Electric Panel

[brian_tr]

I have an old Zimsco electric panel.  When I got my hot tub 4 years ago the guy that did my wiring put in a 100 amp breaker to feed a new panel for my hot tub breaker.  He also had to move a couple of breakers from the Zimsco to the new panel to make room for the 100 amp breaker.  A light in one of my rooms starting flickering a couple of weeks ago.  I finally traced it down to the breaker in the Zimsco panel.  I pulled the breaker and it has been arcing on the bus bar.  I cleaned it up so that is making decent contact for now but I need to have the panel replaced as soon as possible.  Any suggestions on getting estamites or having work done?

[galen]

Brian, stay with one of the major makers. Off brands get you into trouble when its Sunday morning and you need something. Go to your neighborhood hardware store and find out what breakers they handle. Square D, GE, so on. Or if you have a Lowe's or Home Depot. They will have a better selection. Just stay with a major brand.

[Brewman]

If you're not up to doing the work yourselves, try and get a couple electricians to come out and bid the job.  Be prepared for sticker shock- unless the electricians in your area are looking for work.  
 In this area, a professional panel replacement would probably cost somewhere from $1000 to $2000, depending on your specific situation.

And most likely, a professional would provide you with viable components.
 Like mentioned above- GE and Square D are easy to find replacement breakers for, and Siemens are also pretty compatible.  

Doing it yourself is also possible, depending on the rules in your area, and you'd save a lot of money, but you'd need to work with the power company to have the power going into the panel shut off, and would have to work with local inspectors.  Not a good first project, but possible for someone familiar with this type of thing.  

[Chas]

In my experience, Square D is more expensive by far than GE. Square D has a lower-priced line, called "Homeline" which seems to be geared to the DIY. But I have not heard anything good about them in terms of quality.

GE breakers are stocked in most home centers, and you can use Challenger breakers as well, which are also common.

 8-)

[Spiderman]

If you go with Square D, go with the QO, not the homeline line.

[mattNY]

Price really does vary by area - I had my entire panel upgraded from an old 1960s era 100 amp panel to a 150 amp service with a panel that was about 4X larger than the old one.  It took 3 guys about 4 hours and cost $750 (I was quoted up to double that, called 4-5 different electricians), which included a new run of wire for the higher amperage service.  For that price, I was glad to get the whole thing done and taken care of, as it gives me expansion room and adds to the value of the house.  I had the same guys come back and wire in my hot tub 9 months later, it was $350, which I thought (and still do) was a really good price.

So my input would be, call around and make sure to get a lot of estimates, they can vary quite a bit.  

[Brewman]

I equate Square D Homeline series breakers to the same quality as GE.  The QO series is more expensive, but it's only a one shot expense.  There will probably be more breakers rated for compatibility in a GE panel- approved breakers will be liste on the panel.  The SquareD breakers are not compatible with each other series wise- you won't be able to put a QO breaker in a Homeline panel, and vice versa.
 Our main service panel is GE, but I ran a QO sub panel into our basement when I finished it.  That's where I learned about the new bedroom requirements for ARC fault breakers.  Those cost about 4X what regular breakers cost.

[Chas]

Yes, I would agree the breakers are about the same quality, but the Homeline boxes are not.

 8-)