A number of years ago, a friend of mine called me because he was having problems with the lights in his house dimming/flickering, and even going out completely for a moment or two. When I went to his house, I was horrified to find a well-weathered Zinsco panel with a 150 amp plug-on main breaker (a really absurd idea, in my opinion), plus the usual numerous other smaller breakers. This 150 amp behemoth was hot to the touch, and generating the characteristic "bzzz" from the weak connection with the bussbars beneath. When I went to tap on it (the dead-front cover had long ago disappeared, I was told), the breaker popped off the busses into my hand, being supported only by the two hot legs coming from the meter! [Linked Image] I could see how badly burned the buss bars were, and how the jaws on the breaker had lost their spring tension from the constant heating. My friend was not impressed when I told him what was going on, and that he was in the market for a new service panel. A day later, an excellent electrical contractor had replaced all this garbage with a brand new Square D panel, still working perfectly to this day.

drgnz23; I go along with the sound advice offered by electricAL. It appears that you have gotten all the "goody" out of your old Zinsco, and it's time to upgrade. [Linked Image]

Mike (mamills)

[This message has been edited by mamills (edited 10-02-2003).]