As a licensed electrician presently employed by an electrical engineering
firm I can attest to what Bill and Brad have said about Zinsco and Federal
Pacific (FPE). However I disagree with a couple of items in Bill's
response. To many of you this is of little significance. Aluminum bus is
not the end of the world in newer panels. Copper is typically used, however
sometimes cost becomes an issue and in a 4000 Amp service there can be a
large cost savings in Aluminum vs. Copper. In a typical home application
(225 Amps or less with snap-in breakers) the panels are nearly all copper
bus. GE is still GE. ITE is Siemens, and Westinghouse is now
Cutler-Hammer.
Believe it or not Bill I have actually witnessed a 30 Amp 2-pole FPE breaker
trip!!! It was serving a water heater with a leaking tank and soaked
insulation.
Hello Brad,
ZINSCO breakers.. BAD!!!!!!!!
also FEDERAL PACIFIC...
i'm an electrician by trade and these brands are KNOWN hazards.
we wonder how they EVER got UL approval.. its said that one can
weld with a 20 amp ZINSCO breaker because it WON'T trip. even
up more than twice its rated capacity...
also beware of any and all breaker panels with aluminum bus.
use copper ONLY. the BEST are SQUARE D, or Cutler Hammer.
acceptable are GE, (now Siemens), ATT and Westinghouse.
and i got flash burned (as in trip to the burn unit) with
Federal Pacific gear. ...
--
Best regards,
Bill mailto:pythias@pacifier.com
"66 Sprite
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