SquareD QO vs. Cutler Hammer BR?

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SquareD QO vs. Cutler Hammer BR?

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ultramegabob

ultramegabob

Senior Member
Location
Indiana
well, for higher quality, I would go with Square D QO, for lower price, I would go with Cutler Hammer, I have installed both and never had problems with either....
 
N

norcal

Senior Member
Neither, since they are both cheap junk, given a proper :D choice Cutler-Hammer CH since they have not been cheapened up to the same extent as current production QO.
 
goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
norcal said:
Neither, since they are both cheap junk, given a proper :D choice Cutler-Hammer CH since they have not been cheapened up to the same extent as current production QO.
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I'm not a CH fan. You obviously haven't had CH breakers fall out of their seated positions just by removing the panel cover. Somebody in the CH engineering dept failed on this one. Have you ever purchased a CH breaker where the additional spring clip wasn't installed on the clamping jaw. It's a one shot deal. It will plug in once but the clamping jaw spreads apart and eventually fail to make a good contact with the buss bar. Just my additional 2 cents worth after voting :roll:
 
GUNNING

GUNNING

Senior Member
Location
Gainesville, Florida
planned obsolescence

planned obsolescence

I make a living on failed QO, GE, BR, etc. breakers . I haven't seen that many Cutler Hammer CH breakers fail. I'm surprised when I find one. The others are cooked and the buss too. Its also always an incompatible metal problem. Aluminum vs steel except the QO its loose on the buss. But it is failed or failing and mostly about 3 breakers down. It would be the sizzling crackling smoking half dead one.

I think its called planned obsolescence.
 
G

guitarchris

Senior Member
Location
Central North Carolina
goldstar said:
I'm not a CH fan. You obviously haven't had CH breakers fall out of their seated positions just by removing the panel cover. Somebody in the CH engineering dept failed on this one. Have you ever purchased a CH breaker where the additional spring clip wasn't installed on the clamping jaw. It's a one shot deal. It will plug in once but the clamping jaw spreads apart and eventually fail to make a good contact with the buss bar. Just my additional 2 cents worth after voting :roll:
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CH is the way to go. We're been installing them for around 20 years and have only had one problem with a few breakers installed at the same time....the local rep said send'em all back and gave us all new. never had any fall out of the panel.
one point of interest: I like that Cutler Hammer panels (CH and BR) use metal for the rear hold down (if that's the proper term), SqD and most others are plastic which I feel will possibly fail long term.
 
76nemo

76nemo

Senior Member
Location
Ogdensburg, NY
I guess I am a minority here. I think QO sucks as far as stab. I like BR much better. BR is alot tighter fit. Who am I to say? Again, it is apparent I am the minority. I like SquareD, but the QO breakers are inferior in my eyes.
 
N

norcal

Senior Member
76nemo said:
I guess I am a minority here. I think QO sucks as far as stab. I like BR much better. BR is alot tighter fit. Who am I to say? Again, it is apparent I am the minority. I like SquareD, but the QO breakers are inferior in my eyes.
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SQ D QO breakers are a fine breaker, current production QO load centers IMO are Zinsco quality (as if the words Zinsco & quality should be used together) unlike the earlier QO panels which lived up to the reputation SQ D deserved then.
 
GUNNING

GUNNING

Senior Member
Location
Gainesville, Florida
The only reason I don't use cutler hammer CH breakers is there isn't a reliable supply house in town. The one place that sells them is hard to pin down on price or supply. They might have the breakers but not the switches. They might have the receptacles but not the receptacle plates. duh. They cater to commercial job lots not service work.
 
asti1

asti1

Member
Location
Easton, PA
CH

CH

Always used SD QO. I have did try CH on my last job. 120-208 @ 3phase. 1-400A MB and 2-200A subs MLO. 400A panel with 3-200A Brks and 2-200A panels filled with 20A Bkrs. Price: $1,400. Qual. A++++ It's Pluf and go. Ground buss incl. I love it. Go CH !!!!
 
S

Sharpie

Senior Member
Location
PA
I'm starting to go with CH. It seems to be a more solid product. There is one thing though, they trip to the off position instead of the middle pos. This makes it harder to spot the tripped breaker (although you don't get calls from the customer trying to figure out how to reset them!).
Another thing is the material of the busses: copper with silver plating, and some special coating over that. Silver supposedly keeps or gets better conductivity when it tarnishes.
 
J

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
Sharpie said:
Another thing is the material of the busses: copper with silver plating, and some special coating over that. Silver supposedly keeps or gets better conductivity when it tarnishes.
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Are you sure the bussing is not tin-plated copper?
 
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