Review on 🔧 UBIZ0220 RC3820 Replacement: Enhanced Performance by Connecticut Manufacturer by Jimmy Jefferson

My niece's house was built with a circuit breaker manufactured by the defunct Zinsco company. In fact, there are Zinsco boxes in my house and in my relatives' house as well. This company's equipment is commonly used in homes built in our area of California in the 1950's and 60's. Recently my niece overloaded one of the circuits in her kitchen with a combination of appliances that she had apparently never used at the same time before. At first it didn't seem like much as I easily figured out how she managed to trip the circuit breaker when she called me. She told me that she went to her electrical box and tried to reset the circuit breaker, but there was still no power on this side of her kitchen. I persuaded her to reset the switch a second and third time, each time making sure she actually pushed the switch to the off position as firmly and as far as possible before pushing the switch back to the on position. After the third attempt, the failed circuit worked again. Knowing that her house was built in 1975 and had two other circuit breakers (and a neutral/ground bus that was actually defective!) replaced for her, I felt that this current circuit breaker situation required attention. I told her not to do anything to make this switch stop working and not turn it off and I will order and install a new switch when it arrives. Which brings me to my next review: The switches I used as replacements are brand new and were made by Connecticut Electric for those old Zinsco breaker boxes. It's getting extremely difficult to find new old Zinsco brand breakers and honestly I don't think buying and using Zinsco brand breakers (even new old ones) is a good idea. Because all Zinsco brand circuit breakers were designed and manufactured so long ago, no matter what tests they were subjected to back then, they are nothing like what Connecticut Electric circuit breakers endure today. In fact, if you search for Zinsco Switch boxes you will find a number of sources for problems people have had over the years, some of them severe. But in all fairness to the design and build quality of these boxes, I haven't seen any of the problems that some Zinsco boxes have had in the three breaker boxes I have direct access to. I tend to think that most of the problems encountered are likely due to poor or incorrect maintenance and/or repairs. All I had to do was swap out old and worn circuit breakers when they needed replacing (my niece's house is 46 years old, my mother-in-law's house is 54 years old, and my house is 64 years old). Nothing wrong with this particular new circuit breaker from Connecticut Electric other than it didn't fit in my niece's circuit breaker box, which is what we needed. Why? This is mainly my fault for trusting the picture on the Revain webpage I bought it from rather than reading the full description and then double checking the Connecticut Electric webpage. Problem? I needed a replacement for a "double tandem single pole" single throw circuit breaker and this circuit breaker (UBIZ0220) is a "two tandem double pole" "common throw" circuit breaker. Big difference! This switch could be used to replace the old tandem switch, but it would mean that if something triggered the switch on one side of the kitchen, both sides of the kitchen would be off. Not a disaster, but not what we wanted. The Revain site that sells this jackhammer has the wrong picture (I went back and checked) showing a split throw jackhammer. I'm keeping it because all of our switch boxes use these switches as well as separate ejectors. I have already ordered a new switch, received it and installed it in my niece's switch box so it is in good condition now. Just don't rely on the images on the Revain site (and no, I didn't see the disclaimer that the image may not be the breaker I bought). As for Connecticut Electric's circuit breakers themselves? They're great, work great, are reasonably priced and readily available for breaker boxes made decades ago!