How-to guide
How to Identify Your Electrical Panel Brand
Find out whether your panel is a Federal Pacific, Zinsco or Challenger without removing the cover.
YOU NEED: a flashlight and a phone camera. Do not remove the cover.
- Find the panel. Usually a garage, basement, hallway, or outside next to the meter.
- Read the label on the door — brand name, and often an amperage. Photograph it.
- Look for these names: Federal Pacific or FPE, Stab-Lok, Zinsco, GTE-Sylvania, or Challenger.
- Photograph the main breaker rating — the big one at the top. 60, 100, 150 or 200 amps.
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok, Zinsco and Challenger panels have a documented history of breakers that fail to trip under overload. A breaker that does not trip is not a minor defect; it is the removal of the only protection the circuit has. Modern AFCI and GFCI breakers are not made for these panels, so there is no way to bring one up to current protection standards. We quote them as a replacement rather than adding breakers to them.
Never remove the panel cover. The service conductors feeding the main lugs stay energized even with the main breaker off. There is no homeowner task inside a panel.