I didn't when I did a hot tub install a few years ago... but then again, I was filling in the last empty spot, and there was no complaints by the H.O. about flickering lights.

Now I know the name for that abomination of a panel... and it's name is ZINSCO!

Thats why they sell replacement buss bars for some of those POS panels,the only good use of a Zinsco/Sylvania panel is scrap metal. With the cheesy lugs on their twin breakers that must have been fun for whoever double lugged that 20A breaker in the top photo.

P.S. What is amazing is that there are installations from the 50's still in service.

This is original equiptment from a house built in 1972... Just in the past year I've ripped out at least 40-50 of these... also in that time, I think I replaced about 10 FPE, another 10 Bulldogs, maybe 4 or 5 Bryant/Westinghouse, a Square D "XO", a Trumbull, & a seriously prehistoric one that had an "E" with a diamond around it as the only legible marking left.

For some reason, Zinsco was a seriously popular brand out here in So California in Tract-Homes built anywheres from the 50's - into I think the early 80's..

Job Security

-Randy

I think that I must have relocated/replaced a zillion of these breakers. The bus stabs just lose their "grip", and leave the breaker to arc as shown.

The very bestthing about Zinsco breakers is the satisfying "thud" noise they make when hitting the bottom of a trash can..S

I think Zinsco is the only brand I have ever seen that uses (or used) the "push and pray" style wire connections . I guess their rationale is ... why should poor connections be limited to wiring devices only...

Mike (mamills)

Interesting.....Zinscos are almost non-existent here in the northeast....thank God!! Although I did get a request about a Zinsc- "no" breaker for a mobile home.

There are still quite a few FPEs around here, but no Zinscos.

My parents finished the basement in the place where we lived in the late 50s - early 60s. The original FPE inside was full so the electrician added a Zinsco beside the meter outside and the FPE became a sub. Now that I look back, it is a miricle the place survived

I find FPE panels here & there... I came across some tract houses in San Diego & Oceanside which had FPE panels AND aluminum wiring! (Talk about bad getting worse!), & they were from the early 80's... I think the EC that did the original build must've gotten them on clearance or something Another peculiar thing I found was a supply house in San Diego which STILL had FPE 100A meter/mains in the box! (You know a good product when it's still on the supply house shelf 20 years later!) Most of the FPE panels I get called to replace are the old 6 circuit/no main style from the 40's & 50's..

Another peculiarty with a specific manufacturer... I've come across 3 or 4 Cutler-Hammer "CH" style panels where the 100A main breaker actually caught fire! No damage occured outside of the panel can except for some blackend stucco, but it was strange & kinda eerie seeing that more than once, in different cities & build era's at that!

I come across FPE, Square D "XO"'s,Bulldog "Pushmatics", even Wadsworth & Trumbull boxes that are pushing 50-60 years old that are still in basic "working" order & get changed out mostly as an upgrade.... But the Zinsco changeouts are alomst always due to equiptment failure.. As I'm writing this, I just came back from replacing a Crouse-Hinds 100A main that refused to reset.. Albeit there was enough dirt in that panel to grow an orchard.... 5 minutes, a brush & some "Lectra-Clean" & the bus looked new again

Zinsco has made ALOT of money for my company & I!

-Randy

The supply-store chain for whom I used to work bought out an ancient mom & pop in the area and all their inventory.

During transition, they filled a 50 yard dumpster with FPE gear of every stripe - panels, breakers, discos, motor starters, etc. Apparently most of it had sat on the shelf since the early '70s.

They also chucked lots of buff Wiremold and other hideously outdated stuff.

Big-Z tin-plated(?) aluminum busbar extrusions seemed to have a propensity to “scab over”, like they hadn’t been cleaned of inherently corrosive chemicals very well after the plating bath. It was sort of a coarse, blotchy grey-white ‘crust’ on the breaker-pinch contact surfaces. Their products were nothing short of a scourge to the industry in NorCal.

I associate that name with traffic signals. Did they make a lot of general electrical distribution gear as well?

You said it best Randy. the breakers just dont get along with the phasebar. you are not alone though we see this alot in Northern Cali too.

PaulUK.... Ive seen everything from conduit bodies to panel boards to receptacles to really old traffic signals made by Crouse-Hinds/Arrow Hart.. Tim & I come across these things almost daily out here in the Golden State...

-Randy

.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 02-24-2007).]

Wow what a site that www.handymanusa.com is. All the years I wasted getting formal training. Now the INTERNET tells me I just needed to watch an Electrician to be capable. These guys are as bad as the orange roof store for advice!!!!

[This message has been edited by capt al (edited 09-07-2004).]

Isn't it interesting that the one answer says have an electrician install a breaker, then the next describes installing a sub-panel and changing the breakers. No mention of PPE.

Instructions on death and destruction for the weekend warrior.

Dave

.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 02-24-2007).]