Do
you have a Federal Pacific service panel in your home?
If you
do, you have a fire safety issue on your hands. Many homes and dwellings
built between the mid 1950's to the mid 1980's were built with Federal
Pacific (FPE)
panels installed.
Federal Pacific
no longer manuacturers this product due to its safety issues. FPE "stab-lock" service panels and breakers
are dangerous and can fail leading to electrical fires. FPE
breakers fail to trip at an alarming rate.
When
a circuit breaker does not trip in response to an overload
or
short circuit there is a serious risk of fire,
not only in the service panel but any where on
the circuit that the breakers are protecting.
The circuit breakers do not directly cause a fire,
some other failure on the circuit
must occur first, which in turn
causes an overload of the circuit "protected" by the FPE breaker.
There are also problems with the FPE
bus design and the way the breakers attach to the bus bar.
FPE breakers loosen as they heat and create the potential
for arcing causing the breaker to heat up and burn.
There are also many instances in which installers
have improperly modified breakers to fit into the "stab-lock" bus design and in doing so have created a potential fire hazard.
Electrical circuit breakers
are in place to prevent a circuit from overheating if and when it becomes overloaded.
Breakers that do not provide reliable protection under these conditions are
essentially worthless.
For these reasons we recommend the replacement of Federal
Pacific panels whenever we encounter them.
Check our seasonal specials page for discounts on changing out Federal Pacific
panels
(See the pictures
and links below to help you identify a Federal pacific panel)
