Zinsco Circuit Breakers Problems

Smell of burning electrical devices such as plastic receptacles receptacle covers circuit breakers or electrical wiring.

Zinsco circuit breakers problems.

We specialize in hard to find zinsco breakers as well as popular breakers like the r3820 rc3820 rc3830 qcal100 and q20. If you know or suspect you may have a zinsco brand panel most experts in the field of electricity today recommend the panel be replaced. This can cause issues where the wire looks like it is under the set screw but in reality it is going off into left field and you can have an open neutral or burning. Secondary problems are failure of the breakers to trip under an overcurrent event and cases of a tripped breaker continuing to be energized.

The zinsco brand had it s share of problems and still do for some electrical services that may have the older aging twin or tandem zinsco circuit breakers. Our photo left shows burning at an electrical receptacle on a zinsco protected electrical circuit after the zinsco circuit breaker failed to trip. Problems with certain zinsco panels cannot be seen by the naked eye. Bay breakers stocks zinsco circuit breakers new used and obsolete with a full 1 year warranty.

The connection between the breakers and bus bar is not solid. The circuit breakers inside many zinsco panels melt to the main bus bar. Even if an electrician tells you he can. The zinsco company was sold to gte sylvania in 1973 which continued to manufacture the zinsco panel design under the name of sylvania zinsco.

This means the breaker can t ever trip even when there s a short or overloaded circuit. Yes there is a history of problems with some of the zinsco breakers mostly having to do with the twin style circuit breakers that can have arcing problems at the connection with the main panel buss. Zinsco used a real junky bar for a lot of their panels that causes the neutral wiring to be sort of pinched. So if there ever is a short or other problems the surge of power melts wires and starts fires in your home.

Breakers may appear to be off yet internally the panel may be conducting power. Bus bar corrodes easily. The problem of a weakening connection to the main electrical panel buss especially if the panel buss bar has any irregularities. Learn more here and also here.

If your circuit breakers are full size and the connections have not been arcing then you may be ok. Zinsco failure reports though few in number indicate severe failures of zinsco electrical panels circuit breakers including failure of the circuit breaker to trip on overcurrent arcing and burn ups at the breaker to panel bus bar connection and circuit breaker burn ups.