kurt Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 I got back from Corey Friedman's electrical presentation just now, and among several very interesting things, he also allowed as to how he'd very recently met with Eaton rep's, and learned of interior changeout kits for Federal, Zinsco, and other "outdated" panels. Yes, I question the why not just change out the entire panel part, but apparently some folks @ Eaton are aware of the controversy concerning these panels. In my city, there are thousands of them in high rise apartment and condo buildings all over the city. Changing out entire building service equipment simply is not realistic on any level. The retrofit kits are mfg. to custom spec's. The larger story is the idea that major industries are paying attention to this stuff. If they are mfg. repair components, engineers in their companies think the stuff is crap too. The sales pitch(es) are...... Replaces "vintage" brands that have hard to find, expensive replacement breakers Allows upgrade to arc fault and gfci Maximizes # of circuits available with compact design Meet 2008 NEC bending requirements Eco-friendly in asbestos filled environments Uses existing panel box and wires Eliminates drywall and paint rpeair Saves 2-3 hours It's field adjustable so you get precision refits. I had one in my hands, and it was pretty darn cool. I've got the first brochure; I haven't looked hard at the Eaton site yet, but it must be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 If they've really figured out how to accommodate the necessary wire bending space, it sounds like a great idea. After all, the enclosure is just a box. If you can fit a new panelboard in it, great. A lot of the work in a box change out is threading all of the individual cables in & out of the boxes and keeping track of what's what. If you could change just the panel, you'd save a lot of time & frustration. - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Whitmore Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 I've heard of these things for several years now, but don't recall ever seeing one. Has anyone heard what the cost is for this kit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Hi Kurt, Is this it? Click Here or this Click Here I'm pretty sure this is it. Click Here ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Yep, it's the third one. It's custom fab with some built in adjustment allowances. Not complicated, logical, and it's just nice and heavy duty and sensible. I couldn't tell anything about how it fits with bending requirements, but I'm assuming that's part of the custom order component of this product. They've probably got old model enclosure dimensions cataloged, and they mfg. on limited runs for big projects. That Eaton is making them and referencing Zinsco and Fed Pac is the interesting part. This is huge validation for condemning the crappy panels if anyone still wants to argue the point. And, there's a lot of these in crappy public housing; there's gov't. money in play. That draws out the big boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Meyer Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Thanks, Kurt. I passed this along to some friends who are planning to replace an FPE panel as part of a kitchen remodel, this could save them some money. They just got the bid from their general contractor and are now looking for places to trim costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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