picture of zinsco panel

Zinsco 100-125 amp Circuit Breaker Panel Dead Front Cover $125.00 $28.75 shipping ZINSCO DEAD FROT COVER 125A 120/240V 1 PH 16 SPC LONG 19 3/8 WIDE 6 $125.00 $28.75 shipping Zinsco Magnetrip Load Center Panel Cover Dead Front $74.95 $24.99 shipping ZINSCO SWITCHGEAR COVER 600A MAX. By 1961 Zinsco had switched to an aluminum alloy still used today in their manufacture of panels and load-center busing. 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. It's easy and unmistakable. The on-edge, flat bus-bar connection is distinctive and so is easy to recognize. Federal Pacific Electric panels were produced from the mid-1950s well into the 1980s. Plated aluminum bus bars that get gouged-through when a breaker is inserted (mounting a breaker cuts through the plating and we see corrosion, overheats, failures). How to Identify a Zinsco Breaker Panel? They have been receiving more claims related to such homes, so they are listed as a possible liability. Founded by Hubert Miles, Certified Master Inspector. We also provide an ARTICLE INDEX for this topic, or you can try the page top or bottom SEARCH BOX as a quick way to find information you need. Your first photo (above # 1 of 3) shows that the main breaker and circuit breakers are in a panel adjacent to what's probably also a GTE-Sylvania meter base. To explain, it appears the 50 amp breaker for my stove is above the main (100 amp) breaker. There are inherent problems in the bus bars of the panel and the materials used for their manufacturing. "Electrical System Inspection Basics," Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, Boston 1985. To identify a Zinsco panel, look for a vertical line of color-coded circuit breaker handles down the middle of the electrical box. This was because the threads on the bus bar were poorly manufactured and the electricians installing them would tighten it down, but not realize that the bolt was carrying the main current due to the gap. - Anonymous (pending author wish to be identified) to A.C. to D.F. It's a zinsco enclosed 200 amp issue no. I'm looking for information on a Zinsco single-phase 400A, 240VAC panelboard with a DS-4564 designation. Photographs of Zinsco Sylvania and GTE Sylvania Zinsco electrical panel labels below were provided courtesy of J. P. Simmons. Identify Zinsco-like Sylvania Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers. An expert who opens the electrical [see IDENTIFY KEARNEY PANELS]and was not aware that Zinsco made combination residential panels. Even though they may be working today, there may be underlying problems, and they can fail anytime. Watch out: the Sylvania electrical panel catalog number and the label's instructions on which circuit breakers it accepts are consistent with Zinsco-Sylvania electrical panels. The consensus among most electricians is that these breakers are safer than the original breakers. 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. But I did a search and found your very detailed page (https://InspectAPedia.com/electric/GTE_Sylvania_Zinsco_Identification.php) on the topic. At IDENTIFY SYLVANIA ELECTRICAL PANELS we describe other Sylvania brand electrical panels that do not use the Zinsco electrical panel bus and breaker design. Each handle works independently to save room in your panel. undamaged item in its original packaging (where packaging is applicable). No, Mary all of your photos were quite tiny, but nevertheless we reach the same conclusion: If you have either Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels installed in your home, it is highly recommended to have one of our licensed electricians out to your home for evaluation.We will inspect your electrical panel for FREE. There will usually be a label with the Zinsco logo on the panel. It appears to be less than 10 years old, but with some older breakers in it.still the main should have tripped. No votes so far! The power lines that lead out go directly to the meter which has no shut off (including in the box housing the meter). Don't be fooled by its lookalike counterparts; this panel is easily distinguishable with its pastel-colored breakers lined up in a single row. Between the 1980's to the 1990's Challenger panels were installed in hundreds of thousands of homes. Infra-red scanning on a loaded breaker would be the best way to spot it. It looks as if some, but not all of these Zinsco RC38 breakers have their toggles tied together/, These Zinsco circuit breaker toggle or "handle" colors identify the ampacity of the individual circuit breakers as follows. You will not receive a notification when a response to your question has been posted. Notice those two vertical strips that connect to two deep slots in the circuit breaker? 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 . Thanks so much, this is a great service you are providing! QC60 Zinsco Sylvania UBIZ260 2p 60a 120/240v Circuit Breaker NEW 1yr Warranty. Below: more examples of labels found in GTE-Sylvania-Zinsco electrical panels. - Editor. Hi this seems to be a really helpful site, thanks! www.ncwhomeinspections.com 509-670-9572. This invention relates to circuit breakers, and more particularly, to a breaker in which the rated current level is preset by a removable cam element. The unique deep slotted circuit breaker connector openings that press over the bus bars (inside the panel accessed by a licensed electrician). Below are links to pictures of my electrical panel. From the remains of a label in your photo it looks like it to me, but I agree it makes sense to know more accurately. No, Nick, at HISTORY of ZINSCO ELECTRICAL PANELS you'll see the company has long been out of business. certain Sylvania electrical panels and breakers which are in fact of the same product design and origin. At below left your fourth photo shows the GTE-Sylvania label, while at below right in your fifth photo of a GTE-Sylvania Zinsco panel are other labels including the UL listing sticker for this product. One of my staff accidentally cut the wrong wire. 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. They then sold off the Challenger line in 81. I have only had 2 Federal Pioneer (FP or FPE) breakers not trip, but one was actually yesterday. I really like the quality of info on your website but I guess since I don't know anything about electrical panels I don't fully understand what I should be looking at when trying to identify the affected panels. 2. 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. 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. I was skeptical, figuring he was trying to upsell me. CONTACT US with field reports and photos. Alpha & Omega Home Inspections, Above: Sylvania electrical panel Catalog No. Are you able to determine this from the attached pictures? Some of these such as FPE involved outright fraud by people who knew perfectly well that the product did not perform properly. Their breakers can overheat and fail to trip at 135% circuit overload or higher due to aluminum alloy bus bars and loose breaker connections. And in the cases where the insurance company decides to write the insurance, the owner might be charged a higher premium due to the higher risk of electrical fires and damages. Both FPE and Zinsco can be stealth failures: damage is often already present but not visible without disassembly - which should NOT be recommended as the hazards are only increased by messing with the equipment. They have a stigma similar to Federal Pacific as being "outlawed" for. Yes, this house is indeed in Fairfax. The Zinsco Style may be labeled as Zinsco, Challenger or Sylvaina. The Sylvania panel can be found through the three names: GTE, Sylvania, or Zinsco. I'm looking for the AIC rating of the big double throw AC cutoff switch on the front. https://unicornsystems.eu/ I headed out to look at my panel and snap some photos and when I saw the design, my jaw just about dropped. The panel label specifically says to use Zinsco circuit breakers. I've been conducting professional home inspections since 2002. Q242 [illegible] and continues, stating, Z I N S C O QFP24 LK-15, LK-15 or LK-22 for MAIN. and I am watching carefully Challenger as well as the others you name. 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. There is a UL-listed test instrument that measures the magnetic response of a 15 or 20 amp brach circuit breaker. The most common amperages are from 15 to 30 amp. Electrical panel rust that can impair safe circuit breaker operation - explained, A violation of the rule of 6 that has 7 breakers in the panel - explained as the "Rule of Six Circuit Breakers", This is probably a Zinsco-circuit breaker & bus electrical panel design - GTE-Sylvania Zinsco that is unsafe. The table below gives examples of some GTE-Sylvania-Zinsco electrical panel model numbers, Amps ratings, and circuit breaker codes. It does day Sylvania and has what I assume is the model number: Watch out: replacement circuit breakers that have been tested for these problem brands have generally performed no better than the originals. MLB20(12-24)C (Indoor) Mod. The idea is good but why use a garbage design? So they should be treated as the same electrical panel with the same weaknesses. CONTACT Us with field reports and photos. Watch out: removing and replacing circuit breakers or "exercising" them by turning them on and off can in some cases actually increase the risk of a future failure because of scoring of a plated panel bus bar or because some breaker brands such as FPE show an increased failure to trip after being switched on and off. System Inspection Basics, '' Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, 1985... Original breakers bus and breaker design cutoff switch on the panel accessed by a licensed electrician ) of circuit! Expert who opens the electrical [ see IDENTIFY KEARNEY panels ] and continues, stating, Z i S! Breaker for my stove is above the main should have tripped photographs of Sylvania... Be working today, there may be underlying problems, and they can fail anytime amp breaker for stove. 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