Are obsolete Sylvania Panels listed for use with GE circuit breakers?

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LeeB

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Does anyone know if Sylvania panelboards are listed for use with GE circuit breakers? I have seen some Sylvania panels with all GE breakers and am assuming that Sylvania had their panels listed for use with GE breakers, but I am not certain. Any ideas on the best route to verify what breakers are listed for use in these obsolete panels would be appreciated.

Thank you!
 
yes, sandsnow has it correct. GTE/Sylvania...Challenger...Westinghouse/Bryant...Eaton/Cutler Hammer. The current BR breaker should also indicate the old cat# of Sylvania.
 
Jraef said:
I think Zinsco morhed into oblivion... with good reason. :sick:
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When I was young in this trade I used to think Zinsco was the stuff I mean the good stuff. You had the skinny breakers that each pole was opposite. You had the full hieght that you could change the phase by flipping the clip.... WOW until I started to see the burned up busses.

I really don't know if the percentage of failures is any greater than with other older panels.
 
Sylvania legacy falls to Eaton
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I'm pretty sure that this not correct. The one exception (sort of) would be Challenger. According to wikipedia, the Challenger line was sold off and became an independent company. (I didn't know this before, and I have not seen Challenger panels marked with the Sylvania name, which is not to say they don't exist.) Challenger was bought by Eaton, (which is to say, Cutler Hammer, Eaton's brand for distribution equipment), so I believe that in at least some cases CH breakers can be used in Challenger panels. Perhaps also in some 30+ year old Challenger panels marked with the Sylvania name.

Also according to wikipedia, Zinsco was absorbed by Sylvania in 1973. Sylvania made replacement breakers for Zinsco panels for a few years, and I've seen some of that equipment. GE breakers bear no resemblance whatsoever to Zinsco breakers, so I doubt that this is the 'obsolete Sylvania panels' being referred to. Probably it is a Challenger.

In any case, I find it odd that the question is about GE breakers. I've been told that GE breakers only go in GE panels and vice versa.

Sylvania, apparently, still exists as Osram Sylvania. Don't think they do distribution equipment at all anymore though, or use the Sylvania name in North America.
 
GTE bought Zinsco Electrical Products ( Los Angeles gift to the electrical industry), which they renamed as Sylvania, which later was sold & became Challenger, Westinghouse later bought them & when Westinghouse sold their industrial divisions, Eaton bought the electrical div., & merged it into their Cutler-Hammer line, the Challenger brand & the Westinghouse safety switch line was sold to T&B after that things got rather murky.

In terms of GE breakers fitting Zinsco/Sylvania panels a Challenger bolt-on breaker will fit a GE panelboard, & have seen a GE TED in a Sylvania switchboard where all the other breakers were FPE* (OEM ), I doubt they were ever subjected to any inspection or were listed /classified for the purpose.

FPE breakers were used in Zinsco / Sylvania equipment where the voltage exceeded 240V or was larger then 225A, after Westinghouse took over they rebranded Westinghouse breakers as Challenger in most cases.
 
Jraef said:
I think Zinsco morhed into oblivion... with good reason. :sick:
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No argument there; it was the worst equipment made, or close to it. But I was thinking I had seen a label on a Zinsco panel with Sylvania's name also shown.
 
You can't keep the players straight without a scorecard ... what with all the splits, mergers, sell-offs, etc. In some instances -Zinsco is one- different breaker lines went to different firms altogether.

One particular 'electrical expert' over in the HI twilight zone has gone so far as to doubt whether new AFCI breakers are 'listed' for use in older panels of the same make because .... voila! .... the panels were never evaluated for use with breakers that had not yet been invented. Ohhhh Kaaay....

Still ... I am not aware of GE breakers evern being used in / evaluated with anything but GE panels. I don't know of any 'panel shops' that used the GE breakers- while I've encountered many that used C-H, Murray, and Siemens. So, odds are, the GE breakers are not really supposed to be in the panels.

Is there a problem with this? From a 'paperwork' aspect, there surely is. In reality? Well, as the entire 'classified breaker' furball revealed, the conflict is one based more upon marketing strategies than any technical issue. A review of DOD contracts will show that GE, Siemens, and others are quite willing to stipulate that their panels are perfectly fine with other brands of breakers in them - a position quite different from the one you'll hear when you call them up. UL is quite happy to stand apart from this hot potato.
 
I got the straight story from an old Sylvania employee.
Sylvania panelboards at one time could be had with either GE or Sylvania circuit breakers.
If they are mixed in the panel, then someone did that after it left the factory.

Eaton is legacy support for Challenger. PM me for UL documentation on that.

Legacy support for Sylvania does not exist. You can try a company called TEAMCO in Santa Fe Springs that does some new manufacture of obsolete items.

Commercial grade Zinsco used Federal and GE in the boards I worked on. These were all bolt on and in panelboards and switchboards. The smaller panelboards used a bolt on Zinsco breaker. None of that equipment ever had any burn out problems.
 
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