FPE panel - should I be concerned?

[LadyDi]

My statement was more in regards to your first comment, basically recommending they move and giving the impression they were in mortal danger living there.

In 2023 are you going to recommend every service that doesn’t look great be changed out to a new one that follows the 2023?

just because an installation is 20 years old doesn’t make it inherently unsafe.
ALL FPE panels aren’t unsafe.
I have noticed some very good looking FPE panels that have the newer breakers installed that will trip on faults.
I’ve also looked at some 5 years old that were so corroded and burnt you would swear they were ancient.

• I'm talking about arcs not faults. Do regular breakers protect against arcs?
• Does an association exist between the age of a house, fires, and loss of life?
• What's the life expectancy of a breaker or a distribution center?
• What's widely known about FTE breakers (some products)?
• What's the age of the house that were are discussing?
• What time of the day and season do most deadly fires occur?
• Are children, elderly folks, or people with disabilities a consideration?
• Do you believe renters are entitled to living safely?
• How do you stop bothersome tripping related to AFCI's?
• Which code solves the AFCI issue?

 

[zbang]

It "arcs" aren't faults, then why do we have arc fault circuit interrupters?

Anyway, this is starting to read like advertising/marketing and doesn't get back to the OP's question, which IMHO has been addressed.

 

[tom baker]

OPs question has been answered. The questions about AFCIs are best discussed in a new topic.

 

[Jraef]

OPs question has been answered. The questions about AFCIs are best discussed in a new topic.

I think it's worth adding, for the OP, that the issue with FPE Stab-Lok breakers was not that they "spontaneously combust" (like the old Zinsco breakers occasionally did), but rather that if there WAS an electrical problem with anything in the house that caused an overload in a circuit, the FPE breakers FAILED to trip in time to prevent a fire in the walls. So while I agree there is no need to move out or lose sleep at night for fear of the FPE panel catching on fire, you WILL want to be extra careful about what you plug in and not to overload any of your circuits. You have a "negative margin of error".