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The NM-EE98 exam has 80 questions and runs 3 hours 20 minutes.
These 10 free NM-EE98 questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the New Mexico EE-98 Electrical Contractor Exam - Part 1 (Commercial and Industrial) blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
A 120 V heater is producing normal heat. An AC clamp meter, verified on a known load, reads nearly zero with its jaws closed around the heater circuit's line and neutral conductors together. The equipment grounding conductor is outside the jaws. What does this measurement establish?
Correct answer: D - The clamp responds to the difference between the currents, not the load current.
A feeder supplies lighting that draws 72 A continuously for five hours each evening and process equipment that draws 34 A for 15 minutes, then remains off for at least 45 minutes. Both loads can operate simultaneously. There are no other loads or applicable demand reductions, and the feeder assembly is not listed for 100% continuous loading. Before temperature correction or conductor-count adjustment, what minimum feeder-conductor ampacity must the design provide?
Correct answer: A - 124.0 A
An industrial control panel is marked 10 kA short-circuit current rating (SCCR). The documented available fault current at its 480 V supply terminals is 18 kA rms symmetrical. Its supplying circuit breaker has a 65 kA interrupting rating at 480 V. No evaluated current-limiting arrangement or higher conditional assembly rating applies. Which conclusion follows from these ratings?
Correct answer: B - The breaker has sufficient interrupting capacity, but the panel has insufficient SCCR.
A machine shop has a 120/240 V, single-phase, three-wire feeder. With unequal 120 V loads operating, a qualified electrician measures 240 V between the ungrounded conductors, but 78 V and 162 V from those conductors to the load-side neutral. The two line-to-neutral readings shift in opposite directions as loads switch, while the line-to-line reading remains steady. Which fault best explains the complete pattern?
Correct answer: C - An open or high-resistance feeder neutral upstream of the loads
A new 120/240 V feeder to an existing detached workshop contains two ungrounded conductors and a neutral in PVC conduit, but no equipment grounding conductor. The workshop neutral bar is isolated from its enclosure. Its otherwise compliant grounding electrode system measures 12 ohms to earth. What is still needed to establish the required feeder ground-fault return path?
Correct answer: A - An equipment grounding conductor run with the feeder, bonding the source ground bar to the workshop enclosure
Six MC cables enter a metal junction box. Each cable contains two 12 AWG insulated circuit conductors and one 12 AWG copper equipment grounding conductor. All twelve circuit conductors are spliced inside. The six grounding conductors are joined and bonded to the box by a 12 AWG pigtail wholly inside it. There are no devices, internal cable clamps, studs, or hickeys. Table 314.16(B) assigns 2.25 cubic inches to a 12 AWG conductor allowance. Applying the 2020 NEC grounding-conductor fill rule, what total box volume is required?
Correct answer: D - 30.375 cubic inches
A packaged air-conditioning unit is marked "Minimum Circuit Ampacity 58 A" and "Maximum Inverse-Time Circuit Breaker 80 A." The proposed circuit uses an 80 A inverse-time breaker and 6 AWG copper conductors with an allowable ampacity of 65 A. Both terminations are rated 75°C, no ampacity correction or adjustment applies, and the installation follows the equipment instructions. Under the 2020 NEC, how should the circuit be evaluated?
Correct answer: A - The conductor ampacity and breaker rating comply as proposed.
The branch-circuit wiring to ordinary patient-care receptacles in a hospital general-care room must satisfy both grounding provisions of 2020 NEC 517.13. The receptacles themselves are correctly specified, and no exception applies. Which proposed wiring arrangement supplies the required grounding paths?
Correct answer: C - Bonded EMT with an insulated copper EGC bonded to boxes and receptacle grounding terminals
A new pedestrian-accessible retail occupancy has the required 120 V, 20 A branch circuit for a sign outlet at its entrance. The drawings also connect a lobby light to that circuit. The combined load is only 6 A, and conductor sizing is adequate. How should the sign-circuit arrangement be resolved under the 2020 NEC?
Correct answer: B - Move the lobby light; the required sign circuit cannot supply it.
A New Mexico rooftop feeder is protected by a 100 A breaker and installed in properly bonded EMT. The ungrounded conductors are the minimum sufficient size for the installation; they have not been increased for voltage drop. Electrical continuity of the EMT is verified, but no wire-type equipment grounding conductor was pulled. What correction does the 2020 New Mexico Electrical Code require?
Correct answer: D - Add an 8 AWG copper equipment grounding conductor inside the EMT.
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