You don’t sound like a team player!
There’s a team?
Simply because the seemingly default is now 200 amps does not mean that a 100 amp service is not sufficient. Many homes with a 200 amp service are using less than half the capacity.
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Having supplied Pushmatic Breakers for 35 years, there is nothing wrong with them and there are replacements available The main problem I have seen is when they are dirty and particles get inside the breaker.
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One I did today is only being supplied with 40 amps (PV) to a 200 AMP panel.
What are the on / off buttons for above and below the main?
OK, so in a 4 point home inspections designed for the insurance company’s
They will ask you to identify the main components and answer basic questions
On this panel my answer to 3 of those would be
Older Pushmatic main panel, Stranded Aluminum Conductors present and Cloth Covered Wire present
After that it’s up to them.
On a Standard home Inspection I would put the same, but I would recommend review by a licensed Electrician.
That’s the smart thing for any inspector to do with these, so that we are not held responsible for an out dated box.
I promise your insurance company will agree!
This panel looks clean enough, and I have personally replaced some of these breakers because of them not resetting or sticking. Back then I thought they were pretty cool.
But honestly I think it fair and right to let our clients know that these have had a good and bad history and that most of the bad is because of age. If I had one in my house I would replace it and any old cloth wire because of the tendency to break down over time or animals that could have chewed on old wire in attic before I bought the home. The Aluminum wire is not a problem as long as it’s the right size and connection with Al option.
I have 8 grandchildren I would not want them living in a home with either of those products, I would drive across country change the box and rewire it today and that’s a promise.
I think my clients should have a right to know, research and make their own mind up.
I would recommend they read and then decide https://inspectapedia.com/electric/Pushmatic.php
At a young age I witnessed 3 children down the street from my house being carried out after a fire caused by bad electrical. I will never forget seeing the mother of that dead baby with blacken skin the day before she had him in a stroller up and down my sidewalk.
I have no clue what was really the case only it was electrical. After helping my grandfather replace a lot of old knob and tube with no ground wires and bad fuse boxes in our neighborhood back then, that would be my guess.
And I was under contract to rebuild homes for an insurance company for a few years till I couldn’t handle the smell any more. The last home I did people where burned badly and one died.
Most of those where electrical fires, like hurricane damage I’ve seen enough of it.
The point is these boxes might have been the Cadillac of their day, but that day has passed and I believe we will see a rise in future problems with them as they age.
I’m just saying for my family I’m not waiting for that day and it’s the honest thing to do in letting our clients know that those panels have seen better day’s and are out dated.
After that it’s up to them.
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That is one of the problems, they don’t always trip when needed. I am the AHJ here in my state, and we have to require obsolete panels to be replaced.
If you run into something like that you can recommend a safety inspection from your state electrical inspector. but it will probably result in the panel having to be replaced within 30 days depending on your states regulations. Most insurance companies do insure these homes but at a much higher rate.