answers, just a different letter for each question. I know I got the D class extinguisher right, but I wasn't too sure if I mixed up the other 3. A very simple and easy way to get 4 questions wrong by not knowing this. But it was 6 months ago when we last covered it.

Next was a question about how many btu's a boiler horsepower is... I had never heard of this in my life. I sat there for afew minutes knowing how many watts are in a normal hp and trying to see if there was a way of figuring out a conversion; but in the end I had no choice but to guess... I got it right tho (after searching when I got home).

Another was a question about what you can do if the director/inspector doesn't renew your license, or some crap like that... I think the answer was supposed to be that you can appeal. It's the bunch of annoying lawyerish written junk in the TSSA 2000 pdf... If I wasn't so impatient, I could have found the answer in there. But I find that stuff so boring to read I can never pay attention without thinking of other stuff.

Another question was about what ACT all employees need to follow... OHSA?

Being good with electrical, I was almost a bit thrown off with the questions about resistance. (Embarassing, since it's pretty basic). I was kind of getting "0 ohms" and "infinity" mixed up in my head. But in the end, I got those questions right. They were asking about what reading you'll get on a broken fuse and a good fuse.
They also never used the word infinity. They used the symbol instead, so you need to make sure you know what it looks like.

One of the pipe sizing charts was a real PITA on mine. It was the stupid one where it starts off as black iron, goes to an iron manifold and then goes off at 4 different branches to each appliance with copper... We had trouble understanding this one in class because the teacher tells us we don't need to count the individual branch sizes the same way we do with standard LMR and staying in the right CZ rules since it "changes from black iron to copper by using different materials" which makes no bit of sense, but I still think I did ok with that one... Also, the teacher told us not to get all overly confused with it since it's more in the G2 stuff and that we won't see it on the G3 exam... Funny joke there.

It was a bit of a PITA. I wish it was about 260 questions, then I know my mark would be higher.

I really didn't get much of any questions about piping and fittings, and never had a single question about calculating resistance/ohms/voltage/watts.

[Admin]

Great info, thanks!  Good look with the test results

[Porcupinepuffer]

I really didn't get much of any questions about piping and fittings

I just had that annoying pipe/copper system, and one big piping system with about a good 10 questions on the sizes of different areas and branch lines.

Ohh, and it had a question about clocking the dials in cubic feet to find out your btu consumption. That's a formula not in any modules or the codebook that needs to remembered... Sort of outdated and useless since all the new meters don't use cubic feet.

[nash668]

Hey Porcupinepuffer

Did you get your results yet?

[Trainerguy]

Also be aware that TSSA have put in a question regarding "K" fire extinguishers. It is buried in the module and has very little attention given it.
They are used for grease fires, remember K is for kitchen, where grease fires are usually started. Mostly used in restaurant fryer canopies.
Trainerguy

[Porcupinepuffer]

Weird. I'll have to look at that again. I didn't see or ever hear anything about a K rated extinguisher...

I had called TSSA a good 3 or 4 weeks ago. The guy said I passed. I tried asking about my mark, but he said he doesn't have that information and that I would have to get it from the school. Real curious what mark I got.  I'm just waiting on whatever comes in the mail to show up. Should happen any day now. I hope it shows up soon; I'm getting harassed by the office about credentials.

[Porcupinepuffer]

So Friday  May 9th, my G3 license finally showed up. It looks like out of the 175$ of the fee, they took 5 cents out of it to print up and give me a flimsy little piece of paper with the license number on it. I just need to be careful never to leave my wallet in the washing machine, cause this will certainly disappear at the first sight of moisture.  It was issued May 2, 2014. I had written the test March 26th... I guess speed and a fancy looking license isn't a priority for them... My ODP card looks beautiful next to this fugly thing... Maybe I'm just really ungrateful or just expected something nicer

[nash668]

That's funny. I'm still waiting on my results and whatever comes in the mail for me. Congrats on passing.

[Porcupinepuffer]

Damn, so you didn't pass it?

[nash668]

I have no idea. Nothing in the mail yet nor on my CC statement... I'll have to call in tomorrow.

[Porcupinepuffer]

May 1st was when the tssa fee showed up on my online credit card banking statement. It only took a couple minutes on the phone to find out. I'd try giving them a call.

[bster352]

@Porcupinepuffer...I couldn't find mine for some reason so I called and said it got wet and I could not read the expiry date and was nervous I would miss paying the renewal fee ; )  New FREE card 1 week later!

[nash668]

Unfortunately I failed with a 71%

[Porcupinepuffer]

Is that what you got in the mail? Any idea of what area you needed to study more in? How did you do on the tests throughout the course?

[nash668]

I had to call in and ask why i hadn't received anything. Said i failed. A minus throughout the three simesters. I'm guessing the acts and those fire extinguisher question is what failed me. Electrical and the rest was piece of cake.

[NightReign]

"They were asking about what reading you'll get on a broken fuse and a good fuse."

So a broken fuse will read infinity correct?

[Porcupinepuffer]

"They were asking about what reading you'll get on a broken fuse and a good fuse."

So a broken fuse will read infinity correct?

Yes. If I remember correctly, they used the symbol of the sideways 8 for infinity... 0 ohms is the correct answer for a working fuse. This would certainly depend on the fuse itself as a very small fuse will show some form of resistance higher than 0 ohms.

[nash668]

Re-write Saturday.  Wish me luck ya'll!

[Admin]

Good luck,  I hope you nail it!

[Porcupinepuffer]

How do you think you did this time around?

[nash668]

A LOT better than last time. I passed it for sure. No doubts.

[NightReign]

I ended up passing my G3, So I guess the LMR does stay the same when u switch from iron pipe to copper, also there was about 4 questions about the Director / Governor that I had no clue and just picked we can appeal the dissension. Also there was a question about an Under-Fired Storage Water tank that I had no clue about.

[Admin]

The Dollar Store sells 3M thick clear packing tape I use to laminate all the cheap cardboard certificates.

[nash668]

Passed with an 88% and am now working maintenance on the commercial side. A LOT better than residential by far.

Now on to my G2's

[Porcupinepuffer]

What do you mean by a lot better? money, or just the job in general?

[nash668]

Better environment, experience, etc. IMO.

[mmontazer]

i, I couldn't understand what should i study for the G3 exam! I am going through something they call  "challenging the exam" and I just want to know what should I read? The Himark site says B149.1 and B149.2 but there is something like "gas technician module 1-9". Can you help me with that? Thanks a lot.

[Porcupinepuffer]

How come you're challenging it? The B149.1 and B149.2 are both gas code books and propane storage and handling codebooks. (you may want to hold back on purchasing the hardcopy of these books as the new one is likely to be adopted). You would also need to have the proper TSSA acts and latest amendments to add to the codebook.  The modules are the learning material for the course. CSA sells the modules 1-9 for the G3, and hi-mark makes their own "compressed" version of these modules to fast track the program. Obviously the CSA modules are the better material to study since it's larger and more detailed.

Do you have any other license's through TSSA or any other similar training/education? It might be really tough to just flat out challenge right from the very beginning without a foundation.

[mmontazer]

Thanks for response. I did have more than 3 years experience back in my country. I am a newcomer and thought it would be cheaper to just "challenge the exam". Therefore the material should be as follow:
1- B149.1
2- B149.2
3- TSSA acts and latest amendments (Which I don't have any idea how to provide)
4- The modules

I looked for those in kijiji and found some of them. So I am going to buy the hardcopy and register for the exam. Thanks a lot for the help.

[Porcupinepuffer]

The TSSA acts and latest amendments can be a tad tricky.

Fortunately, the TSSA stuff is free. You can get it off the TSSA site or this site directly under the HVAC forums in the Ontario acts and regulations sub-section.
You need the TSSA 2000 ACT, The 215/01, and the 212/01. There's also an amendment for the 215/01 that needs to be put in there also. You need to print all 3 of them, hole punch them, and put them in the front of the B149.1 codebook.
You can start studying and understanding these acts because there will definitely be questions about them on the exam.

I'm not entirely sure if the amendments are available for free, you can buy them (they need to be the latest edition) and they're the pink pages that need to be placed on the page of their corresponding amendment in the B149.1. It's a bit time consuming placing them all throughout the codebook. The reason they exist is because the codebook is general across Canada in multiple provinces, and the amendments are province specific.

There's also a set of amendments that would go in the propane storage and handling b149.2. They're green instead.

You also need to make sure you have authentic codebooks with NO writing in them. You can highlight and tab certain things. When you do the test, they don't want to see codebooks that are copies. They know this because the downloadable ones don't have CSA on the pages.

Was there no certification from your previous country that could be somehow used to get permission to atleast skip the G3 and maybe challenge the G2?

[Admin]

You can download the B149.1-10 amendments FS-212-14 here, (I have no idea why the TSSA website still lists the FS-200-12R2A, as it's all contained in FS-212-14.)

http://www.hvactechgroup.com/hvacforum/index.php?topic=1500.0

You can download the B149.2-10 amendments FS-211-14 here,

http://www.hvactechgroup.com/hvacforum/index.php?topic=1501.0

The latest version of Ontario Regulation 215/01 already includes the TSSA amendment,

http://www.hvactechgroup.com/hvacforum/index.php?topic=1212.0

The latest version of Ontario Regulation 212/01 does not yet include the TSSA amendment (It's only been 15 years since this amendment was released),

http://www.hvactechgroup.com/hvacforum/index.php?topic=325.0

[mmontazer]

Was there no certification from your previous country that could be somehow used to get permission to atleast skip the G3 and maybe challenge the G2?

Unfortunately proofing the issue is much harder than doing the actual exam! 
Thanks for the information.

[wantboost]

What's the 149.3 used for ??      Where can I find the practice exam

[Admin]

B149.3-10 (R2014) - Code for the field approval of fuel-related components on appliances and equipment.

http://shop.csa.ca/en/canada/natural-gas-and-propane-installation-codes/b1493-10-r2014/invt/27006662010

[tippycanoe]

I am starting to prepare for my G3 test. Are you allowed to write on the tabs? for example if i wanted to tab the pipe sizing chart could i write "pipe sizing" on the tab?

[Porcupinepuffer]

I am starting to prepare for my G3 test. Are you allowed to write on the tabs? for example if i wanted to tab the pipe sizing chart could i write "pipe sizing" on the tab?

Pretty sure you're allowed. When I did it with my gas code books, I only tab'd it with colored tabs that had no writing on them. But when I did the obt test, I had tabs that had writing on them for the different sections. I didn't get any grief over it when the invigilator went through my book. They will ask you if any writing has been added or anything added to the codebook. They will carefully flip through the whole thing, so don't try and sneak anything extra in there.

[Nick1795]

Hi, i am looking forward to challenge G3 and i have no idea regarding practical exam for g3. Can you please give me some rougf idea regarding it?

[Admin]

Hi, i am looking forward to challenge G3 and i have no idea regarding practical exam for g3. Can you please give me some rougf idea regarding it?

http://www.hvactechgroup.com/hvacforum/index.php?topic=744.0