Zinsco panels

[mridgeelk]

I found these Zinsco panels in a commercial setting today. They are 60+/- years. Are Zinsco panels of this vintage problematic/unsafe as the more recent versions?

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[randynavarro]

Yes.

[Les]

Yes, but they don't look 60yrs old.

[hausdok]

Hi,

I agree with Les, those are Magnatrip panels. I'd bet a Domino's pizza that they're mid-1950's to 1960.

Here's a 1958 Magnatrip that a customer gave me after it has been removed. I stripped it out, sent it to Douglas Hansen to use as a training aid, and he re-wired it and shot me this photo.

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OT - OF!!!

M.

[mridgeelk]

THEY MAY BE AS NEW AS 1960 +/-

[hausdok]

Yep

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Les]

Sure hope Chad does not see that fan belt from a 1968 Chev hanging between the panels!

[msteger]

I would consider any panel over 30 years old suspect and worthy of an evaluation by a licensed electrician to make sure the components are in good working order. Mechanical and electrical systems just don't get better with age.

[hausdok]

Hi Matt,

Obviously, you've never read the post from the grandson of the founder of the Zinsco Company who came on here a few years ago to castigate everyone for besmirching the name of his Grandfather's company.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Scottpat]

Originally posted by hausdok

Hi Matt,

Obviously, you've never read the post from the grandson of the founder of the Zinsco Company who came on here a few years ago to castigate everyone for besmirching the name of his Grandfather's company.

OT - OF!!!

M.

I forgot all about that. Any chance you could come up with the link, might be helpful for Brad who is having his plumbing reconnected! [:-slaphap

[hausdok]

Sure, it was a link to an article on the Mike Holt forum. I found it in about 2 minutes using the advanced search feature.

http://www.mikeholt.com/newsletters.php ... tterID=298

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Brian G]

I sympathize with the family, but whether or not Zinzco was once cutting edge stuff is irrelevant to our job today. Even with all of the brands that have come and gone throughout the history of breakers and breaker panels, it's the second-worst designed type I know of.

Brian G.

FPE..Alone At the Top [:-yuck]

[Daniel Friedman]

Regarding Originally posted by mridgeelk

"I found these Zinsco panels in a commercial setting today. They are 60+/- years. Are Zinsco panels of this vintage problematic/unsafe as the more recent versions?"

Reply from Daniel Friedman:

Zinsco panels or "Zinsco-Sylvania" models have bus arcing problems and can fail to trip - a latent safety hazard.

We do not have as big a data base of field reports nor independent research on this item as we do on FPE Stab-Loks or some other hazards, but Zinsco Panel Hazards are discussed in depth at

http://www.inspect-ny.com/electric/Zinsco.htm

Experts estimate that less than 2% - that's right - two percent - of electrical failures are reported to any authority who might keep records or perform research. So even a small number of field failure reports may be significant.

By the way, if you or your clients are replacing a Zinsco electrical panel you can ask them to contribute to research - there's no cost but shipping - contact me for more information.

We recommend that Zinsco electrical panels be replaced.

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[Brian G]

We're glad to have you dropping in Dan. When I find a Zinzco or a FPE panel, my report includes URL's/links to your web pages (and a few others) on those particular subjects. I hope that's okay. I do it to further educate them and hope it finishes convincing them to replace the thing.

I sold electrical supplies for a local wholesale supplier for several years, covering everything from DIY'ers to industrial accounts. We sold virtually every brand of breaker available, including Zinzco and FPE, as replacements. I regularly saw burned-up Zinzco's and FPE's, but never thought to save any of them for very long. I did keep a few of the really spectacular ones for a while, to show all the electricians (for the Wow! factor). I wish I still had them. You would have loved the Zinzco's with dime to quarter sized holes burned/blown in the sides. [:-bigeyes

Similar damage to any other brands was very rare, though all had failures here and there.

Brian G.

Burn Baby Burn [:-hot]

[hausdok]

Hi All,

Got this email today. After looking at this, I don't think many of you are going to want to say, "Oh well, I don't see anything to be concerned with here," when you run into a Zinsco panel in the future. Enjoy

OT - OF!!!

M.

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Mike,

I just got these pictures of a badly damaged Zinsco main that failed. In this case the failure damaged the main wire to a mobile home also (you can see the melted wire to the left of the main).

This is a good example of why I do not like to see anyone remove these breakers. You can not tell how bad they are damaged by looking at them.

Please feel free to post them or use them on web sites -

Thanks for getting the word out.

Jim P. Simmons - Mr. Electric

[Brian G]

But it's been working for years with no problems..... [:-mischie

Brian G.

Crispy Critter [:-bigeyes