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Federal Pacific, Push-o-Matic, Zinsco and Wadsworth Electrical Panels

Posted on January 12, 2015 by

Performing electrical work for homeowners and finding solutions for their home electrical needs is easy for our electricians to stay passionate about. See, every service call is unique because no two houses are wired exactly the same – and every customer is different. Variety always keeps things interesting!

Some service calls are very straight forward while other service calls, we may run into something more unusual - like an outdated or obsolete electrical panel. There are four outdated breaker panels that come to mind: Federal Pacific (FPE), Zinsco (Sylvania), Wadsworth and Push-o-matic (Bulldog).

When I say these electrical panels are outdated, what I mean is we almost always recommend they be replaced.All of the above electrical panels have known safety issues and the circuit breakers are obsolete, expensive and difficult to find.

If you think your electrical panel may be one of the brands listed above, give us a call and we will come out and look things over. At Edison Electric, Inc. – we replace hundreds of electrical panels each year, giving our customers peace of mind by making the home safer. For more information call us at, 612-385.7864.

2 comments on “Federal Pacific, Push-o-Matic, Zinsco and Wadsworth Electrical Panels”

  1. Robert Anderson on

    Are you saying that the Wadsworth and Push-o-matic (Bulldog) are not up to code in Wisconsin. If a home inspector calls the breaker box marginal does that mean they are not up to code? Please explain.
    Thanks
    Bob

    • Electician Minneapolis on

      Hi Robert, thanks for the question. Push-o-matic and Wadsworth panels were UL listed and met the National Electrical code at the time they were manufactured. Due to code changes, some of those past designs may not meet today's current electrical codes for wire bending space.

      Push-o-matic circuit breakers tend to become hard to operate over time and the on/off indicating flag can stick causing a homeowner to believe the circuit is dead when it is not. Wadsworth circuit breakers tend to jam on short circuits as we have seen happen on two different occasions firsthand. Both Wadsworth and Push-o-matic circuit breakers are more expensive, harder to find and don't come with modern safety features like AFCI protection.

      If you would like to discuss these electrical panels further, give us a call - 612.385.7864

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