Bulldog Pushmatic Breakers: this article describes potential fire and safety hazards where certain Bulldog & ITE-Pushmatic circuit breakers and electrical panels are used. We solicit field failure and field inspection reports of questionable or possibly problematic electrical equipment in buildings such as the Bulldog™ and ITE-Pushmatic® brands described here.
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As of February 2009 we had received occasional field reports on product failures of PushMatics, and older similar Bulldog circuit breakers and electrical panels, but not enough data to reach a sound conclusion about the reliability and safety of this electrical equipment. we had been unable to find independent research reports on this product.
By April 2011, preliminary results of yet incomplete testing of a wider range of brands of residential electrical panels and circuit breakers, conducted by David Carrier, an electrical engineer, had begun to suggest some failures to trip among certain Bulldog, ITE & Siemens ITE.
That testing remained incomplete. Interestingly, in addition to the anticipated higher failure to trip rates among FPE Stab-lok design breakers Carrier was seeing an unanticipated trip failure rate among certain Murray circuit breakers and certain Challenger circuit breakers, Crouse Hinds circuit breakers. [1]
Photo of a Pushmatic electrical panel at left courtesy of Matt Steger.
Our own personal experience with inspecting and on occasion using ITE Pushmatic circuit breakers and panels did not encounter product failures and our lay opinion was that the product appeared (to visual inspection) well made. But at InspectAPedia.com we have received increasing questions about and mixed reviews about this product design.
This web page provides a contact point for inspectors to send field inspection reports, field failure reports, and reports of research, product history, and safety opinions regarding Pushmatic brand and Bulldog brand electrical panels.
ITE Siemens Pushmatic™ - Pushmatic Electri-Center® "ITE Bulldog" and ITE Pushmatic products continue for sale new from various electrical suppliers. [Note: Previously ITE was a separate brand before the mark was purchased by Siemens.]
Watch out: new ITE Bulldog or ITE Pushmatic products may not be suitable for some older electrical panels carrying those brand names. Our understanding is that the Pushmatic brand is currently owned by Siemens.
For example, dual 15A P1515 "condensed-space" Pushmatic circuit breakers will not fit in an older Gould ITE Pushmatic electrical panel - insertion is blocked by a vertical bar. DO NOT modify electrical equipment to "force" it to fit. Doing so is a violation of the electrical code and unsafe.
ITE Imperial Corporation, Philadelphia, PA (photo at above left)
Bulldog Pushmatic - Automatic Protection Push Button Control by Bulldog Electric Prod. Co. of Detroit, MI.
ITE Pushmatic Bulldog History & Distribution
These products were sold throughout North America. The original product name was Bulldog Pushmatic, a company also known for designing the Vac-U-Break circuit breaker. ITE purchased the brand (ITE Intermatic). Siemens purchased ITE. An electrical panel bearing the Bulldog brand probably dates from the 1950's.
Pushmatic & Bulldog circuit breakers use a thermal breaker design with no magnetic trip mechanism. Modern breakers incorporate both magnetic and thermal tripping mechanisms, increasing safety and the likelihood that they will function properly in the event of an overload or short circuit.
Operating difficulty: The design of the breaker is such that, over time, they become very stiff and difficult to operate or reset.
State of breaker On-Off unclear: Push-Matic breakers have an indicator flag showing whether the circuit is on or off. Many times, on old Push-Matic breakers, this on/off flag will stay fixed in either position, giving you a false indication of the condition of the circuit. The internal flagging mechanism that indicates the state of the circuit breaker as "on", "Tripped", "off" fails inside of individual circuit breakers, making it difficult for a building occupant or owner to know the condition of the breaker - in our opinion this is a significant potential shock hazard.
Greg Bell, a Florida home inspector offers the following additional details, (edited and supplemented by DJF)
Bulldog panels use a unique, proprietary type of circuit breaker called a "Pushmatic." Bulldog panels with Pushmatic breakers indicate an older system that is no longer manufactured, making replacement parts difficult or expensive to find. There appear to be two major problems with Pushmatic Breakers:
Bulldog circuit breakers use a solely-thermal breaker design (they have no internal magnetic trip mechanism) - what this means to consumers is that the circuit breaker lacks one of the mechanisms used by newer equipment to increase the probability that the breaker will trip OFF when it should to protect the building from a fire - it may be therefore less inherently safe and reliable than other designs
Bulldog circuit breakers are "grease fed" - if the circuit breaker is not not used (exercised) and serviced regularly they become stiff and difficult to operate or reset. (Mr. Greg doesn't conclude that this means they also don't trip, but that is plausible question) . Greg adds and we agree that no official study has been conducted documenting unusually high failure to trip rates and opinions of electrical professionals vary on the need to replace or upgrade thee panels.
The inspector concludes with an advice paragraph suggesting that the home inspector call for an electrician to shut down the panel power, inspect and check the contacts for rust and corrosion, and proper bus-bar contact.
Our OPINION is that this is unreliable advice since it begs the question of whether or not the INTERNAL parts of the breaker are unreliable and it may fail to trip in response to overcurrent.
Field Failure Reports on Pushmatic or Bulldog Circuit Breakers
Contact Us to Provide Pushmatic or Bulldog Electrical Equipment Field Failures & Observations
We are grateful to readers, owners, home inspectors who report their experience with Bulldog Push-Matic electrical equipment. Contact Us (by email only, please) with any field observations of apparent failures, overheating, damage, product photos. We continue to collect and report Bulldog Pushmatic equipment data, and we credit contributors here.
Report ITE Pushmatic or Bulldog Electrical Panel Failures to the US CPSC
In addition to informing us of an ITE Pushmatic or Bulldog electrical panel or breaker event so that we can add this incident report to the data base we maintain, we encourage readers to report such events also to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission - it's easy: you can use a simple form at the CPSC's website: https://www.cpsc.gov/incident.html or you can send the CPSC email on incidents to: info@cpsc.gov
And we would appreciate hearing from professionals, home inspectors, electricians, engineers, regarding their opinion on what is sound, professional, unbiased advice that protects consumers without making unsupportable claims in this matter.
US Military base experience with Bulldog Push-o-Matic higher amp circuit breakers overheating, 06/18/2010 - I work for a company who contracts with the Air Force. We service about 90 housing units all with pushmatic breakers. These houses were built in 1934 and the pushmatic breakers installed in the 50's. We are just now seeing evidence of over heating damage on some of the larger breakers, mainly 40 amp and higher. We changed out the breakers and everything is fine but we have had some of the other housing units now showing signs of the same trouble. We are now trying to convince the Air Force to change out the breaker boxes. --MP
Fullerton, CA Bulldog Push-O-Matic Field Failure report from electrical engineer, 04/25/2009 - We had a Bulldog "failure" this morning, in our own house, at about 1:20 a.m., according to the stopped clocks. At this hour, the only circuit drawing significant current is the refrigerator. The air conditioner and heater were off. The kitchen oven and cooktop are gas. I ... noticed all the lights, etc. in our house were out. Of course, first thoughts are a block power failure. The street lights were on. Next test, is to look at neighbor's lighting. None seen. Now I went to the main panel, in the backyard, an old original design 100 amp Bulldog panel with a dual 100 amp main breaker under the meter. There were no locks on the two panel doors. Some Bulldog panels I service DO NOT have this "feeder" breaker-- the main buss from the meter feeds the branch breakers directly!
... the dual 100 amp breaker in our panel failed "open", apparently without any significant load, I say failed, since none of the branch breakers were tripped, the trip currents being a max of 30A on any circuit -- I cannot imagine, nor did I see any indication of the remnants of a short between the main breaker and the branch breakers. Of course, the possibility of a prank or attempted burglary (power shutoff disables a lot of telephones) is always there. I will monitor this breaker and give you any updates if they occur.
A neighbor with the same vintage panel as mine recently asked for help with a circuit blowing a 20 amp Bulldog (severely overloaded due to room addition and microwave oven installation), and I Amp-Clamp measured almost 30 amps before the breaker would open!! That was after a five minute wait. I do not have access to the trip curves of that breaker, that seemed very high to me! Admittedly, #12 can handle 30 amps, but the NEC code does not allow 30 amp breakers on #12 wire as a safety factor.
I am a former aerospace electrical engineer, former electronics engineering and electrical trades instructor, and recently "soft" retired electrical contractor/repairman operating Multimetrics Electric Services, Fullerton, CA , License #C10-777049 for the last 10 years. I am acutely interested in electrical failures/anomalies, for the same reasons you are. Panel "Fix or Replace" decisions can be very costly, and also scar up property unnecessarily on occasion. Power upgrades are one thing, but to replace based upon statistical field experience can be tricky, since environment, original quality of installation, etc. can be factors. I do have a small inventory of replacement Bulldog breakers, but do not have the main 100 Amp breaker. It appears to have a slightly different installation "finger" than the branch circuit breakers for installation, two of the four screws going to the always hot main buss from the meter. It is extremely hazardous to install this without pulling the
meter. It can be done,
with a screw holding insulated shaft screwdriver, but takes good steady nerves!
We recently returned from a three week trip, can you imagine what the freezer and refrigerator would look and smell like with an unintentional long term power failure?? I have been through that already once in my life (from a faulty plug/socket connection to a garage freezer!). -- Edward (Ed) Cohn,
Multimetrics Electric Services,
Fullerton, CA 92838,
n6ec@aol.com
Bulldog Push Matic Reports concern for failures, suggests thermal scanning for hotspots. But no actual failure data is cited. We like thermal scanning for finding live electrical problems, but the absence of any problem indicator during a thermal scan of electrical equipment can be unreliable since a circuit may not be in use at time of scan. -- http://www.justanswer.com/questions/1pw7n-apartment-complex-200-pushmatic
Bulldog Pushmatic Failure report: The other night I plugged in a 1500 watt electric heater, and after a few minutes, all the lights in my 1958 house went out. I unplugged the heater, and went outside to the breaker box. I pressed all the 'Pushmatic' breakers (probably shouldn't have done that, but I wasn't sure which one was the problem). After a few tries, everything was working again, including the socket I had plugged the heater into, but there a few lights here and there which wouldn't go on, nor the furnace ...
Next day, I could see the breakers better, and I noticed one of them wouldn't go 'on'. 'Off' always shows. It seems to press in ok, but it doesn't pop out well, like maybe it's sort of stuck, or maybe broken inside somehow. As far as I can tell, nothing is plugged into that circuit, or on. I've lived here for 25 years, and I can't recall this happening before. My first thought was that I should just call an electrician and have a new circuit breaker panel put in.
Online investigation shows that some people think that's a great idea, and others think it's not necessary. There's also the question of whether I should attempt to replace the breaker myself, and save a lot of money. I'm an engineer, and I was an electronics technician in the Army, so I'm not without skills.
Somebody said that working on the Pushmatic panel is very dangerous. That doesn't sound good. You're supposed to turn off the main breaker before you do anything, but the problem is, there is no breaker labeled 'Main Breaker', let alone having a sign saying 'Turn Me Off First'. There are three large breakers at the top, labeled 'Garage' (40), 'Back Room' (30), and 'Lower Main' (50). Below the last one are several 15 and 20 amp breakers, including the problem child. My question is, if I turn off all the breakers on the panel, will it be safe to replace the one that won't go on? It seems that there should be a switch outside of the circuit breaker box, so you could be sure the whole box is off, but I can't see one. The meter is right above it. Help! -- http://www.selfhelpforums.com/archive/index.php/t-10032.html
Bulldog Pushmatic Junk-A-Matic Claim by Electrician: "I used to call them Junk-A-Matics. On my service truck, back in the 60's and 70's I carried 10 Push-a-Matic breakers in my truck to 1 of all the other brands because they failed that much faster. I don't think you have a fire hazard but change it out if it were me - Jim -- http://www.electricalknowledge.com/forum/archives/851.asp
Bulldog Push-Matic Report of difficulty to operate:
It was one of the only residential panels with bolt on breakers, which eliminates a common failure point. They only lasted in production until the early 80's. They were hard for older folks to press in and out, and sometime if you didn't press them hard enough, you might have thought the circuit was off, when it actually indicates 'on'. In any event, they always tripped when they were supposed to. There is some urban myth to the contrary, but that was never the case.
Pushmatic was called several different brands as they were bought out over the years. Pushmatic, Bulldog, ITE/Pushmatic, Siemens/Pushmatic. I'm about 99% sure that Siemens still has them, because I still get Pushmatic breakers from my Siemens dealer.
You can replace that panel if you want to, but I see no overwhelming reason to do so. Add a sub panel of another more common brand if you feel you need to, using the last two spaces in your panel to feed that sub panel.
Yes, the Pushmatic breakers might be a little harder to source and a little bit more expensive than the typical Square D breaker, but most folks can deal with that. I wouldn't hold it against you if you did want to replace that panel, but unless it's suffered damage of some sort, there's just no clear reason to do so. -- http://www.diychatroom.com/f18/need-replace-pushmatic-panel-3654/
Report of No Trouble with Bulldog Pushmatic:
I have a pushmatic panel in a commercial setting, I have been maintaining for 25 years (although panel is probably 50 years old). I totally agree with Marc...It is a good panel, but hard to read the on/off in the window.
Put it another way, I have never had to take the cover off of this
panel! It has always been a branch circuit load or fault problem
if the cb tripped; such as lighting ballast melting, 3 refrigerators on
one circuit, etc -- http://www.selfhelpforums.com/archive/index.php/t-10032.html
Patent Infringement: 1953 case of Westinghouse v Bulldog Electric Products Co - giving us an idea of the age and history of the Bulldog brand. Westinghouse sued Bulldog for patent infringement. The document is useful for pointing out technical differences among similar-looking products. The Plaintiff's complaint was dismissed. A copy of the court document is available here.
Current Advice for Owners of Properties Using a Pushmatic or Bulldog Electrical Panel
Home inspectors encountering a Pushmatic or Bulldog brand electrical panel should warn consumers that
There are safety warnings but conflicting opinions among inspectors and electricians about these electrical panels under either the Pushmatic™ or Bulldog™ brand names
There are some reports of Pushmatic™ or Bulldog™ brand circuit breakers failure to trip
There are some reports of Pushmatic™ or Bulldog™ brand circuit breakers being difficult to operate (pushing the breaker in may not reliably "reset" the unit)
It is apparent that Pushmatic™ or Bulldog™ brand circuit breakers, use a less-reliable trip mechanism (no internal magnetic trip) than that offered by modern equipment.
On this basis and pending further research we consider these products questionable with conflicting opinions that currently deserve a warning but not a condemnation. Consumers should take advantage of evidence of any failures of the equipment, remodeling, or panel upgrade to meet growing usage requirements as opportunities to replace this obsolete equipment.
Consumers should be sure that their property is properly protected by smoke alarms
Contact Us to Provide Pushmatic or Bulldog Electrical Equipment Field Failures & Observations
We would be very grateful if readers, owners, home inspectors encountering this equipment Contact Us by EMAIL with any field observations of apparent failures, overheating, damage, product photos. We will continue to collect data, credit contributors, and report the results.
Report ITE Pushmatic or Bulldog Electrical Panel Failures to the US CPSC
In addition to informing us of an ITE Pushmatic or Bulldog electrical panel or breaker event so that we can add this incident report to the data base we maintain, we encourage readers to report such events also to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission - it's easy: you can use a simple form at the CPSC's website: https://www.cpsc.gov/incident.html or you can send the CPSC email on incidents to: info@cpsc.gov
And we would appreciate hearing from professionals, home inspectors, electricians, engineers, regarding their opinion on what is sound, professional, unbiased advice that protects consumers without making unsupportable claims in this matter.
Compatibility of Bulldog, Pushmatic, ITE-Pushmatic, Siemens Pushmatic Circuit Breakers
Question: What's the difference between ITE Pushomatic and Bulldog Pushomatic and ITE Pushmatics?
Is there a difference between the ITE Pushomatic breakers and the Bulldog Pushomatics? I have not seen a "ITE Pushomatic" panel with the words "Bulldog" on them. - Peter Bennett
Reply:
We agree that we need more precision on this point and the text on this question is deficient. We think it's a matter of history of ownership and name changes but an online search in January 2011 did not find solid information about compatibility nor variations in the performance of these push-type circuit breakers among different labels and ages.
CONTACT us by email if you have information about this question.
I have recently dismantled a Bull Dog Pushmatic breaker.
The Bull Dog breakers have both, a electromagnetic, and a thermal element. The electric coil is under the metal strip, and pushes up on it.
I suspect a design change was made in the breakers, sometime in the 50's and I'm not sure that some models were not electromagnetic only.
I can recall from childhood that they trip instantly, with almost no spark. My father, an electrician, was messing with the xmas lights. I am a retired electrician.
Getting them to trip at a lower amperage, and reasembling them is a bit of a nightmare. -
Brian Torch - Canada
Reply:
I too grew up with the view that Bulldog Pushmatic breakers were particularly nicely made and appeared to me to be of high quality. It was later after working as a field investigator and as an editor here at InspectAPedia that I was informed about concerns with the product performance. - D. Friedman, Editor.
Question: Phantom trips on 100A main Bulldog Pushmatic circuit breaker
I read your page on bulldog pushmatic breakers. I have a bulldog panel in my old home that was installed in an electrical system upgrade in the early 1960’s. It has worked fine up to about 2 years ago. Now we experience random “phantom” trips of the 100 amp main breaker.
No other circuits trip when this happens and it usually happens when there isn’t any significant loading of the system going on. It doesn’t feel hot and when reset, everything works fine for a month or two or three then it happens again. Could this be due to surges? Or is more likely to be just an age problem? I was told it might be cheaper to replace the whole panel with a newer one than to find a replacement main for this box. - J.W., Michigan
Reply:
Because you are not aware of an overcurrent, that is, the main switch doesn't seem hot and you're not reporting visible arcing or odors, I'm still guessing that a breaker has an internal failure. I follow your suspicion that the problem is in the main switch.
But you could have a clandestine problem elsewhere in the electrical system or at one or more circuits fed from your Pushmatic panel. Circuit breakers are required to trip on a varying timeline depending on the level of overcurrent. So a more modest overcurrent (say an overloaded branch circuit) that runs for a long time and that should have tripped an individual breaker could be passing on its problem to the main switch without generating as much obvious tactile heat.
You or an expert could monitor current draw at the mains and across in-use circuts to see what's going on, though from your description I'm afraid it might take a long time to track down.
So what's phantom? Power surges on active circuits or a more hidden problem in the building's wiring, circuit usage, or breakers in the panel.
I agree that it would be economical (and probably more reliable) to replace the panel and breakers all as a set.
If you take that step and if you are interested, Contact Us and I can send you instructions on mailing in your equipment for an expert overcurrent test - there's no cost to you but the shipping. I bet that our associate David Carrier would be glad to put your equipment onto a test bench to see what's going on.
Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website, and if you wish, to receive online listing and credit as a contributor. Particular thanks are due to the many experts and also consumers who read and critique technical articles at InspectAPedia.com.
Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.
Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
Greg Bell, a Florida home inspector: http://www.bellinspection.com/files/Electric_panels.pdf at www.bellinspection.com Bell Inspection Service provides Inspection
Services to Daytona Beach, Melbourne and Orlando Florida.
http://www.selfhelpforums.com/archive/index.php/t-10032.html - conversation about Pushmatics, field failure report
Patent infringement lawsuit: Westinghouse v Bulldog http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/206/206.F2d.574.6544.html A copy of the court document is available here.
Journal of Light Construction online help forum: http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30720 - this article talks about home inspectors "playing it safe" by "failing" a Pushmatic panel - without supporting data.
Peter Bennett, A Full House Inspection Co., provided technical editing of this text. Mr. Bennett can be contacted in New Jersey at 732-758-9887 or Cell: 732-245-9817, or by email to: afullhouseinspectionco@gmail.com
Thanks to Mr. Bennett for discussing ITE Bulldog Pushmatic circuit breaker differences, compatibility, and substitution, May 2010.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
Recommended books on electrical inspection, electrical wiring, electrical problem diagnosis, and electrical repair can be found in the Electrical Books section of the InspectAPedia Bookstore. (courtesy of Amazon.com)
Aluminum Wiring Information Website Aluminum Electrical Wiring Hazards and Repairs: in-depth authoritative info, photos, documents including selection of proper vs. ineffective repair methods. E.g.: Ideal 65 "Twister" purple connector fails in field and lab testing with aluminum wire.
Circuit Breaker, a bad one fails to trip failure at aluminum bus-to-circuit breaker connection - field report and photographs
Electrical Panels, How to Inspect in buildings, safety for electrical inspectors, electrical panel, fusing, wiring defects, defective products. Inspection Class Presentation
Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) Stab-Lok Circuit Breaker Panel Hazards Website - Latent fire hazards, in-depth authoritative research, documents, advice on Stab-Lok electric panel and circuit breaker failures and what to do when this equipment is found in buildings.
"Electrical System Inspection Basics," Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, Boston 1985.
"Simplified Electrical Wiring," Sears, Roebuck and Co., 15705 (F5428) Rev. 4-77 1977 [Lots of sketches of older-type service panels.]
"How to plan and install electric wiring for homes, farms, garages, shops," Montgomery Ward Co., 83-850.
"Electrical System Inspection Basics," Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, Boston 1985.
"Simplified Electrical Wiring," Sears, Roebuck and Co., 15705 (F5428) Rev. 4-77 1977 [Lots of sketches of older-type service panels.]
"How to plan and install electric wiring for homes, farms, garages, shops," Montgomery Ward Co., 83-850.
"Home Wiring Inspection," Roswell W. Ard, Rodale's New Shelter, July/August, 1985 p. 35-40.
"Evaluating Wiring in Older Minnesota Homes," Agricultural Extension Service, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108.
"Electrical Systems," A Training Manual for Home Inspectors, Alfred L. Alk, American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), 1987, available from ASHI. [DF NOTE: I do NOT recommend this obsolete publication, though it was cited in the original Journal article as it contains unsafe inaccuracies]
"Basic Housing Inspection," US DHEW, S352.75 U48, p.144, out of print, but is available in most state libraries.
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