Big Dog Home Inspections

What do you know about to your breaker panel? Do you know the brand and year of manufacture? If not, you might want to keep reading!

There are 2 brands that are known to have potential issues. These are the Zinsco and Federal Pacific breaker panels.

Zinsco is considered to not be safe to use anymore. This panel has the potential to leave property owners at risk of electric shock and fire as a result of the breakers not tripping properly as much as 25% of the time. The most common issues for not tripping are due to an overcurrent or from a short circut. This breaker is made of a certain type of aluminum that has the potential to melt as well. The production of this brand stopped in the 1970's.

Not all Federal Pacific panels are considered to be a problem. The most common issue arises in the Federal Pacific Stab-lok breakers , specifically those installed before the 1990's. The malfunction of these breakers is estimated to cause 2,800 fires each year.

Therefore, electrical companies recommend that property owners replace any Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels with new up-to-date breaker panels.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!