Federal Pacific Electrical Panels Fire Hazard

The panel was well known in the building community as a cheaper alternative to some of the more recognizable panel companies such as general electric i t e and square d.

Federal pacific electrical panels fire hazard.

An estimated 2 800 fires. Federal pacific electric stab lok service panels and breakers are dangerous and can fail leading to electrical fires. Issues about federal pacific electric s stab lok. Federal pacific electric panels are a fire hazard from the 1950s to the 1980s one of the most popular brands of circuit breaker was stab lok manufactured by federal pacific electric fpe.

Federal pacific electric fpe stab lok panels shouldn t be inspected but replaced. Ul standards require that breakers trip or shut off the current when overloaded to prevent electrical. Safety standards that were. Over 100 million of them were installed in the usa and canada.

And canadian homes were built with circuit breaker panels that one expert has questioned as a potential fire hazard. Fpe panels may not meet today s updated safety codes. But experts warn that if a federal pacific electric panel experiences an overcurrent or short circuit it may not keep the electrical circuits from overheating and could possibly pose a fire hazard. A federal pacific electric fpe circuit breaker panel can appear to be working properly for years.

Federal pacific panels also known as fpe panels were a popular residential electrical panel choice in the mid to late 20th century. According to the united states consumer product safety commission fpe stab lok residential circuit breakers may fail to trip properly with overload and short circuiting underwriters laboratories inc. Federal pacific electric panels were produced from the mid 1950s well into the 1980s. In 1983 the consumer product safety commission closed its two year investigation and felt it impossible to create a product recall at the time because of budget issues even as federal pacific panels and breakers continued to be installed in millions of homes that to this day still run the risk of an electrical fire.

Fpe federal pacific electric stab lok electrical panel circuit breaker hazards home page.