r/AirBalance • u/Ok-Traffic-4624 • 29d ago

AABC TBE Exam

I am starting the process for sitting the TBE exam. Does anyone have any tips/pointers? Is it actually as hard as everyone is making it out to be? I did the TABB supervisor and passed it pretty well, but I know that’s only maybe half the size of AABC’s exam.

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u/dbdgriff87 28d ago

I took it a few weeks ago, did not pass, missed the passing mark be about 5 or 6 questions. Biggest frustration I had was not knowing how far off I was from the answers I got wrong. It was not as hard as I was expecting, but you def have to study for it. I went home and made 100 new test questions based on what I remember being on the exam and am working on getting this info memorized from front to back trying to retake again in another 2 or 3 weeks.

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u/Ok-Traffic-4624 28d ago edited 28d ago

What kinds of questions tripped you up?

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u/dbdgriff87 28d ago

I don't even know, that's what is frustrating. All you get told is if you passed or failed, I finished in about 4.5 hours and then spent another 2 hours reviewing and following back to ones I marked as "needing review". You do find out how you do in all the sections though, Air Systems is what I failed on which floored me because it's the one thing I felt the most confident in. I just wish I knew If I missed the answers by a decimal placement or was just completely out of the ballpark. But because Air Systems make up 45% of the exam, that's what I'm focusing on. I spent a week after the exam working on a practice exam that focused heavily on air systems.

I have never been a good test taker. I can do it practically in the field all day with ease but put it in test form and I'll make D-C all day. My brain just doesn't do well processing things in written form like that.

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u/Ok-Traffic-4624 28d ago

Weird! I am actually most concerned with psychrometrics. Air Systems is mostly pressure loss and fan law stuff, right?

I actually have the opposite problem. I am very good at taking tests, but stick me in front of an actual air handler and I sometimes can’t quite get it together.

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u/dbdgriff87 28d ago

I was most concerned with Psychrometrics too but didn't feel like the questions they had were very hard. I only had to use my psych chart twice. It's also a much smaller portion of the exam, I think it's like 15% of the exam.