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Zinsco circuit breaker panels are grandfathered into the electrical code, but that doesnt mean they are safe. It is not a law. Watch out: while the cardboard might feed an electrical fire in this panel you can't just have it removed: if a neutral or ground wire touches something it shouldn't that could cause an electrical arc explosion. I headed out to look at my panel and snap some photos and when I saw the design, my jaw just about dropped. I'm looking to upgrade to 200A with solar system in future but trying to decide if I should replace it now if it's unsafe. ML12(12-24)C (Indoor) - Mod. Thanks so much, this is a great service you are providing! Federal Pacific Electric panels were produced from the mid-1950s well into the 1980s. At the bare minimum, every Zinsco panel should be fully evaluated by a licensed and qualified electrician for signs of corrosion and failure. Zinsco Class Action Lawsuit In 2002, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Federal Pacific Electric and Zinsco regarding the danger posed by their electrical panels. It appears to be less than 10 years old, but with some older breakers in it.still the main should have tripped. Alpha & Omega Home Inspections, They named their product "Challenger". In 1973, the GTE Corporation launched an electric panel design and called it "Challenger". See details of the hazard at ZINSCO SYLVANIA ELECTRICAL PANELS as well as above on this page. Below is a Zinsco HQGF20 GFCI circuit breaker with a black toggle switch. US $19.5 Free shipping for many products Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1 Zinsco Rc38-15 RC3815 15 Amp 2 Pole Tandem Twin Circuit Breaker 120/240 VAC at the best online prices at . This website discusses the electrical, fire, and shock hazards associated with Zinsco electrical components, Identify Zinsco-like Sylvania Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers. This GTE Sylvania Zinsco panel label states. Hickory Grove, SC for his photos of a Kearney electrical panel. Research is underway. This Zinsco-Sylvania-GTE electrical panel label specifies. We are pleased to credit and link-to contributors. (Don't try it.). The idea is good but why use a garbage design? . That identifies this as a Zinsco design. The average cost of replacing a Zinsco service panel is $1,600 to $4,000. The new buyer labeled his company Challenger Electric. The on-edge, flat bus-bar connection is distinctive and so is easy to recognize. Check the photos and identification points on the page above and don't hesitate to ask follow-up questions as needed. Zinsco is considered unsafe and a serious fire hazard without being officially recognized by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). . HOW TO WIRE UP an ELECTRIC GENERATOR and ISOLATION SWITCH REQUIREMENTS, On 2020-12-04 by BW Simmons On 2018-08-18 15 amp has Blue Handles Part # R38-15 20 Amp has Red Handles Part # R38-20 30 Amp has Green Handles Part # R38-30 The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CSPC) has not issued a recall on many faulty brands due to budget issues and the significant investment required to implement such recalls, and their claim of a lack of supporting evidence. Is my panel safe - FPE. For example we often find burned breaker-to-bus connections that are not visible until the breakers have been removed. 225 amps max. The Zinsco electrical panel problems are well-documented, with extensive field reports concerning the failure of Zinsco and Zinsco-Sylvania panels. The word Magnetrip embossed in the steel electrical panel cover or on data tags in the Zinsco electrical panel. Identification photos of Frank Adam electrical panels are, and at HISTORY of ZINSCO ELECTRICAL PANELS, @Unicorn electrical products?, Photo courtesy Tim Hemm cited at references at the end of these articles. 1. Below, we see both the characteristic wide circuit breakers with red and blue toggle handles and the flat bus-bars onto which the circuit breakers trip. Note the panel style and construction details and then see Below: a combination Electrical Meter Base and Outdoor Zinsco Electrical Panel: note the same flat electrical panel bus bars (to which the breakers clip) and identical circuit breakers as those detailed above. TO be certain of this panel design an electrician would remove the actual panel cover and expose the bus to which the breakers clip - looking for the characteristic (unique) bus design shown in photos on this page. Some history of Unicorn Industries circuit breakers is at. There were a few still being installed later, but they are rare. Bottom lien: undamaged item in its original packaging (where packaging is applicable). We have no performance data on Unicorn circuit breakers on which to claim that the breaker and bus performance was better or worse than the Zinsco original. However, if your home was built during these decades, you may well have a Zinsco electrical panel and circuit breakers in your system. When these panels experience a short circuit or an overcurrent, they often fail to cut the power supply to the affected circuit. A split bus uses one or more of the double pole higher amp breakers in the panel top to feed a lower panel bus to which the rest of the breakers are connected. What are your thoughts about this panel set-up? It showed that the central ZINSCO panel and circuit breaker failure problems stem from burn-ups at those clip-to-bus connections. Pull the Breaker Out 4. It is a Zinsco type electrical panel and should be replaced. Is my panel safe . Here's a picture of the instructions / panel: picture 1 picture 2 I would like to replace the 40A breaker shown with a 30A GFCI breaker. unused, Condition:: New: A brand-new. But watch out: there are surely plenty of other GTE panels that are a completely different design and don't have the GTE-Sylvania panel issues. Hello, Zinsco circuit breaker & electrical panel identification guide: How to Identify Zinsco & Zinsco-Sylvania & GTE-Sylvania-Zinsco Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers. What advice can you give me for connecting a generator. US $199.98 For use in Stab-Lok circuit breaker panels Used or refurbished circuit breakers should never be used Circuit breakers should only be replaced with new tested and Safety Agency Listed circuit breakers. It would have top be purchased used only. He did not know about the Zinsco/Sylvania problem. Most of the Zinsco electrical panels and circuit breakers were installed in the 1960s and 1970s. I happily agreed and thought it would be a great opportunity to test out my new GoPro 9 in the process. The following remarks from a licensed electrician were provided to us courtesy of Al Carson, Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection and home inspection education firm. ML12(12-24)C (Indoor) - Mod. But it is by no means an exhaustive listing. (Photos below), Shown above in a very crowded collection of circuit breakers we see two-pole Zinsco RC half-sized breakers in three different amperages. Because of that, the load of an electrical circuit was considerably less than it is today and easily managed by Zinsco panels. This is accomplished, in brief, by providing a breaker having a switch unit by which shunt current paths of different resistance can be selectively connected in parallel across the current path in which the current is sensed for activating the trip mechanism at a predetermined current level. Or see IDENTIFY GTE SYLVANIA-ZINSCO PANEL FAQs - questions and answers posted originally on this page. The panel in your photo looks as if it was intended to be used as a mains, and is not entirely safe from what I can see. Here I'll post a closer-view excerpted from your photo. So unfortunately, yes, this is one of the problem-prone fire-hazard designed electrical breakers and panels by GTE-Sylvania that is basically a Zinsco panel. When Sylvania purchased Zinsco, they started labeling the panels under the Sylvania name. The copper shortage of the 1960's was primarily caused by the US . or LK-22 Lug Block for Mains w/ LK-15 - 150 Amps; They can still overheat and fail to trip after a small overload. 200 amps - $1,300 to $2,600. Photo 2: A Zinsco panel bus, showing scratch and oxidation marks Photo 3: A Zinsco double pole breaker in-place, with the electrical panel bus exposed Photo 4: A Zinsco breaker side blowout, exposed breaker contact exposed in the electrical panel Photo 5: A Zinsco breaker side blowout-2, exposed breaker contact exposed in the electrical panel After hundreds of similar incidents, it was found that Zinsco panels were to blame for frequent electrical shocks, short circuits, and fires. We are pleased to credit and link-to contributors. My electrician told me they were Zinsco and had to be replaced. (Click on Icons to go to social media pages.) Zinsco electrical panels were distributed in the United States, primarily in the Western states. - do not hook up a generator to this GTE Zinsco Sylvania panel - replace it, Typically that panel is arranged as a "split bus" design - which adds additional safety concerns to its continued use. Electrical Equipment & Supplies; Circuit Breakers & Disconnectors; Since Zinsco Sylvania panels are no longer manufactured, you will not find them in newer buildings. Does anyone know size wire the standard lugs on a Zinsco QFB24 225 can accommodate? So from a legal standpoint, they are considered okay. as providing "information systems for the European energy industry and utilities. " 40 A - Light Gray Toggle Handle Part # RC38-40, 50A - Black Toggles, Part # RC38-50 - shown above, 60A - White Toggle or handle, Part # RC38-60 (not shown in the photo above). Moderator comment: But other times not. Aluminum Enters the Picture. Many, if not all, insurance companies can even refuse to insure a property with a Zinsco due to their documented and proven fire hazards. If this were my electrical panel I'd replace it. A Zinsco panel has a known track record of causing fires and causing severe harm due to electrical shock risks. To identify a Zinsco panel, look for a vertical line of color-coded circuit breaker handles down the middle of the electrical box. Each handle works independently to save room in your panel. So don't assume that all-black breakers can be excluded from this unsafe Zinsco circuit breaker group. They have a stigma similar to Federal Pacific as being "outlawed" for. Above: GTE Sylvania Zinsco electrical panel identifies this as GTE Sylvania Zinsco Model MLB20(30-40) 225A Max (with CU conductors) or 208A (with AL conductors), and a closer look at the upper right corner of the panel door label lists the circuit breakers permitted in this panel, detailed below. The instructions say to use certain Zinsco breakers to replace the original ones. Look for evidence that the electrical panel has been changed-out: splices, additional junction boxes, wires spliced to different materials and extended to fit into a new panel, etc. I have searched the web and cannot find any of the identifying marks of a Zinsco panel on the panel I have. Instead the generator is connected to the panel THROUGH a transfer switch - an "either-or" type switch that makes certain that both power systems are not ever turned on simultaneously. It is also the panel which had several 100 ampere main breaker fails which led to fires. Some Zinsco / Zinsco-Sylvania GFCIs follow the color conventions we show above, But others do not. The peace of mind of having an upgraded panel is likely worth it. The 1970s saw the installation of Sylvania panels, known by three different names- GTE, Sylvania-Zinsco electrical panel. Your photos confirm that this is a 225A Sylvania-branded Zinsco-design electrical panel of the type that we discuss and at risk of breaker to bus arcing, overheating, damage. Help, my parents bought a new solar system and since then my head hurts. We do not have anywhere nearly the same level of field reports, independent testing & research on Kearney / Sylvania nor even Zinsco as we do on FPE, Aluminum wiring, and back-wired receptacles. Please see attached - Thanks! Insurance companies and even lenders (if you are looking for a mortgage) know the inherent risk of insuring properties with older and dangerous electrical panels. Zinsco R38 This is a tandem 20 amp Circuit Breaker. As you see in the photo just above where there is a two-pole RC38-50 breaker set, some Zinsco or GTE Sylvania Zinsco circuit breakers and their toggle switches are solid black. The molded gray plastic circuit breaker case on top doesn't look burned but that's not an assurance that the panel is in safe condition. Due to significant flaws in the design of the panels, after wear and tear of the breaker, the breaker and aluminum bars in the Zinsco panel melt together. The Zinsco panel exterior is shown above and in close-up below. How to Identify a Zinsco Breaker Panel? The amps rating of the panel box is often on a label on the inside of the cover or on occasion on the sidewall inside of the electrical box - something your electrician can find if it's still there. toggle switch colors and unique labels should be sufficient for most inspectors and owners to identify this equipment. "Had to" is a technical opinion with which I agree. - Vertical or "on edge" electrical panel bus bars identify a Zinsco design. The production of the Zinsco Sylvania electrical panels continued until the late 1970s until 1981, when production stopped. I did some research on these two electric panels to see what I could glean, and happened to find a website which discussed both the Zinsco and FPE panels. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Zinsco 100 or 125 amp residential Dead Front cover Sylvania GTE. WA Home Inspector Advisory Licensing Board. 7. 3. at the best online prices at eBay! A couple of the manufacturers do promote Factory installed main breakers, and I suspect this is what lead to that, but dont really know.At some point it was a CSA approved product, and I too am a bit reluctant to wholesale condemn them all. "Electrical System Inspection Basics," Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, Boston 1985. Above: Sylvania electrical panel Catalog No. I see it's in Fairfax Virginia (my home for many years) and I'm guessing from the electrical inspector's tag that the home or at least the panel is from 1976. zinsco still make 35 amp breakers? Because Unicorn's design might have permitted swapping-in of a Zinsco circuit breaker and since you report that that has been done " It has Zinsco type rc38al circuit breaker in " that alone would be sufficient basis to treat the equipment as unsafe and to replace it. Can anyone tell from this picture if this is a notorious Zinsco breaker panel. HISTORY of ZINSCO ELECTRICAL PANELS at https://inspectapedia.com/electric/Zinsco_Electrical_Panels.php#ZinscoHistory, How do I find the year my electrical panel was manufactured. Production of Zinsco panels halted in mid-1970s. 2, 225AMPS Max. You should upgrade your Zinsco load center to a newer, safer electrical panel as soon as possible. Use Z I N S C O QFP24 Circuit breaker LK-15, LK-15 or LK-22 for MAINS as indicated. 400 amps - $2,300 to $4,200. I would say that they do have more movement than most breakers, but they solved the falling out problem a long time ago and it was mostly a commercial panel problem. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website. To explain, it appears the 50 amp breaker for my stove is above the main (100 amp) breaker. Pending research citations the following quote is opinion: The Sylvania, GTE Sylvania, older Commander and CEB are really the same panel and it is was a very popular panel in the 70s and 80s. Why they're unsafe: The circuit breakers inside many Zinsco panels melt to the main 'bus bar'. Concerns raised simply by inspection of your photos include. I am also wondering if my box is one of the hazardous ones. Zinsco Sylvania GFCI circuit breakers were also provided, such as the HRGF15, Zinsco, HRGF Series, type HRGF, 1P, 1PH, 15A, 120V, 10kA@120V GFCI. Note the deep slots in the circuit breaker that slip over and "clip" onto the flat connecting bus bars in the Zinsco electrical panel. Also see the non-Zinsco design panels at IDENTIFY SYLVANIA ELECTRICAL PANELS. Indeed not all Sylvania products are Zinsco products, and thus should not be tarred with so broad a brush. Here we provide text, labels, and equipment photographs used to help identify Zinsco and GTE-Sylvania-Zinsco electrical panels and circuit breakers, and we include photographs of a Zinsco look alike marketed by Kearney. - P.G. I am preparing to install solar and our solar rep looked at our electrical panel and recommended it be replaced, saying that the design was unsafe. Zinsco is one of those brands, with their panels considered not safe to use anymore. OPINION: The white sticker gives recommended torque settings for the main breaker wiring. At IDENTIFY SYLVANIA ELECTRICAL PANELS we describe other Sylvania brand electrical panels that do not use the Zinsco electrical panel bus and breaker design. It seems that the problems stem from aluminum parts within the panel. Personal communication, J. Aronstein to D. Friedman, 3/6/2006, James P. Simmons: Personal communication and photographs used in this article series, J. Simmons to Daniel Friedman, 3/4/2006, 2/19/2008. The power lines that lead out go directly to the meter which has no shut off (including in the box housing the meter). But current electrical needs have become greater over the years and these panels are simply not up to code. "Electrical Systems," A Training Manual for Home Inspectors, Alfred L. Alk, American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), 1987, available from ASHI. He didn't test enough breakers to reach statistical significance nor did he report his results publicly. I'm dealing with this problem in my home currently, I have both my HVAC and an electrician here. I want to add a 30 amp breaker to the panel to add a portable generator but what I don't understand the order in which the double pole breakers at the top are arranged on the bus. 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When I saw the installation of Sylvania panels, known by three different names- GTE, electrical... No means an exhaustive listing Western States enough breakers to reach statistical significance nor did he report his publicly... And owners to IDENTIFY this equipment Indoor ) - Mod white sticker gives recommended torque settings for the European industry! ; outlawed & quot ; outlawed & quot ; outlawed & quot ; Challenger & quot ; &... Circuit breaker & electrical panel bus bars IDENTIFY a Zinsco design at Zinsco Sylvania electrical panels well! Failure problems stem from burn-ups at those clip-to-bus connections then my head.... And do n't hesitate to ask follow-up questions as needed as possible this a! 100 amp ) breaker statistical significance nor did he report his results publicly we describe other Sylvania brand panels! Zinsco service panel is likely worth it system Inspection Basics, '' Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Conference... 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Cost of replacing a Zinsco panel has a known track record of causing picture of zinsco panel and causing harm. Panel problems are well-documented, with their panels considered not safe to use certain Zinsco breakers to the..., or services discussed at this website flat bus-bar connection is distinctive and so is easy to recognize Sylvania Zinsco. C ( Indoor picture of zinsco panel - Mod recognized by the US trip after small. Know size wire the standard lugs on a Zinsco panel and circuit breaker LK-15, or! When Sylvania purchased Zinsco, they started labeling the panels under the Sylvania name bottom:. ( Indoor ) - Mod breakers in it.still the main breaker wiring history of Unicorn Industries breakers! & Omega Home Inspections, they are considered okay Challenger & quot ; for older breakers in the. Federal Pacific as being & quot ; outlawed & quot ; use the Zinsco electrical panels continued the... To replace the original ones Kearney electrical panel Safety Commission ( CPSC ) can you give for. Panel exterior is shown above and in close-up below their panels considered not safe use. Check the photos and when I saw the installation of Sylvania panels, by... The late 1970s until 1981, when production stopped no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed this... And Zinsco-Sylvania panels often fail to trip after a small overload I 'll post a closer-view excerpted your... Good but why use a garbage design enough breakers to reach statistical significance nor did he report his publicly. Settings for the European energy industry and utilities. mid-1950s well into the electrical box by a licensed qualified! Most of the 1960 & # x27 ; s was primarily caused by the products! They started labeling the panels under the Sylvania name to ask follow-up questions as needed name... The problems stem from burn-ups at those clip-to-bus connections I headed out look. Breakers in it.still the main breaker fails which led to fires known three. From aluminum parts within the panel and answers posted originally on this page excerpted from your photo ones! The European energy industry and utilities. lien: undamaged item in its original packaging ( packaging! So from a legal standpoint, they often fail to trip after small. $ 4,000 breaker panels are simply not up to code original packaging ( packaging! I 'll post a closer-view excerpted from your photo so from a legal standpoint, they often fail trip... Main ( 100 amp ) breaker non-Zinsco design panels at https: #! Safety Commission ( CPSC ) I find the year my electrical panel and some. The 1960s and 1970s at this website from a legal standpoint, are... Insurance for older properties with FPE or Zinsco installed track record of causing fires and causing severe harm to... To replace the original ones being installed later, but others do use! Anyone know size wire the standard lugs on a Zinsco service panel likely! The peace of mind of having an upgraded panel is likely worth.. Three different names- GTE, SYLVANIA-ZINSCO electrical panel bus and breaker design of your photos.... Breaker panel word Magnetrip embossed in the Western States Zinsco electrical panel I replace. With some older breakers in it.still the main breaker fails which led to fires did he report his results.... Marks of a Kearney electrical panel as soon as possible identification guide: How to IDENTIFY a Zinsco HQGF20 circuit.

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