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Federal Pacific Electrical panel issues

henzilla said:
I missed that earlier...what size wire terminates at that 60A breaker.:scratch

And have found sub-panels in closets, crawl spaces and bathroom cabinets. Hopefully there is one, but if it only feeds #12 or 14awg Romex going to lighting and outlets I would be downsizing quickly! The wire would be the fuse!
Click to expand...


Good point, I'll check the wire gauge.
 
bp@sr9 said:
Once in the not too distant past, Square D was the standard. Square D 'QO'panels and their budget panels 'Homeline' are so cheap the local wholesale (to contractors) don't carry them, must go to Lowe's. Square D 'QOB" (bolt ons) still enjoy a good rep-expensive, commercial grade tho. If I was looking for a new panel of residential grade I'd probably go Cutler Hammer. fwiw. b
Click to expand...

:thumb I agree too.
 
Omega Man said:
I will be interested if in your area you are required to upgrade to "arc-fault" breakers Harry.
OM
Click to expand...

It is not required in the area I live.

This is a controversial subject. Some inspectors feel they are required when a panel is changed out, but others disagree based on the principal that an existing home does not have to meet the latest code standards. The electrician I talked to is knowledgeable. The arc-fault breakers are expensive, and are somewhat finicky in an old house, because if two circuits share a ground somewhere, the arc-fault breakers may trip constantly and the problem could be hard to find and correct.

My electrician is licensed and the work will be inspected. He is working up a price and will get back to me.

Harry
 
Great Harry! That's what I would have told you. The lasted generation of these breakers are considerably better than when they first came out but can still be a bit of a PITA.
As long as the local electrical inspector is happy, you should be good To go :thumb
OM
 
Thanks, OM.

Here's another video, if there are any doubters left:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CWwbszoPfks" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My electrician told me in no uncertain terms that I would not be able to sell this house with that FPE panel in place. A house inspection would fail this place based on that. And I'm not about to sleep here with that panel any longer than it will take to get the work done, which I hope will be this week.

I'm just waiting on his phone call with the price and to schedule the work.

Harry
 
EUGENE said:
Because some people do not want to spend the money to replace a panel that should be.
Click to expand...

Seeing the stuff available on Ebay is one thing, but you would assume Home Depot and Lowes would avoid the potential liability.
 
EUGENE said:
Because some people do not want to spend the money to replace a panel that should be.
Click to expand...

Electrical roulette, especially once you are aware of issues. Some folks are very lucky I guess.

I don't recall seeing any FPE's at HD, our old Ace did or does since they were on the shelf and prob never recalled. I went looking in my McGyver box and saw some red tabs down in there...guess they have just been there a while as I have mostly GE panels and one SQ D.

Weren't the Sylvania/Zinsco buss bars aluminum? I sure recall a lot of burnt/melted bars as I also recall the main straddled the bars. You hoped you had a empty spot to move a breaker into just to get folks back on for the weekend.

It was the box of replacement wishes for a long time as well.
 
henzilla said:
Electrical roulette, especially once you are aware of issues. Some folks are very lucky I guess.

I don't recall seeing any FPE's at HD, our old Ace did or does since they were on the shelf and prob never recalled. I went looking in my McGyver box and saw some red tabs down in there...guess they have just been there a while as I have mostly GE panels and one SQ D.

Weren't the Sylvania/Zinsco buss bars aluminum? I sure recall a lot of burnt/melted bars as I also recall the main straddled the bars. You hoped you had a empty spot to move a breaker into just to get folks back on for the weekend.

It was the box of replacement wishes for a long time as well.
Click to expand...

FPE replacement breakers are available on-line from HD and Lowes
 
For just a bit more in labor and materials in changing over to these breakers http://www.connecticut-electric.com/tech-docs and rolling the dice, I can instead have a new reputable name brand panel and breakers that I can trust.

The fact is, insurance companies and home inspectors will reject the FPE panel anyway, so what would I have gained by only switching to the mystery breakers?


Harry
 
Last edited:
AKsuited said:
For just a bit more in labor and materials in changing over to these breakers http://www.connecticut-electric.com/tech-docs and rolling the dice, I can instead have a new reputable name brand panel and breakers that I can trust.

The fact is, insurance companies and home inspectors will reject the FPE panel anyway, so what would I have gained by only switching to the mystery breakers?


Harry
Click to expand...

Harry,

You're doing the right thing. No argument from me.

I'm just surprised that these units are still on the market thru major retailers.

BTW - did you hear that the new gen 4 Prius is even better........

Jon
 
Sorry for the dumb question, but if you replace your Federal Pacific breakers with ones from Connecticut, does that make the panel safe?
 
36654 said:
BTW - did you hear that the new gen 4 Prius is even better........

Jon
Click to expand...

Yes, but I've still got more years to get out of my '07 Prius :bliss

The whole thing with the FPE panels is crazy. They should have been banned and required to be replaced. Instead, the issue has been kept secret and dropped by the Consumer Safety group, or whatever they are called. But insurance companies and home inspectors are on the case...


Harry
 
Rinty said:
Sorry for the dumb question, but if you replace your Federal Pacific breakers with ones from Connecticut, does that make the panel safe?
Click to expand...

Never a dumb question. The panel itself has some issues and I just found the Connecticut connection for the replacements sold as FP, but not FPE.
They seem to make replacements for other brands as well and UL and ETL logos on their website. :scratch
I think its a bandaid on an aneurysm personally.
 
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