# Canada: Siemens vs. Stablok vs. Square D vs. Eaton



## ce2two

If it were my house :whistling2:, sq.D QO's...imho


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## parnellelectric

Second the QO


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## cguillas

Any particular reason? Quality? Affordability? Or because you can pinch breakers from work?


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## BurtiElectric

I would use Cutler Hammer CH


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## cguillas

BurtiElectric said:


> I would use Cutler Hammer CH


Same question... Why? Or why not the others?


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## parnellelectric

I use CH at work, they are good but the Sq-D stuff is a little more solid, seems to be built better.


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## ce2two

If i changed out my switch gear in my own commercial bldg. i would go with I LINE SQ.D ,the aforementioned sq.d QO'S in my house:laughing:Quality..:thumbsup:


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## SK Sparky

Stablok because you can weld with their 15a breakers.


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## BurtiElectric

CH is what I install. I dont like the neutral bar set up on QO, I also find that the metal expands on the breakers where it connects to the bus.

The CH panels have a higher AIC rating, a copper bus, a recessed nuetral bar for Snap on afci's, is physically larger and has many more provisions on the neutral bar. Also I can get the CH panel for less then the QO panel.


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## stuiec

Keep in mind that most of the replies you are getting are from American posters, and the layout of the loadcentres may be different due to 6-306.


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## Nigelforsythe

If it were my house I would put a QO panel in but I don't have much experience with anything else as almost every house where I live has a QO panel. Burtielectric what don't you like about the neutral bar? I've never had an issue with not enough space. Maybe they're different in Canada.


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## rdr

Something that has thrown me off about the panels up here is that almost always you can take the dead front off and all the lugs for the phases and neutral are separated from the breakers. 

It's not a bad idea. Just a little different.


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## stuiec

rdr said:


> Something that has thrown me off about the panels up here is that almost always you can take the dead front off and all the lugs for the phases and neutral are separated from the breakers.
> 
> It's not a bad idea. Just a little different.


If it is a load centre it should be always.


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## rdr

stuiec said:


> If it is a load centre it should be always.


Not so in the states. 
I'm an American transplant.


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## stuiec

rdr said:


> Something that has thrown me off about the *panels up* *here *is that almost always you can take the dead front off and all the lugs for the phases and neutral are separated from the breakers.
> 
> It's not a bad idea. Just a little different.


Yes, I know. :thumbsup:


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## rdr

stuiec said:


> Yes, I know. :thumbsup:


Nice, Columbo. It was you who stated the obvious. 



stuiec said:


> If it is a load centre it should be always.


I'm kind of still getting oriented again. :001_huh:


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## Nigelforsythe

stuiec said:


> If it is a load centre it should be always.


I agree. I know I feel safer with that barrier there when I'm working in an energized panel.


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## rdr

Like I said, not a bad idea, just different.

It seems more regulated than the states in general.


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## stuiec

rdr said:


> Nice, Columbo. It was you who stated the obvious.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm kind of still getting oriented again. :001_huh:


 
Not trying to be an ass, meant yes I know you are a transplant.

Also, I prefer Kojak :laughing:


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## Aegis

I like CH, bolt on and stab.


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## Vintage Sounds

Cutler Hammer BR panels are garbage. As far as what's out there today for resi panels I would think they are easily the bottom of the barrel. I hate them so much I would rather install a Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok panel. Made out of the flimsiest metal, poorly formed knockouts, an arc fault breaker the size of an aircraft carrier and a ridiculously placed neutral bar that prevents you from putting said gigantic arc fault breaker anywhere but the bottom third of the panel. It baffles me that Siemens can make an arc fault the size of a normal single pole breaker but Eaton can't. I would argue that whoever actually _chooses_ a BR panel over others, when options are available, is a masochist. I generally encounter these in mass production houses and nowhere else. They are not even significantly cheaper than the others either.

Siemens is good too(and made in Canada) but I like Square D QO because the neutrals are all up at the top and out of the way, like a commercial panel, and the enclosures are made of nice, solid metal. The breakers have a little red indicator to show when they're tripped, not that an electrician would need that to know when there's been a trip but others might. Again their arc faults are kind of bulky but at least in this case there is enough room in the enclosure to fit it comfortably. Siemens breakers might be a little cheaper though.

Stab-Lok was supposed to be replaced by Homeline....I hear they're not bad. Try that maybe?


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## kbatku

The new CH breakers have a "visi-trip" feature, like the SD. Unfortunately, this upped the price into the (ridiculous) QO-SD range. 

I don't like the regular CH for several reasons, one of which is that the breakers trip into the off position (no middle "tripped position") so when you are working on a panel it's hard to tell weather someone deliberately has a breaker turned off, or it is tripped. 

Plus, the neutral busses are oddly placed and difficult to put a wire into in a tidy manner. However, they are easier to punch a hole into in a convenient location (on the side, between the breakers and the can) if you need to.

I don't use SD-QO mostly because of the ridiculous price for the breakers and the limited selection of twins/quads. Want a full range of twins/quads? Go with Siemens.
Siemens isn't top shelf, but it certainly isn't junk either. Nobody is going to think you are trying to gold plate the job if you use ITE/Siemens, that's for sure. 

I ran a Stablock panel in my house for ten years - never saw a reason to change it out (it worked!) until I had a light fixture go into full-on meltdown mode and the panel didn't give two hoots. It got changed out the next day.   What did I use? CH - because I had a free panel my boss gave me (really) and a gob of breakers I bought cheap off Ebay (and then resold for a tidy profit, leaving me enough to do my own service change).


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