# GE or Square D



## Cletis (Aug 20, 2010)

Ge. Because my family made alot of money there.


----------



## Amish Electrician (Jan 2, 2010)

Well, from my point of view ....

GE gives crappy service, and their ground bar design sucks. They do offer copper busses, though, and their 'skinny breakers' straddle both phases.

Square D has a great ground bar, and their panel covers are held on with real screws.


----------



## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

FPE all the way.


----------



## Bulldog1 (Oct 21, 2011)

We use Cutler Hammer. I hate GE and Square D panels.


----------



## Bulldog1 (Oct 21, 2011)

TOOL_5150 said:


> FPE all the way.


Nah Bulldog is way better than FPE......:whistling2: :laughing:


----------



## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

I mainly do industrial and Eaton has the best stuff right now.


----------



## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

Eaton makes the chinciest crap for resi


----------



## sparkie2010 (Sep 15, 2009)

Eaton, better service from manufacture.


----------



## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

Bulldog1 said:


> We use Cutler Hammer. I hate GE and Square D panels.



BR or CH series?


----------



## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

Chris1971 said:


> BR or CH series?


He said before he uses mainly br


----------



## Techy (Mar 4, 2011)

if i get to choose i prefer Eaton/CH, but we mostly get GE.


----------



## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

This post is like comparing ford to chevy. Waste of time IMO.


----------



## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Chris1971 said:


> BR or CH series?


Chris is right on here. there is a huge difference in the two. One is **** the other one is the ****.

Nothing is worse than the Sq-d neutral bars though. My self I use copper buss Seimens when I can.


----------



## sparkie2010 (Sep 15, 2009)

I just use Eaton CH and BR. :thumbsup:


----------



## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

Chris1971 said:


> This post is like comparing ford to chevy. Waste of time IMO.


 

or jesus to ala


----------



## Traderkito (Jan 12, 2012)

*either or*

I use G.E. in all residential, they give me great prices and I rarely have any problems with there products. I like the ge ground bars. Square D is good if your using the QO panels there home line stinks.
Comercial bolt-ons I use who ever gives me the best price and is availible when I need it.


----------



## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

mcclary's electrical said:


> or jesus to ala


Or apple to mircosoft.


----------



## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

Chris1971 said:


> Or apple to mircosoft.


 

or rock to rap


----------



## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

Bruce lee or chuck norris


----------



## BuzzKill (Oct 27, 2008)

mcclary's electrical said:


> or rock to rap


that's a huge difference.


----------



## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

Mary Ann to Ginger


----------



## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

BuzzKill said:


> that's a huge difference.


One sucks, one doesn't


----------



## walkerj (May 13, 2007)

Zog said:


> I mainly do industrial and Eaton has the best stuff right now.


Eaton has been having the right price on most of our jobs the past couple years.
PRL1Panels and Pow-R-Line switchboards. 

Very easy maintenance on these panels and they are easy to modify the layout of breakers and such in the cans.


----------



## Cletis (Aug 20, 2010)

*know*

Here's what I know. I install whatever is in stock and descent price. I alternate alot just to stay fresh. I've done probably 1k-2k panel changes in 20 yrs and NO ONE has ever called me back due to a defect so....I can't say one is better than the other except for easy of installation and cost


----------



## sparkie2010 (Sep 15, 2009)

Cletis said:


> Here's what I know. I install whatever is in stock and descent price. I alternate alot just to stay fresh. I've done probably 1k-2k panel changes in 20 yrs and NO ONE has ever called me back due to a defect so....I can't say one is better than the other except for easy of installation and cost


You go by Cletis. I cant find you if I tried :laughing::laughing::laughing:


----------



## chris856 (Jun 12, 2009)

QO for resi. They feel like they have the tightest connection to the bus. The neutral bar is only a problem to me when I am adding to someone elses work and they used up all terminals on the front.


----------



## Magnettica (Jan 23, 2007)

chris856 said:


> QO for resi. They feel like they have the tightest connection to the bus. The neutral bar is only a problem to me when I am adding to someone elses work and *they used up all terminals on the front.*



Same here. I hate when happens. 

I mostly use Cutler-Hammer. Sometimes the CH line but it is an extra because it does cost more. And then I use the BR line if we're doing something more economical. The truth be known, if a customer asks for a specific brand then thats what I'm going to give them. When requests are made it's mostly for Square D 'QO'. People seem to be most familiar with the Square D name. I also like using QO for portable generator emergency panels because the manual transfer switch and back-feed breaker tie down are cheap and do a good job and are high quality.


----------



## mbednarik (Oct 10, 2011)

I am thinking about switching from siemens to GE. Mainly because of AFCI failures. Seems to be about 1 out of 5 get warrentied within 2 years. I have put a couple of QO panels in some new homes not completed yet, i will see how their AFCI's hold up.


----------



## Magnettica (Jan 23, 2007)

mbednarik said:


> I am thinking about switching from siemens to GE. Mainly because of AFCI failures. Seems to be about 1 out of 5 get warrentied within 2 years. I have put a couple of QO panels in some new homes not completed yet, i will see how their AFCI's hold up.


The Cutler-Hammer BR AFCI breakers have been solid for me. Not one call back ever. I've installed maybe 50 of them and no issues. You might want to consider the CHBR AFCI breakers in the future.


----------



## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

Square d QO for resi, commercial and switchboards. Its absolutly the best by far:thumbsup: Never have had problems with their products. Homeline is great for cost economy.

GE would be one of my last choices, horrible customer service and their products are flimsy. (screws tend to strip on breakers and bus bars) Every time I call GE for replacement parts Im told I have to pay extra because Its obsolete and Im talking about 10 year old equipment


----------



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

jmdcnc said:


> Do you guys prefer GE or Square D? Why? What type of work do you do - resi, commercial, industrial? What concerns might you have in switching gear lines?


I use Siemens, Murry or Cutler Hammer. I hate* GE* and Square D panels. :thumbup:


----------



## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

In my mind, these two are pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum. 

Square D is far superior, both push-in and bolt-on. 

Although, I have to agree with a few others, Eaton has come out with some pretty good stuff lately.


----------



## MarkyMark (Jan 31, 2009)

Exclusively light commercial - I use Square D whenever I am installing new stuff. Very few supply houses around here stock Seimens or GE. I have no preference between CH and Square D from a quality standpoint. Price-wise, when I send jobs out to bid they are both equally competitive. I have just known the Square D reps for years and always gotten good service from them.


----------



## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

Square-D every day of the week, and twice on Sunday, on the rare occasion that I work on Sunday. I am definitely not a fan of the QO Arc Faults though. Take up a redonkulous amount of room.


----------



## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

mcclary's electrical said:


> or jesus to ala


 Allah...

Ive been using GE but ive gone back to QO. Breakers are solid, homeowners love the red dot and the high neutral buss makes service upgrades a little easier when the wires are short..


----------



## Stab&Shoot (Aug 23, 2011)

Square D because I like a Tight and Secure fitting breaker. I will fall back on a siemens or CH though. Hate GE products as a whole.


----------



## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Who cares about customer service when it comes to panels. How many times do you need help from the manufacturer on a panel? I can say in my entire career, I have never called customer service or technical service on a panel. Ever.
I have called for many other things, but never a panel.


----------



## Magnettica (Jan 23, 2007)

John Valdes said:


> Who cares about customer service when it comes to panels. How many times do you need help from the manufacturer on a panel? I can say in my entire career, I have never called customer service or technical service on a panel. Ever.
> I have called for many other things, but never a panel.


Customer service is the most important thing a small business can offer their customers. The reason for using higher quality material like Square D, or CH, is to limit the amount of call backs for stupid **** like, "this breaker makes noise". And with Square D people know that name and associate it with quality. Using better material tells your customer that you're a good contractor, not an average, or worse, a bad contractor.


----------



## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

I have always used Murray after Bryant was sold to Westinghouse and so on..

Never has a problem with breakers or buss bar melting on any of my jobs..

Some guys think they are getting a better product because it cost more money.. IMO.. :no:


----------



## Stab&Shoot (Aug 23, 2011)

Magnettica said:


> Customer service is the most important thing a small business can offer their customers. The reason for using higher quality material like Square D, or CH, is to limit the amount of call backs for stupid **** like, "this breaker makes noise". And with Square D people know that name and associate it with quality. Using better material tells your customer that you're a good contractor, not an average, or worse, a bad contractor.


Mag I think he is referring to the customer support level of the panel manufacturers.


----------



## MarkyMark (Jan 31, 2009)

John Valdes said:


> Who cares about customer service when it comes to panels. *How many times do you need help from the manufacturer on a panel?* I can say in my entire career, I have never called customer service or technical service on a panel. Ever.
> I have called for many other things, but never a panel.


Residential panel? - never. Commercial and Industrial panels and equipment? - enough where it is definitely a legitimate consideration.


----------



## Sparky208 (Feb 25, 2011)

I do all commercial and industrial. When I first started we used all square D. Then to keep the cost down my boss switched to GE. I guess square d is always almost double the cost to GE. I hate GE stuff, the Allen screws strip out to easy on the lugs.


----------



## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

I don't like GE myself. The other three are interchangeable as far as I'm concerned.


----------



## walkerj (May 13, 2007)

Here is some eaton gear we installed last week. 
Real easy to bolt the bus together.

Sent by my thumbs.


----------



## oldtimer (Jun 10, 2010)

walkerj said:


> Here is some eaton gear we installed last week.
> Real easy to bolt the bus together.
> 
> Sent by my thumbs.





THERE IS A BODY IN THE WAY!!!


----------



## piperunner (Aug 22, 2009)

Well Square -D is the best we do commercial new work only its smaller in size so it fits in todays tight designed projects it does cost more because its well made not cheap junk like GE or Eaton .

And its easy to work on and terminate with out falling apart like GE & Eaton and Square -D,s submittals are complete .We would perfer SQ-D over any other junk .

GE needs to re think there products there getting really cheap plus there larger in size then most gear .

When you bolt the bus bars together in SQ-D switchgear they flip over easy parts are already on the bus and we like the I-Line breakers .


----------

