I have a ge panel and one of the breakers won't reset. Got an estimate and electrician said the faulty breaker is a Siemens tandom (double) breaker in 1 slot. He said you can't have Siemens breakers with a ge panel. Is this true? Also that ge doesn't make tandom breakers. I researched and found that they do make slim line breakers. Shouldn't he of mentioned this? We don't have any extra slots on our panel and he wants to replace our panel. Says it won't pass if inspected. We have been in our house 10 years and had basement finished 6 years ago and panel was added to.


HELP!

You would need to contact GE to see if a Siemens is cross referenced for their panel. If it is not you would likely not pass an inspection and this could void your insurance if there were to be a fire

Remove the wire from the breaker and see if it will reset.

Also see this web site on the subject;
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=142390

GE does not make tandem breakers, they make slim as you found out, acceptable to use them. Sometimes they don't fit every panel. look at the slot where it connects to the buss. Check at HD in the breaker area. They usually have a cross reference sheet that shows compatibility, my store does. He is correct that you can fail a Homeowners Insurance or other inspection with mismatched breakers. I work with RE agents doing inspection checklist repairs with sales of homes and that is a commonly noted area.

Just to chime in here, exactly what is the failing breaker used for?

Also, the panelboard's label will tell you the type of the breaker's to be used. If the breaker conforms to the specifications of the approved breakers for that panelboard you should be fine. However, that said, I only use exact factory replacement breakers for the panelboard in question.

Also, why are you considering the panelboard, as your title bar indicates, for a suspect breaker? Is there more going on here than you have told us?