Your electrical panel is like the heart of your home’s electrical system. If the heart isn’t pumping right, the blood (electricity) won’t travel through the veins properly, and tons of problems can pop up. Not all electrical panels are created equal. In fact, there are four brands in particular that’re nothing but trouble!
Federal Pacific Electrical Panels
Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) was one of the most popular electrical panel manufacturers between the 1950s and 1980s. Millions of homes relied on Federal Pacific electrical panels to power their homes and keep them safe, but FPE circuit breakers have a known danger. A normal, safe circuit breaker will shut power off to a section of your house when there’s too much electricity going through for it to safely handle. 60% of the time, Federal Pacific circuit breakers fail to trip when they’re overloaded, which means excess voltage can travel through the wires. That’s a major fire hazard!
Not only are Federal Pacific electrical panels dangerous fire hazards, but they have a reputation for shocking electrical workers and homeowners whenever they try working on the panel. And these aren’t just little zaps—we’re talking high voltage shocks!
Stab Lok Electrical Panels
Studies have shown that there’s about an 25% chance a Stab Lok electrical panel won’t trip when there’s an overload or short circuit. When some of these studies were done, they even tested brand-new Stab Lok electrical panels, and those were also failing at an incredibly high rate.
These panels were popular in the mid to late 20th century because they were a cheaper alternative to known brands like General Electric. Since they were so much cheaper, builders installed Stab Lok electrical panels in millions of homes throughout the US and even Canada.
Zinsco Electrical Panels
Zinsco electrical panels were commonly installed during the 1970s. They stopped production in the mid-70s. There was even a class action lawsuit against them in 2002! Zinsco panels were fine for the time they were built, but nowadays, homes require more electricity than they used to. You have appliances and devices that need more electricity compared to back in the day, and Zinsco breakers aren’t meant to keep up with that. They have a known manufacturing defect that leads to high failure rates, especially when your family requires a lot of electricity.
Because of an aluminum clip all Zinsco panels use, power can arc and end up melting the breaker. When this happens, you won’t be able to shut off the power. Electricity will keep flowing until wires melt and it simply doesn’t function anymore. During all this, the panel can overheat and catch on fire.
There’s no way to tell just by looking at a Zinsco panel that it’s damaged or failing. Because these breakers are known to be risky, we recommend having them replaced with a more modern electrical panel. You’ll know your electrical panel is a Zinsco if you see labels that say:
- Zinsco
- Sylvania
- Sylvania-Zinsco
- GTE-Sylvania
Challenger Electrical Panels
Out of all of the panels we’ve discussed, this one is the most recent. Challenger electrical panels were popular in the 80s and 90s. They’re prone to malfunctioning breakers that overheat and experience electrical arcs. Eventually, this causes components to melt, which leads to fire and electrical shock risks.
Challenger electrical boxes might be labeled as:
- Challenger
- GTE-Sylvania
- Zinsco
- Eaton/Cuter Hammer
Don’t Risk a House Fire!
It can be scary finding out something in your house is putting your home and family at risk! All too often, we hear horror stories about homes burning down, people losing family pets in fires, and more. Not only is it risky to have any of these brands of electrical panels simply because of house fires, but it’s also dangerous for anyone who needs to work on your electrical panel! And as if that wasn’t reason enough to replace your electrical panel, many of the ones mentioned in this blog will even prevent you from getting your home properly insured because many insurance companies consider them too dangerous.
If your home uses a Federal Pacific, Stab Lok, Zinsco, or Challenger electrical panel, give us a call. Morris-Jenkins can replace your electrical panel with something safe and reliable, and we’ll make sure it’s installed the right way.
