The reason I need to verify the buss rating is I am looking to possibly get a solar system and would like to use my existing panel. The half Size is R38 for 1 poles and RC38 for 2 poles. Zinsco Replacement Breakers Are Also Unsafe. this is the dryer outlet, and our dryer is a 24-amp appliance, so no problem there. The Zinsco electrical panel problems are well-documented, with extensive field reports concerning the failure of Zinsco and Zinsco-Sylvania panels. Be the first to rate this post. I have a buyer that wants me to put in a new panel because it might be. Just below, the photo of a recent GTE Sylvania Zinsco circuit breaker burn-up is shown here courtesy of Jeff Weissman and observed, he reports, in a GTE-Sylvania electrical panel. I'm sorry to say that I have not found a credible Zinsco electrical panel age decoder. Hazards of Zinsco Panels. Please see ELECTRIC PANEL AMPACITY for more detailed help in answering your question. An expert who opens the electrical The word Zinsco on the panel door tag, on panel labels or data tags (Zinsco panel label photo above). Replacing a Zinsco breaker panel is often worth it, as the older panels can be unreliable and may not meet current safety codes. Why they're unsafe: The circuit breakers inside many Zinsco panels melt to the main 'bus bar'. Sean. @Robert shaner, at the best online prices at eBay! Join. As a consequence of this, in Ontario we had to mount drywall behind panels for years. The bottom breaker on the top group of circuits will shut off powet to the bottom group of circuits. The company was sold in 1973 to GTE- Sylvania, who continued to manufacture breakers and panels to the original Zinsco design for some years; this product line is now discontinued. Excerpts: Below are links to pictures of my electrical panel. The unique vertical thin-edged bus bars (aluminum, plated aluminum, or in older Zinsco panels copper bus bars (inside the panel accessed by a licensed electrician). single pole, yellow handle. Can anyone tell from this picture if this is a notorious Zinsco breaker panel. Lots of sparks and a hole the size of your pinky in his pliers and neither the branch nor the main opened under a few second long fault. The average cost of replacing a Zinsco service panel is $1,600 to $4,000. SKU:SK5261622. Is my panel safe - FPE. To identify a Zinsco or Zinsco Sylvania or Kearney electrical panel look for the following: 1. @Robert shaner, 112. r/solar. Replacement is not, in this case, recommended. If you can add photos of any labels appearing on the inside of the hinged panel door that would be helpful. Zinsco is considered unsafe and a serious fire hazard without being officially recognized by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). Below we show the interior of this 400Amp Zinsco electrical panel. Sylvania electrical panel Catalog No. REally appreciate your feedback(wow, and quick too!). Contact us if you have photos of a Frank Adams electrical panel or other details. Here we provide text, labels, and equipment photographs used to help identify Zinsco and GTE-Sylvania-Zinsco electrical panels and circuit breakers, and we include photographs of a Zinsco look alike marketed by Kearney. In older homes, there are still some electrical panel brands that have been commonly known to fail at safety standards. To identify a Zinsco panel, look for a vertical line of color-coded circuit breaker handles down the middle of the electrical box. On 2021-08-30 Turn Off the Power on All Circuits 2. Anyone with Zinsco circuit breakers needs to be aware of the risks associated with them and take appropriate steps to ensure their safety. This was used as a temp panel for 3 months on a job. Book your home inspection today by calling 818-298-3405 Is replacing a Zinsco breaker panel worth it? It is a 3 Pole 225A breaker and we would like to run 250MCM. I'll check with him. Production of Zinsco panels halted in mid-1970s. Use Z I N S C O QFP24 Circuit breaker LK-15, LK-15 or LK-22 for MAINS as indicated. That identifies this as a Zinsco design. toggle switch colors and unique labels should be sufficient for most inspectors and owners to identify this equipment. But the design was eventually discontinued, and later Sylvania panels do not have the problematic Zinsco design. 7. But Watch out: opening an electrical panel, if you touch what you shouldn't means dead Larry (or Dead Daniel if I do it). by Unicorn electrical products? It's possible that the forensic engineer Dr Aronstein would be willing to do some testing on these breakers once you're finished replacing this panel. They may be the same design with a different sticker on top. They have stopped making Federal Panels anyway.Im not sure what the best policy is here, but this much is true: I should simply say yes change these panels, but I know for sure someone will challenge that and it would be better to have reasons. Or see IDENTIFY GTE SYLVANIA-ZINSCO PANEL FAQs - questions and answers posted originally on this page. panel or performs further disassembly (DANGEROUS STEP) can further identify the characteristic circuit breaker details but the circuit breaker Zinsco panels are known for being unsafe, as they are prone to overheating and arcing. That's probably what you've got. Try the search box just below, or if you prefer, post a question or comment in the Comments box below and we will respond promptly. It's easy and unmistakable. As a homeowner, you are liable when someone is injured on your property, especially if the harm was foreseeable. Hi this seems to be a really helpful site, thanks! Infra-red scanning on a loaded breaker would be the best way to spot it. Some of these such as FPE involved outright fraud by people who knew perfectly well that the product did not perform properly. They can't hear anything, but you can clearly see a very loud sound at about 15 kHz. Federal Pacific Electric panels were produced from the mid-1950s well into the 1980s. An easily corroded bus bar. Zinsco electric panels jolley1859 1.6K views 2 years ago How to Upgrade an Electric Meter to 200-Amp Service (Part 1) | This Old House This Old House 2.7M views 8 years ago Hack for AFCI_GFCI. Photo of a recent GTE Sylvania Zinsco circuit breaker burn up courtesy of Jeff Weissman. No. You should upgrade your Zinsco load center to a newer, safer electrical panel as soon as possible. I happily agreed and thought it would be a great opportunity to test out my new GoPro 9 in the process. https://unicornsystems.eu/ 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. But I would rather live in a house full of knob and tube than one of these panels. 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. It looks like I have the unsafe Sylvania GTE panel. He was recommended to me by a friend who's in contracting locally. Some other factors that will affect the price for replacing a Zinsco panel are: Depending on these and other factors, even newer wiring might need to be installed. 3. Challenger also used FPE and Zinsco Circuit Breakers in many Residential Panels and these are the ones that have had trouble according to many experts. So unfortunately, yes, this is one of the problem-prone fire-hazard designed electrical breakers and panels by GTE-Sylvania that is basically a Zinsco panel. Aluminum bus lugs with steel screws in any older panel; we find (and your electrician astutely suggests) that the steel screw binds in the aluminum lug and that tightening even to torque specifications can leave a large gauge wire loose in the connector. 390-205-09 on a label which has the bottom left corner torn off. Arrows point to points of identification characteristic of Zinsco breakers. Photographs of Zinsco Sylvania and GTE Sylvania Zinsco electrical panel labels courtesy of J. P. Simmons. "Evaluating Wiring in Older Minnesota Homes," Agricultural Extension Service, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108. However, if your home was built during these decades, you may well have a Zinsco electrical panel and circuit breakers in your system. It drops a dead short across the circuit and measures trip current and time to trip. Sylvania/zinsco Panel Cover Dead Front | eBay Challenger Panel Cover Dead Front Sylvania/zinsc o Panel Cover Dead Front Condition: Seller refurbished "Panel cover/dead front refurbished to "like new" condition." Price: US $70.00 Buy It Now Add to cart Add to Watchlist Returns accepted Ships from United States Shipping: It was also sold under the Kearney brand name. The first Zinsco panels contained copper bus-bars and copper breaker clips. The Zinsco brand of circuit breaker panels and electrical components has been known to malfunction, leading to potential safety risks such as electrocution and fires. as providing "information systems for the European energy industry and utilities. " Because the Challenger panel was very similar in design to Zinsco's . There were a few still being installed later, but they are rare. I'd indeed like to see photos of the breaker panel you cite, in total, its labels, its bus bar design and its breaker details and labels. and I am watching carefully Challenger as well as the others you name. CONTACT US with field reports and photos. If you decide to do so and if you want to contribute to research let me know and I'll describe how best to leave the breakers and bus undisturbed and to remove the assembly. Thanks again *and* in advance after I get more pix! In any case, I would replace this electrical panel. For people who are too poor to make their homes safer by replacing questionable electrical equipment we suggest some initial or temporary hazard reduction measures: I was reading information on your website about Zinsco panels but I can't determine if my main panel and sub-panel inside the house are the affected panels. Identify Zinsco-like Sylvania Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers. Now required in the 2020 NEC, panel-level surge protection is key for critical circuits that power equipment in residential applications. There is no Zinsco electrical panel recall, despite overwhelming evidence of failures. Production was halted when design flaws were discovered. 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. 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. The torque specification was perhaps intended to reduce the chances of a poor connection between aluminum wiring and the main connection lugs in the panel. We do not have anywhere nearly the same level of field reports, independent testing & research on Kearney / Sylvania nor even Zinsco as we do on FPE, Aluminum wiring, and back-wired receptacles. - Anonymous by private email, 2017/02/16. Note: appearance of your Comment below may be delayed: if your comment contains an image, photograph, web link, or text that looks to the software as if it might be a web link, your posting will appear after it has been approved by a moderator. We are changing the panel Monday. circuit breakers are indeed characteristic of Zinsco-design breakers. The word Magnetrip embossed in the steel electrical panel cover or on data tags in the Zinsco electrical panel. Today Zinsco electrical panels are deemed outdated and a significant electrical hazard. Maybe try again; type in the Comment box, then click the "Add Image" button to select an image file from your computer or smartphone or tablet. Other Zinsco electrical panel identification and information labels are included in this article. It's probably a 15A Zinsco tandem circuit breaker. MLB20(15-30)C Indoor 225A MAX. Your panel photo so tiny I can't see much, but those red and light blue (?) Zinsco breakers are known to not trip in the presence of overcurrent or short circuits. where we discuss, among other topics, Or if your electrician doesn't know how to look at the Zinsco breakers we've illustrated, have her take some sharp photos of all sides of the breaker and email them to me. ---- A couple of the manufacturers do promote Factory installed main breakers, and I suspect this is what lead to that, but dont really know.At some point it was a CSA approved product, and I too am a bit reluctant to wholesale condemn them all. The panel labels may identify it as "Sylvania", Sylvania-Zinsco, or GTE-Sylvania-Zinsco. Without more investigation of the breakers, panel bus, and circuit involved one cannot say for certain if this arc-flash damage was due to a defect in the circuit breaker, panel bus, connections, or some other issue. He did not know about the Zinsco/Sylvania problem. 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. 2, Type 1 Enclosure, 125A Max.. GTE Sylvania Circuit Breakers Type Q, QC, R38, RC38 & HRGF. There will usually be a label with the Zinsco logo on the panel. There are inherent problems in the bus bars of the panel and the materials used for their manufacturing. "Electrical Systems," A Training Manual for Home Inspectors, Alfred L. Alk, American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), 1987, available from ASHI. 1. Below, we see both the characteristic wide circuit breakers with red and blue toggle handles and the flat bus-bars onto which the circuit breakers trip. I cannot see anything of the main breaker in your Zinsco panel so it's ampacity could differ, but the panel label describes a 400Amp panel single phase, 120/240VAC unit. Panel info: 20-5X(10-20) C Mod. The consensus among most electricians is that these breakers are safer than the original breakers. No, Mary all of your photos were quite tiny, but nevertheless we reach the same conclusion: Im copying other Langstaff & Sloan Inc. staff in case they have any additional thoughts. They have a reputation as the breaker which doesnt trip. The replacements for zinsco do not make the 35 amp any more. Zinsco circuit breakers and the buss connections they use are easily identified regardless of the loss or absence of panel labels. In that photo I also circle characteristic light green GTE-Sylvania-Zinsco circuit breaker toggle switches. The Challenger panel was installed in thousands of homes between 1980s to 1990s. They have been receiving more claims related to such homes, so they are listed as a possible liability. Your electrician agrees that the circuit breakers are a latent hazard - risking failing to protect your home from a fire or injury should an over-current hazard occur, so he or she recommended replacement. 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. Hopefully you can help. MOB20(20-40)C (Indoor) Mod.2, 225 AMPS Max. The new buyer labeled his company Challenger Electric. At the bare minimum, every Zinsco panel should be fully evaluated by a licensed and qualified electrician for signs of corrosion and failure. Zinsco panels are unsafe, and we urge homeowners to consider a replacement. You will not receive a notification when a response to your question has been posted. In 78 they changed the name of the Zinsco line to Challenger. Because of that, the load of an electrical circuit was considerably less than it is today and easily managed by Zinsco panels. As a result, this made their breakers extremely popular.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[468,60],'homeinspectioninsider_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_0',835,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-homeinspectioninsider_com-medrectangle-3-0'); In 1973, Zinsco was sold to GTE Sylvania. We have published articles on these other panels in part to solicit field reports & research information. Our Comment Box is provided by Countable Web Productions countable.ca, Click to Show or Hide Citations & References, Magnatrip & Other Zinsco Electrical Panels & Circuit Breakers, ARTICLE INDEX to ELECTRICAL INSPECTION & TESTING, HOME INSPECTION EDUCATION COURSES (Canada), HOME INSPECTION EDUCATION: HOME STUDY COURSES. circuit breakers are characteristic of Zinsco-design breakers. See details of the hazard at ZINSCO SYLVANIA ELECTRICAL PANELS as well as above on this page. Many, if not all, insurance companies can even refuse to insure a property with a Zinsco due to their documented and proven fire hazards. On 2018-08-18 Although sometimes brand names change at the border. Ways to Remove a Zinsco Breaker Prepare the Following Tools 1. Zinsco is now defunct, but many homes still have these panels. Connecticut Electric offers Zinsco breaker replacements. Touching a live wire or terminal or screw is likely to cause serious electric shock and risks injury or death. 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. Below right: a badly faded Sylvania electrical panel sticker. Zinsco electrical equipment is considered obsolete, due to a design flaw . Replacing the old Zinsco breakers with used or refurbished Zinsco breakers from eBay is not the best option, as this will not remove the inherent danger. I have put them into a gallery here[link deleted] Also is there a place where I can research to find out if my panels were officially recalled? Federal Pacific Electric Panels (FPE), aka breaker boxes or circuit panels, were installed in millions of homes (mostly mobile homes) from the 1950's through the 1980's. . They then sold off the Challenger line in 81. Above is an example, a Zinsco R38 Tandem circuit breaker sporting light blue toggle switches. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website. Thanks so much, this is a great service you are providing! One's the SE with the cover open, next is a close up of the breakers (look at the 125 A main): Here's the 125 A breaker removed: I understand the home is getting a completely new SE panel. Can anyone help me? Since Zinsco Sylvania panels are no longer manufactured, you will not find them in newer buildings. (Obsolete, not recommended), Personal communication, J. Aronstein to D. Friedman, 3/6/2006, James P. Simmons: Personal communication and photographs used in this article series, J. Simmons to Daniel Friedman, 3/4/2006, 2/19/2008. But in my OPINION this is an unsafe situation: it's not a great idea to include fire-kindling inside of an electrical panel! I [will] send pictures Sylvania Electrical Panel Catalog No. (Photos below), Shown above in a very crowded collection of circuit breakers we see two-pole Zinsco RC half-sized breakers in three different amperages. Proceed to complete the identification your panel by having its main bus design examined by your electrician. US $97.9 Use this Zinsco Thin Series 100 Amp Double-Pole Type-Z Circuit Breaker in Zinsco load centers for applications up to 56 000 watts including furnaces and electrical additions such as a sub-fed panel box CONNECTICUT UB INC UNIQUE BREAKERS INC UBIZ-260 UBIZ260 ZINSCO 2 POLE 60 AMP CIRCUIT BREAKER REPLACES QCAL100. Zinsco electrical panels are obsolete. Zinsco electrical panels were distributed in the United States, primarily in the Western states. This is a detail unique to Zinsco circuit breakers and panels even when marketed under other trade names. An expert who opens the electrical 3057. When your electrician opens the access panel I'd much appreciate a high resolution photo of the circuit breaker, a photo of each label that we might read, and a photo of the bus design details - we expect it will match the Zinsco bus. "How to plan and install electric wiring for homes, farms, garages, shops," Montgomery Ward Co., 83-850. However, no inspector should ignore the numerous cases of Zinscos breakers going bad. Yes your electrical panel is indeed the Zinsco-Sylvania design, that we can see in both labeling and in the unique Zinsco breaker and bus design that shows deep slots into the breaker that slide over vertical edges of the bus bars in the electrical panel. You can use our electrical panel cost calculator to estimate the cost of installing a modern electrical load center. Federal Pacific Electric panels may not meet today's updated safety codes. Thanks! "Simplified Electrical Wiring," Sears, Roebuck and Co., 15705 (F5428) Rev. Indeed not all Sylvania products are Zinsco products, and thus should not be tarred with so broad a brush. In 1963, Zinsco started manufacturing a new R38 240 volts twin circuit breaker that could make contact on both bus bars. But in your case we can see the familiar label in your photographs. ML12(12-24)C (Indoor) - Mod. There were problems found with our air handlers and they were wondering if that is what caused this Ark. 20 March 2015. Q242 [illegible] and continues, stating. 1320 Dayton Street SE, Olympia, WA 98501, 360-705-4225, Fax 360-705-0130 or by email to, Thanks to various electricians, home owners, and home inspectors for contributing the Zinsco Sylvania-Zinsco electric panel and circuit breaker, Thanks to Joe Funderburk, However, they can still be found in older homes and properties built before 1990. Insurance companies have become increasingly cautious when signing insurance for older properties with FPE or Zinsco installed. The most common amperages are from 15 to 30 amp. . www.ncwhomeinspections.com 509-670-9572. Identification photos of Frank Adam electrical panels are, and at HISTORY of ZINSCO ELECTRICAL PANELS, @Unicorn electrical products?, . Is my panel safe . I would GREATLY VALUE your opinion. I am wondering if there is a way to tell if this is a Zinsco brand. Brief History of Zinsco Emile Zinsmeyer started Zinsmeyer Co right after the stock market crash of 1929. Pull the Breaker Out 4. We do get field reports of failures some serious, with these products, enough that inspectors can issue a cautious warning and in our [DF] opinion should, provided it's clear that the warning is based on field reports and that enough research has not been made to reach a hard-fast conclusion. 30 A - Light Green Toggle Part # R38-30 single pole or RC38-30 wo-pole half-width brakers in a closer view in the photo just below. Replacing the panel can help improve the electrical systems overall performance and ensure it functions correctly. Don't be fooled by its lookalike counterparts; this panel is easily distinguishable with its pastel-colored breakers lined up in a single row. Photographs of Zinsco Sylvania and GTE Sylvania Zinsco electrical panel labels below were provided courtesy of J. P. Simmons. Bottom lien: Zinsco Class Action Lawsuit In 2002, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Federal Pacific Electric and Zinsco regarding the danger posed by their electrical panels. Questions & answers about the identification of Zinsco, Sylvania-Zinsco, and Kearney Electrical Panels - Zinsco-look alike Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers. Below is a close-up of the bus connection end of a classic Zinsco circuit breaker - showing the difference between these devices. I will do another post with another picture. 15 amp has Blue Handles Part # R38-15 20 Amp has Red Handles Part # R38-20 30 Amp has Green Handles Part # R38-30 Clockwise from upper left: Compare these to other circuit breakers or to other Zinsco breakers in this article series. Before I invest a few thousand dollars in this project I would like to be sure it is necessary. (Click on Icons to go to social media pages.) No. This gray circuit breaker may have been installed in a GTE-Sylvania electrical panel but is breaker did not use the Zinsco-design circuit breakers and/or may be of a different brand or manufacture. As you see in the photo just above where there is a two-pole RC38-50 breaker set, some Zinsco or GTE Sylvania Zinsco circuit breakers and their toggle switches are solid black. Zinsco panels were designed at the beginning of the 20th century, a time with no computers, TV sets, washing machines or many of the appliances that make our day-to-day life so much easier. So don't assume that all-black breakers can be excluded from this unsafe Zinsco circuit breaker group. 4. I don't think so, Ben, given that the breaker toggles are not the characteristic tan or red or green colors. the circuit breaker colors and other external details permit the inspector to identify the problem Zinsco-design electrical panel bus and circuit breaker materials. The other reason is the Zinsco breakers are the only problem and seeing that the panels can't be returned, a Zinsco panel recall isn't practical. mobile home doors that open properly - all buildings need safe functional fire exit passages, Turning off any strange-behaving circuits (flickering lights) with the caveat than in an FP/FPE case "turning off" may actually leave the circuit on as the breaker may not switch off internally), Red and blue breaker switches with visible colored base, Oblong opening at wire connection terminal, Flat electrical panel bus bars in parallel fitting into two slots on each breaker, Oblong opening in plastic receiver of bus bar ends, Vertical arrows point to the flat electrical panel bus bars of a Zinsco electrical panel. [DF NOTE: I do NOT recommend this obsolete publication, though it was cited in the original. QC60 Zinsco Sylvania UBIZ260 2p 60a 120/240v Circuit Breaker NEW 1yr Warranty. Since Milbank still uses a Zinsco design breaker, prefer to keep them on my "do not buy" list. I see it's in Fairfax Virginia (my home for many years) and I'm guessing from the electrical inspector's tag that the home or at least the panel is from 1976. Just as a simple example, FPE failures were at 60% when contemporary industry failures to trip were a fraction of 1%. Why Do Zinsco Panels Malfunction? Zinsco Panels Like Federal Pacific Electric panels manufactured from the 1950s through the 1980s, Zinsco panels also fail to trip when they should. I have an MLB20 (15-30)C indoor mod 2 breaker box, is this prone to problems? The details to which we point are unique to Zinsco. Only one image can be added per comment but you can post as many comments, and therefore images, as you like. Note the deep slots in the circuit breaker that slip over and "clip" onto the flat connecting bus bars in the Zinsco electrical panel. On 2021-08-21 US $199.98. Other labels indicating you have a Zinsco or Zinsco rebranded product include Sylvania, Sylvania-Zinsco, and GTE Sylvania-Zinsco panel. Electrical panel interior access should be by a licensed and trained electrician. There is among electricians an endemic problem common to everyone working in contracting: an unfamiliarity with solid technical research sometimes leads folks to assert that nothing was wrong with product X except that it was the nature of the times in which it was made or installed. Continue readingat IDENTIFY GTE SYLVANIA-ZINSCO PANELS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX. Use GTE Sylvania Circuit Breakers type Q, QC, AFP, R38, RC38, and HRGF. According to experts, zinsco panels malfunction for two reasons: Design Flaws Electricians have observed that there are indeed design flaws in the Zinsco circuit breaker panels. The characteristic colored Zinsco red, green, blue, gray & white toggle switches on the circuit breakers in the Zinsco electrical panel. (Zinsco electrical panel photo below), 3. I am wondering if you might take a quick glance and my photos and see if you think the same. Still, if your electrical panel uses the circuit breakers listed here it may be a Zinsco design. "Electrical System Inspection Basics," Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, Boston 1985. 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. "Basic Housing Inspection," US DHEW, S352.75 U48, p.144, out of print, but is available in most state libraries. Thanks again for your help and eagle eyes! 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A badly faded Sylvania electrical panel cost calculator to estimate the cost of installing a modern electrical load.. The bare minimum, every Zinsco panel should be by a licensed and trained electrician federal Pacific Electric panels not! Have these panels 10-20 ) C ( Indoor ) - Mod the design. Considerably less than it is today and easily managed by Zinsco panels like federal Pacific panels... Still have these panels Zinsco panel, look for a vertical line of color-coded circuit new..., but those red and light blue toggle switches on the top group circuits! Trip were a fraction of 1 % problems are well-documented, with field... Fraud by people who knew perfectly well that the breaker which doesnt trip problems in the States. Unsafe and a significant electrical hazard for their manufacturing primarily in the presence of overcurrent or short circuits bus.... 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