Hi. I've been lurking around these forums for a bit, and need some advice.
I learned (through this forum) about the dangers of Zinsco panels. My parent's house has a 200A Zinsco panel with 200A 240V fuses as the main disconnect. This panel is going on 40 years old, so it would be a good idea to replace it just because of the age.
I don't mean to start a flame war, but what brands of panels and breakers would you recommend? I see so much stuff that is made in Mexico or China that is of dubious construction. I would like to have a quality panel and breakers that will last another 40 years.
I will try and post pictures tomorrow of the panel.
IMO, Murray is good brand name for service equipment.
If you'd like something of a little better quality, I would suggest Square D brand QO panels.
Either brand will do and I think (I said think), they are both made in America. That's important to me as well.
For the top of the line .. I would and do use only Square D QO good 2nd choice would be cutler hammer classic Tan handles.
Murry/Seimans, square D homeline are good panels for Resi use. As well as GE.
Our company only uses Square D QO for resi work and Square D NQOD panels for comerical 120/208 or 120/240 work.
My boss buys QO stuff as cheap as most by GE and like brands. He made a deal direct with Square D to only install their products .. Single pole QOs .. $3.45 each .. in the supply house on the shelf .. $5 plus each
Murray panels seem to be the choice here in MASS. Although I prefer GE panels, I just like them. Seem to have more room for wire bending radius. Square D is also a excellent choice. Cheapest way out would probably be Murray. Check the prices, With all that the others reccommended you wont go wrong.
[This message has been edited by steve ancient apprentice (edited 11-29-2006).]
I vote Sq D (QO) then C-H. On the lower (cost) end I vote Seimens. Don't like GE, I've seen too many with the fingers burned off and we can't get Murray around here.
Square D, Cutler Hammer, Seimens, and GE are all UL listed and are all the same, buy which is the cheapest, it does not really matter. Nobody will ever be able to tell which one you have by turning the lights on or using the stove.
As far as design goes... I prefer the Square D QO's because the ground and neutral buses are at the top where most homeruns enter the panel. It saves time terminating those conductors in case they are short. Time is money right?
I'll second Steve Millers post, and say that Murray is crap, although owned by Siemens, and both of simular design - the quality is lower IMO. And not a fan of the panel design - only one neutral bar, so AF's are only on one side. CH's (westinghouse design) panel is a good residential choice due to two neutral bars.
Square D, Siemens, and GE. All from passing glances or photos I've taken and/or seen.
Ian A.
I use SQ D Homline for residential, or Cutler Hammer Br Series. I have used Murray but all the suppliers dropped them, they were having a bad time getting support from the Manufactur. I prefer to not use GE. I just don't like them sorry. I don't like the way the wires enter the breaker.
Phil (Ob)
For residential, I like the Murrays as well. The propriatary (spelling?) breaker configuration of the Square D's sometimes makes breaker replacement difficult in a pinch (after hours, weekends, etc.).
Also, they're well priced and are a good value for resi work. They have a very nice side-by-side 200A combo panel of which I've installed about 25 of over the last year or two (new builds and service upgrades). Haven't had a problem, and they have the neutral bus in the right place for AFCI's and GFCI's. You can also easily add a neutral bus bar to run along all the branch breakers if the new AFCI requirement passes for '08 (which, as far as I've heard, looks pretty likely).
Do yourself and your folks a favor though - please have a licensed &/or certified EC perform the service upgrade. Although you sound like you have a pretty good grip on the lingo, a lot of things can go wrong and none of us want to see anybody get hurt.