Zinsco Panels- Why they should go- Chelan and Wenatchee Real Estate Inspections

Zinsco and the more infamous Federal Pacific Panels are well known by the Home Inspection and electrician community.  The Zinsco panel may be under the name of Sylvania, GTE-Sylvania or Kearney.

The Zinsco panels may work for years, but there is an underlying threat as homes have increased energy demands, these panels may overheat and breaker failure can occur. There are those out in the home inspection world that think that Zinsco panels may be more of a hazard than that of the Federal Pacific.

The panel has a poor bus design and the breaker may not trip when you need it to. I have been in several homes that have had electrical fire related incidents that had Zinsco panels installed, coincidence?

There are other factors involved, some insurance companies may not write insurance policy for homes with this panel present and some banks may not finance the homes. 

If your home inspector or electrician notes the presence of these panels you should be asking questions with your insurance company and loan institution.

Unfortunately, the "test of time" argument doesn't work very well for electrical equipment. Under normal conditions, a circuit breaker does nothing but pass current. The breaker is just waiting for an unsafe over-current to occur. So if an overload never happens you will not know if the breaker is defective.

There is simply no way to tell if the breakers will work properly unless an electrician overloads them and observes their response. Watch this short video on testing Zinsco breakers. 

As a home inspector I recommend their replacement. Electrical safety of this nature is not something to risk in my opinion.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein

NCW Home Inspections, LLC  is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…       

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