Federal Pacific breaker?

[Ryan@TeamElect]

I was trying to find out which Federal Pacific breakers are being found that don't trip, or is a danger to our homeowners?

 

[480sparky]

Just Google 'Federal Pacific breakers tripping'. I got 1,973 results, one of which is:

http://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarchive/Safety-HTML/HTML/Federal-Pacific-Electric-FPE-Electrical-Hazards-Website~20050530.php

 

[sparky59]

i have had several problems with federal pacific breakers. why doesn't some company make a UL approved replacement breaker? seems like this would be a big seller. most home inspectors are writing up fpe panels as a problem.

 

[480sparky]

i have had several problems with federal pacific breakers. why doesn't some company make a UL approved replacement breaker? seems like this would be a big seller. most home inspectors are writing up fpe panels as a problem.

Mu guess is it's not just the breakers that have lost their UL listing, it's the whole panel as well. Even if a manufacturer made a UL-listed replacement breaker, you'd end up putting it into a non-listed panel. At least IMPO.

 

[EV607797]

Isn't there a Canadian manufacturer making replacement breakers for FPE panels? I think that they have a gray case and black handle. I don't mess with FPE panels much anymore so I can't say for sure. I think that I have seen these breakers at one of the big box stores.

 

[sparky59]

i think the panels are ok....but the breakers should be called switches. they sure don't do any breaking.

 

[celtic]

I was trying to find out which Federal Pacific breakers are being found that don't trip, or is a danger to our homeowners?

i have had several problems with federal pacific breakers. why doesn't some company make a UL approved replacement breaker? seems like this would be a big seller. most home inspectors are writing up fpe panels as a problem.

The "problem" is not only the FPE breaker, but also the bus which the CB is attached to.

Here is a list of threads that have touched upon FPE and it's issues:
http://forums.mikeholt.com/search.php?searchid=406371

 

[kbsparky]

THey are being made and sold in Canada under the name of Federal Pioneer:

 

[romexking]

I was trying to find out which Federal Pacific breakers are being found that don't trip, or is a danger to our homeowners?

I think that we all agree, and most of the studies, show that there is a significant failure rate in the FPE breakers. With that said, my company has a policy of not installing any new circuits into an FPE panel. We will only replace the breakers in an emergency situation.

I explain the safety issues with each customer and recommend a panel replacement. Although it is a high revenue service call, and good for the contractor, it is also the right thing to do for the customer. As someone else mentioned, they should be called switches and not breakers because you can't be certain that they will work in an overload or short circuit situation. The equipment is already 35 or more years old and had outlived it's usefull lifetime (which was about 9 days for an FPE panel). It is in the best interest of all parties not to add circuits to this panel, and to replace whenever possible. Just one more thing...a quick breaker replacement may save the HO in the short term, but the savings won't mean much to them if their house burns down because of a breaker failure.