[farlsincharge]

This is a legitimate question. I have limited experience with them in my service area. I did spec, order and install a 600 amp CDP from them last year and had no issues. It was 1/2 the price of others and the ordering went well.

Is it a failure rate thing? Quality of construction? Company support? A disdain for the large corporation?

It seems to be a consensus on here that it sucks, and for me I can't see why.

 

[TOOL_5150]

because GE is garbage electric.

 

[MHElectric]

I wired up a couple of GE panels in a medical facility last year. They were the most raggedy, crappy junk that you could possibly get. Breakers would get stripped out left and right, even with a square shank.

But, their cheap.....so, if money is the ONLY deciding factor on a job, I'd use them in a heartbeat.

 

[Semi-Ret Electrician]

I can't figure out why they don't put a dab of lubricant on the stabs like civilized folks, so the plug in breaker stabs don't fold so often, when inserted.

 

[nrp3]

The black plastic seems to be brittle. '

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I have used Ge for the past 10 years or so and I have never had a problem. I have hardly any issues with the afci breakers compared to the popular cutler hammer. I have absolutely no luck with CH breaker esp the afci.

I have also change 4- 200 amp main breakers from CH panels where the mains won't turn off. I have a 600 amp service where there are 3 of them that I still need to do.

Talk crap all you want about GE but I think it is as good as any other brand especially in the resi area- don't know about commercially

 

[kbsparky]

I disagree, Dennis. We call it "GE JUNK" for a reason.

Especially the arc-fault breakers!

Just did an addition for a customer and had to use those blasted AFCI breakers. One of them started tripping out at random -- a real nuisance.

I replaced it with a Siemens breaker. The ones with the diagnostic lights that tell you if the last trip was a result of an arc-fault, overload, or short circuit condition.

(Side note: GE used to buy OEM Siemens arc-faults, and apply their own label on `em before they started making their own)

It has not tripped out SINCE.

I would not use ge junk if you gave it to me for free. :no:

 

[captkirk]

I have used Ge for the past 10 years or so and I have never had a problem. I have hardly any issues with the afci breakers compared to the popular cutler hammer. I have absolutely no luck with CH breaker esp the afci.

I have also change 4- 200 amp main breakers from CH panels where the mains won't turn off. I have a 600 amp service where there are 3 of them that I still need to do.

Talk crap all you want about GE but I think it is as good as any other brand especially in the resi area- don't know about commercially

OMG I wanted to take a sledge hammer to cutler and hammer afcis on a new house I did two years ago.... big pieces of bovine droppings....I feel the same about GE. If im installing the gear I steer clear of those products...I have had many issues with ge breakers as well...

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I disagree, Dennis. We call it "GE JUNK" for a reason.

Especially the arc-fault breakers!

Just did an addition for a customer and had to use those blasted AFCI breakers. One of them started tripping out at random -- a real nuisance.

I replaced it with a Siemens breaker. The ones with the diagnostic lights that tell you if the last trip was a result of an arc-fault, overload, or short circuit condition.

(Side note: GE used to buy OEM Siemens arc-faults, and apply their own label on `em before they started making their own)

It has not tripped out SINCE.

I would not use ge junk if you gave it to me for free. :no:

You can call it junk all you want- you cannot disagree with my experience-- sorry it doesn't work that way. I have no allegiance to GE in fact used CH exclusively until our supplier had a fallen out with CH. I reluctantly went with GE and I am very comfortable with it--

I have installed GE afci since afci came out and I bet I have had an issue with less than 6 of them and the problems I had were with electronics- TV's - causing them to trip. I installed a different generation breaker and all was well.

 

[MTW]

I rewired a house that had a fairly new GE panel. I added a bunch of circuits which naturally required AFCI's. All the AFCI's I added tripped at random. This was right around the time when the combo's were coming out so I switched out the combo's with the old style AFCI's that HD still had on the shelf, and that solved the problem. :whistling2:

 

[backstay]

I refuse to use GE products because of their CEO's involvement with the US government in a twisted quasi fascism.

 

[MHElectric]

I rewired a house that had a fairly new GE panel. I added a bunch of circuits which naturally required AFCI's. All the AFCI's I added tripped at random. This was right around the time when the combo's were coming out so I switched out the combo's with the old style AFCI's that HD still had on the shelf, and that solved the problem. :whistling2:

What brand do you normally install?

Homeline is the most common panel out here and most of the SH's carry it exclusively. This is what I typically use, but its only because its so readily available.

 

[MTW]

What brand do you normally install?

Homeline is the most common panel out here and most of the SH's carry it exclusively. This is what I typically use, but its only because its so readily available.

Homeline primarily distantly followed by Murray and CH-BR.

 

[micromind]

I do mostly comm'l/industrial, so I don't know about their resi stuff, but their industrial stuff is not very good.

On of the plants I work at has an Allen Bradley MCC with about 20 across-the-lines buckets and about 10 VFD buckets. I installed it about 6 years ago, and no one has had to repair anything in it.

About 2 years later, at the same plant, I installed a GE MCC; roughly the same type and number of buckets. Similar type of process, about the same size of motors.

So far they've burnt up two size 2 starters and one size 3. All 3 starters were operating within their ratings, they simply burnt up. They've had 6 breakers (in the MCC) that wouldn't close again after being opened. Not tripped, just turned off, and wouldn't turn back on again. Because of this, no one turns anything off in that MCC.

The A/B MCC arrived with controls that would interface with the PLC without modification. Each bucket in the GE MCC took me about an hour or two to modify to work with the PLC.

3 of the buckets in the GE MCC are 20 HP VFDs. In order to connect the power and controls, the face must be removed. This is pretty normal, but as installed in the bucket, I had to remove 2 or the mounting screws and loosen the other 2 in order to get the front off of the VFD. Worst design I've ever seen. There was plenty of room in the bucket; it would have been fine if they had mounted the VFD 1/4" further to the left.

The bus covers (where the bucket jaws connect) in the GE MCC are really difficult to remove, and fairly hazardous to remove when hot. Also, the jaws on the buckets don't always line up with the busses, often you have to pull the bucket back out and center them.

The location of the control terminal strip in their MCC buckets makes it nearly impossible to land the motor wires on the bottom of the starters. If it were moved about an inch to the left, it'd be easy to work with.

Should I keep going, or is this enough?

Lol.

 

[btharmy]

I got a call about a 1200 main ( in a GE spectra series switch gear) that tripped after a lightening strike. Upon arrival I found out the "T" handle was hit by a fork lift over a year before It was sitting on top of the gear in two pieces. I got out my trusty vice grips and clamped around the "shaft" sticking out the front of the switch. A couple pumps and it engaged just fine. Power restored and I call my local GE rep to order a new handle. "How did you reset the switch with no handle?" he says. "With vice grips" I respond. "Were you wearing voltage rated gloves?" he says. "Just leathers" I respond. "That shaft is energized! It is physically bonded to the B phase of the gear." He says. I checked it with my meter. Sure enough, it read 277v to ground. That is some STUPID engineering if you ask me.

 

[Paulusgnome]

I too have often wondered why GE products get such negative opinions on this forum.

Down here in the South Pacific we mostly use IEC gear domestically, and I'd say the GE is a fairly well-regarded brand for electrical switchgear. Not the biggest player in the market but among the bigger in the second rank, and definitely not a 'junk' brand.

I have spent the last 3 years working with whatever brand our customer asks for - AB, GE, Schneider, Siemens. A fair bit of our product has been going to the US lately, so we have used plenty of US-type breakers, contactors and miniature circuit breakers, also VFDs and Servos.
I really can't fault GE for product quality or speed of supply. Their technical backup is knowledgeable and easy to contact. My only compliant would be the difficulty finding and navigating around their technical document library, but they are no worse than any other electrical manufacturer in that respect.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

... A couple pumps and it engaged just fine. Power restored and I call my local GE rep to order a new handle. "How did you reset the switch with no handle?" he says. "With vice grips" I respond. "Were you wearing voltage rated gloves?" he says. "Just leathers" I respond. "That shaft is energized! It is physically bonded to the B phase of the gear." He says. I checked it with my meter. Sure enough, it read 277v to ground. That is some STUPID engineering if you ask me.

That is typical of older molded case breakers over 400 amps and is not exclusive to GE.

 

[frenchelectrican]

I have not very strong faith with the GE gears over here in France we have servial issue with them and thier products which I am not very happy with them due the way the bussbar setup and the breaker are not line up properly if not carefully.

Few months I have to pull out 1200 amp spectra breaker which I dreaded to pull it out but have to do it cold ( disengerized source ) which it shut down 3/4 of that manufactering plant and it was a pain in butt to replace it. ( the bussbar did not line up it was off by 2 mm. )

Even our European spec'ed GE breakers they were still not the best in France at all.

Merci,
Marc

 

[don_resqcapt19]

I often work in a plant with about 200 sections of GE MCCs, mostly the 7700 series, but some 8000 series. A lot of the 7700 stuff was installed in the mid 60's and they really don't have any issues with it.

However the last we installed was Eaton, but only because the new GE 9000 series, in a back to black layout is 26" deep and not 20" deep like the 7700 and 8000 series. We could not comply with 110.26(A) with 26" deep sections.

 

[Galt]

I like the cutler hammer CH panels and breakers.It seems nobody on here ever talks about them. I've used them for over thirty years and have yet to see one fail.