Just because you electrical panel is working does not necessarily mean it is safe. Over the years millions of unsafe panels have been installed across the country. There has been class action lawsuits and many documented fires, and yet some still remain in service. Let’s dig in a little deeper to find out which panels are deemed dangerous.
Federal Pacific Electric (FPE Stab-Lok® ®) was a widely-distributed electrical panel brand throughout the United States and under the Federal Pioneer brand, also in Canada very similar product continues to be sold. For years, anecdotes and field reports about FPE Stab-Lok® ® hazards and defects have been discussed at professional conferences and occasionally in the media.
Field reports of recalls, poor and even fraudulent manufacturing & labeling, house fires,and injuries have been reported attributed to this product. Independent testing confirms that FPE Stab-Lok® ® circuit breakers fail to trip, at times as much as 70-80 percent of the time. We have found no data indicating that circuit breakers from other manufacturers fail at anywhere near this high rate. You can read more about them here. https://inspectapedia.com/fpe/FPE_StabLok_Summary.htm
Zinsco/Sylvania Panels have also had issues over the years. Zinsco and Zinsco-Sylvania circuit breakers of the design described here do not offer the level of overcurrent and fire protection provided by most other electrical panels and circuit breakers. Limited test results reported by Dr. Jess Aronstein (who is cited further at REFERENCES) indicate that the central Zinsco electrical panel and circuit breaker failure problem appears to be burn ups at the clip-to-bus connections such as shown in our photo of a burned Zinsco electrical panel bus and breaker. A circuit breaker whose bus connection burns can lead to overheating damage to the circuit breaker itself, rendering it non-functional. Read more about them here: https://inspectapedia.com/electric/Zinsco_Electrical_Panels.php
