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Why Outdated and Unsafe Electrical Panels Should Be Replaced

As an owner or manager of the property in New York City, it is your job to ensure the safety of the building’s occupants. Whether it’s your own family or tenants who rent from you, their wellbeing is in your hands. Therefore, it’s essential you perform the repairs necessary to maintain safety, including electrical panel replacement when needed.

Here’s a look at why some electrical panels need to be swapped out. We’ll also give you the warning signs indicating your electrical panel may be bad.

What Do Electrical Panels Do?

Two important jobs

Your electrical panel serves two basic functions. The first is to provide electricity to your home, apartments, or condo units. It is an interface between electrical supply from the street to individual residences.

Second, your panel is a safety device. In the event of faulty or broken wiring or circuit overload, the panel trips a circuit breaker to the “off” position. This is intended to cut power to the circuit and prevent damage to the wires or even an electrical fire.

What Are the Warning Signs of a Bad Electrical Panel?

Brands deemed unsafe

There are some brands of electrical panels that should be replaced no matter what. These panels have been studied and found to be highly unreliable and even dangerous. They include:

• Federal Pacific Electric
• Federal Pioneer
• Challenger
• Bulldog Pushmatic
• Zinsco

Out of date

Electrical panels have a lifetime of about 40 years, at most. If your electrical panel is older than that, it’s probably time for a replacement. If you have a split-bus panel, where the breakers are divided into two sections with no single disconnect breaker, it’s usually older than 40 years.

Breakers trip constantly

Do your circuit breakers trip all the time, or do tenants complain of that? This is one of the telltale signs of a bad electrical panel, but it’s worth having professionals of Bolt Electric look for other issues as well.

It may be that you have too many items plugged into one circuit. You will either need to limit the number of items you have running together or rewire for more power. Power failures not due to larger electricity issues, like a city power outage, are always a sign something is wrong.

Burn marks on the panel

Burn marks or charred areas on the panel indicate there is already a fire hazard present. You may also notice melting of the insulation around wires to the panel. Usually, this happens when a breaker fails to trip and the panel overheats. It can also happen if there is a problem with the main connected to that part of the panel.

Sometimes this is accompanied by the smell and/or sound of metal burning (people describe it as sounding like bacon frying). Power may go out in all or part of the residence without the breaker ever tripping, which is a breaker malfunction.

Improper wiring

If you bought a property where someone did some DIY wiring (a huge mistake), there might be improper wiring to the panel. The breaker may be undersized for the circuit or otherwise mismatched for how it is being used. A licensed electrician can tell you if the wiring was done correctly or not.

Flickering lights

Lights that flicker or dim repeatedly are another sign of a bad breaker. This may be due to bad wiring, but it may also be an underpowered electrical panel (see below). In either case, this is a reason to call a professional electrician.

Underpowered panel

We use a lot more electricity than generations before us. Older panels were designed for lower use and are typically insufficient for today’s high-powered appliances and electronics. A 100-amp panel, for example, is not enough for 200 amps of power needed for running multiple electrical devices simultaneously.

Rust on the panel

Rust is the result of moisture on the panel, which is never a good thing. Not only should you replace the panel, but you should also determine the source of the moisture to prevent a recurrence.

Why Should You Replace a Bad Electrical Panel?

Health and safety

Obviously, some of the warning signs for a bad electrical panel point to safety issues. If your unsafe panel is a potential hazard, you don’t want to chance continuing to use it. Electrical shock or fire puts you, your family, and your tenants at risk for injury or worse.

Optimal function

An electrical panel that needs replacing can also be a nuisance. If it’s just your own family in the residence, that’s enough of a pain. But if you have renters relying on you for electricity, you don’t want them enduring tripped breakers and power outages.

Insurance and legal reasons

Continuing to use an electrical panel you know to be unsafe could invalidate your insurance. It could also put you at risk for a lawsuit. If you’re a landlord with electrical wiring that’s not up to code, you could face fines from the city too.

Call Bolt Electric for Electrical Panel Replacement

New York City’s experts

If your home or apartment building units need electrical panel replacement, we’re here to help. Ideally, replacing panels and doing other electrical work are done most easily during other renovations. However, we can also just replace your panels, along with any related wiring that needs updating.

Don’t wait for tenant electrical problems or a fire to replace a faulty or outdated panel. Call Bolt Electric at 212-434-0098, or send us a message via our online form today.