SAN MARTIN — If you live in an older home, some architectural or mechanical aspects of it are likely from a different era. However, one aspect of your home that should never be outdated is your electrical panel, as it can affect both system performance and safety.
While any outdated electrical panel can be problematic (most are inadequate to provide for modern power needs), there are three names in particular you don’t want to see on yours: Zinsco, Federal Pacific and Challenger. While each of these brands is from a different time period, all three have lost their UL listings and are known to represent fire safety hazards. One common issue with these panels is that the breakers can fail to detect short or overloaded circuits, which leaves wires susceptible to overheating.
Due to the dangers posed by a malfunctioning electrical panel, it’s crucial to know what’s in your breaker box. Take a look inside, or better yet, have a professional electrician perform a safety inspection. If it turns out you have one of the aforementioned panels, plan to have it upgraded to a modern, UL-listed product that will ensure safety in your home.

Electrical Panels That Threaten Safety

Learn about the hidden dangers of outdated electrical panels and how to ensure your home's safety with expert advice from industry professionals.

Electrical Panels That Threaten Safety by Henry Acosta

by Henry Acosta, a Diamond Certified Expert Contributor

Video: Electrical Panel Safety


if you live in an older home your
electrical panel is probably outdated
we're still it may represent a safety
hazard
today we're in San martín with diamond
certified expert contributor Henry
Acosta California Power & Light to learn
more so we recommend if your home was
built before the 80s before the 70s so
if you have a home 1950s 1960s 1970s a
lot of times the panels that weren't
installed in these times where Cisco's
Federal Pacific and then the newer ones
in the 70s 80s were challenger these
particular panels are definitely
something to be concerned about you
should have a technician look at them if
you do have any of these panels we
recommend to upgrade them the reason
being is some of these panels the
breakers don't detect when you're having
an issue in your home when you're wiring
that lets say an overload or a
short-circuit if these if these breakers
don't detect the problem what can happen
is your wires can overheat and that can
lead to a fire so we definitely
recommend if you if you have an older
home or sometimes even a newer home if
you smell any burning or if you can
continuously trip a breaker we recommend
for you to have us come out take a look
at it evaluate the panel and if you have
one of these panels we're definitely
going to recommend for you to upgrade
when you are when we upgrade we use
Square D that's usually the best brand
out there and these Square D brands will
detect your your problems and could
definitely be helpful to not having a
fire in your house

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