Had a 30-year-old Federal Pacific breaker finally let go in a 1970s panel I was updating last Tuesday.

It was feeding a kitchen circuit. Heard a pop, saw some arcing at the bus. Had to kill the main, pull the meter to be safe, and swap the whole panel. Makes you miss the simple screw-in fuses sometimes, even with all the safety gains. What's the oldest panel you've had to fully replace recently?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_leo2mo ago

That Zinsco panel from '68 is a real time capsule. Did you find any of those old stab-lok breakers that just wouldn't trip, or was it mostly just the corrosion on the bus bars? I've seen a few where the aluminum had turned to powder.

mary_nelson713mo ago

Green chalk bus bars? That's terrifying.

gray_morgan3mo ago

Just pulled a Zinsco panel from a 1968 split-level last month. The bus bars were so corroded they looked like they were made of green chalk. Homeowner was still using the original 40-amp double pole for a dryer.

pat_moore3mo ago

Green chalk bus bars" sounds like something you'd find in a haunted house, not a home's electrical panel. That 40-amp dryer circuit must have been putting in some serious overtime for decades. Honestly, it's a miracle the whole place didn't turn into a science fair volcano.