Federal Pacific Panels-- A Fire Waiting to Happen
Posted by Carol Hart on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 @ 01:25 PM
Is your electrical panel a fire waiting to happen? If it says Federal Pacific Electric, it may be.
Federal Pacific was a major manufacturer of electrical panels and circuit breakers from the mid 1950s-mid 1980s. 28 million American homes were fitted with FPE equipment during that time, and according to safety experts and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, these homes are at risk of fire and shock hazards because of the panel.
How is it possible that unsafe equipment was installed in so many homes? A class action suit against FPE in New Jersey revealed that Federal Pacific rigged their testing equipment to meet UL requirements. The court found that they "knowingly... distributed circuit breakers that were not tested to meet UL standards." UL listing was removed from these products. Independent tests have shown that these breakers fail to trip in response to an overload at an alarming rate. (For those who enjoy a more technical and detailed discussion, I suggest starting with this study: http://inspectapedia.com/fpe/FPE-Hazards-Revised-070525.pdf
"But I've had my panel for years, and never had any problems. Nothing ever even trips" Homeowners may mistakenly believe that a panel with circuit breakers that never trip is a good thing, when in fact its a big problem. A circuit breaker is supposed to trip if there is an overcurrent or a short circuit because that shuts off the current and prevents fires and dangerous shocks. A frequently tripping circuit breaker is a warning sign, giving you a chance to correct a potentially dangerous problem. Just because you've lived with your Federal Pacific panel for years doesn't mean that a problem isn't lurking. (These panels were made when most homes didn't even have an automatic coffee maker!!) Your panel may work perfectly well under normal operating conditions; the real question is what will it do with an overload?
So what causes an overload? Plugging in the space heater and the hair dryer at the same time. Using the microwave when the clothes dryer is running. Even plugging in an elaborate Christmas light display can overload your electrical system. And with todays electrical demands soaring, the chances of overloading an older system soar just as high.
If you have a Federal Pacific panel in your home it needs to be replaced. Period.