Questions & answers about Federal Noark electrical panels.

Is a Federal Noark panel safe? Is a Federal Noark electrical panel different in design, reliability, safety from its newer FP and FPE Stab-Lok siblings? Should I replace my NoArk panel?

This article series describes how to identify Federal Pacific Stab-Lok® Electric Panels in buildings with special focus on the Federal NOARK Stab-Lok® Panelboard and the Federal NOARK Load Center. This is safety information for building inspectors, home buyers, home owners, electricians exploring the background of possible hazards associated with Federal Pacific Electric Stab-Lok® circuit breakers and service panels.

Replacement FPE Stab-Lok® circuit breakers are unlikely to reduce the failure risk of this equipment. We recommend that residential FPE Stab-Lok® electrical panels be replaced entirely or the entire panel bus assembly be replaced, regardless of FPE model number or FPE year of manufacture. We do not sell circuit breakers nor any other products.

Federal NOARK Electrical Panel FAQs

Federal NoArk™ electrical panels (synonyms Federal NoArk, Federal NoArc, FPE No-Ark) or FPE no-arc electrical panel labels identify older versions of the Stab-Lok® circuit breaker design discussed beginning

at FEDERAL PACIFIC FPE HAZARDS
and

summarized at FEDERAL PACIFIC FPE HAZARD SUMMARY.

Because the product design, materials, and history are all of a piece and share the same company and production, Federal noark Stab-Lok panelboards and circuit breakers

are of the same design and have the same hazards as other Stab-Lok ™electrical panel buses and circuit breakers.

Therefore this article focuses on how to identify Federal Noark panelboards. At left we show a Federal Noark Stab-Lok® Panelboard Model NS412.

[Click to enlarge any image]

On 2019-07-30 by kees.spanjers - Federal NoArk panels in a New York Apartment Building

One of the circuits in my N.Y. apartment suddenly is out of power after we returned from a vacation (all outlets unpugged). Building staff advises to hire an electrician to fix the problem. In advance of doing so I stumbled upon this site, and now have some questions:

1. Is this the faulty type of FPE breakers you describe?

2. Is total replacement recommended or can we just replace the one that stopped functioning?

3. If so, this building is probably full with this type of panels (240 apartments). Shouldn't all be replaced by the building management?

Thanks in advance,
Kees

 

On 2019-07-30 by (mod) - Federal NoArk panels should be replaced: all 240 of them

Yes Kees, that's a Federal No-Ark circuit breaker panel - an older version of FPE that shares the same safety concerns.

The panels should be replaced. I know it sounds glib and easy to say that when it's a lot of trouble and expense, but frankly the combination of independent research confirming a long history of breaker failures to trip, ample field reports of hundreds of such failures actually occurring (when only 1/10 of such failures are ever even reported), and the company history that included fraud, there really is no doubt.

What leads some people astray is the very mistaken notion that if no problems have been experienced the panels are safe.

They're no more safe than you'd be riding around in your car with your seatbelt comfortably fastened, thinking your seatbelt will protect you in the event of a crash, while you haven't looked under your seat to see that the seatbelt has been nicked through to a mere thread that will snap in an instant.

All of the Federal NoArk panels should be replaced.

Strategy for Order of Replacing Federal NOARK Panels where Many are Installed

Where there is a large number of FPE NoArk panels to be replaced, a strategy of identifying the units where there are obvious immediate failures can help by putting some order on the process.

General Warnings for All Apartment Owners, Occupants, Building Managers where FPE or FP electrical panels are installed

Watch out: start by warning ALL building occupants that these panels are unsafe - in apartments as well as in other areas of the building where they may be in use such as in mechanicals or utility areas.

1. These circuit breakers may not trip off if an electrical circuit is overloaded, thus risking fire or shock - the failure to trip-rate is enormously greater than most other electrical panels

2. Immediately turn OFF power to any electrical circuit that is behaving oddly, but beware that an FP FPE breaker may remain ON internally even when switched to the OFF position.

3. DO NOT think that just replacing one or a few Federal NoArk electrical panels in a 240 unit building makes the building safe; every apartment occupant, dweller, owner, is at risk from a fire that can start in any other unit.

4. Every apartment owner/occupant should assure that there are working smoke detectors properly located and tested monthly

Watch out: while there are some obvious priorities for replacing unsafe electrical equipment do not let that give a false sense of security; any of these FP/FPE electrical panels can fail to perform safely; all owners should be alert for signs of trouble.

Supporting research is at FPE HAZARD REPORT - 2017 [PDF] independent research article by Jess Aronstein, supercedes older FPE hazard reports by this author - separate file reports independent FPE failure test results

Help Setting Priority of Federal NOARK Panel Replacements

Where there are many such panels to be replaced, start with apartments where these conditions have been observed

1. Flickering lights

2. Other electrical failure events or odd behavior of lights, receptacles, appliances

3. Visual inspection of the panel shows signs of overheating

4. Apartments where there have already been occurrences of overcurrents and tripped breakers. Particularly the two-pole 240V breakers, once exposed to an overcurrent, may be very likely to jam and to fail to trip off in the event of a future electrical system overcurrent.

5. Inspect apartments for evidence of overloaded electrical circuits. Avoiding an overload may reduce risk, but will not eliminate risk on an inadquately protected electrical circuit.

Watch out: a casual visual inspection of an FPE or Federal NoArk panel will NOT reveal all panel hazards. A breaker may already be jammed internally or the breaker-to-bus connection may be burned but that will not be obvious to the naked eye on a simple inspection.

Watch out: Flipping these particular circuit breakers on and off will NOT improve their performance and in fact can, as test have found, actually increase the risk of a future NO-TRIP in RESPONSE TO OVERCURRENT - a very dangerous condition.

On 2018-10-12 by (mod) - how to post a photo

Please try the Add Image button again.

I will confirm that the button works by adding a photo here.
Click the Add Image button
Navigate in the window to the location of the image you want to post

Click to highlight it

Click the "Open" button in the window
You'll see the file name next to the Comment button where it replaces the "Add Image" button.

Note that comments including images will be accepted but put on hold pending moderator approval - a step that protects both our website and readers from malware.

And yes Federal NoArk breakers are the same design with the same issues.

IMAGE LOST by older version of Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2018-10-12 by Lynne Miller

I just inspected an apartment building with Federal Electric panels and plan to recommend they be replaced. But what about Federal NoArk Enclosed Switches. I wanted to attach a photo but the button isn't working.

On 2018-09-03 by (mod) -

Your photo is of a Federal NoArk panel - the ones whose safety hazards are discussed in the article above on this page.

You should have it replaced.

On 2018-09-03 by Deanne

I bought a house built in 1955. There is a modern breaker box outside that the kitchen, addition and central air unit are connected to. However, this box is inside the house with the main part of the house hooked to it. Is this an unsafe panel?

IMAGE LOST by older version of Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2018-08-26 0 by Brian

Federal nonark cat 310. As far as I understand all federal products like this are advised for replacement but I have an inspector telling the client no on this one?

IMAGE LOST by older version of Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

Question: Do they still make FPE circuit breakers and electrical panels?

28 July 2012 Anon said

Do they still make FPE circuit breakers and electrical panels?

Reply:

Anon, one needs to be careful using "they" since "they" can sometimes be a surprise.

Yes there are companies that sell stab-lok circuit breakers; it appears that some of these may be original stock purchased when the company itself dissolved, others may be made to what appears to be the same original specifications, but in Canada (Federal Pioneer), and it is possible that there is a third source as several replacement brreaker types have been somewhat replicated in China.

You should be warned that there is as yet no independent expert test that has found any improvement or difference in design nor performance of replacement circuit breakers for this electrical panel and also that in addition to the no-trip hazards in the breakers themselves there are other safety concerns with the panel bus assembly itself.

Question:

11/11/2014 Federal NoArc electric box said:

I have a federal noarc electric box in my house we just moved into. Is it of the Stab-loc family of no trip breakers? We live in Los Angeles County. I have images to share also.
Thanks,
Jason

Reply:

Yes Jason, the FPE Stab-Lok design with the safety issues discussed in this article series were produced over quite a few years and sold under more than one brand mark, including the Federal Noarc. Thanks for the photos - I'll post them in the article above and comment further (your photos show rust on the panel raising additional safety and no-trip worries independent of the FPE concerns.

You should replace the panel.

Question: the Federal Noark panel cover is holding the loose breakers in place - is this OK?

One of the breakers is very wobbly...as if next to nothing is holding it in. This doesn't inspire confidence. I operate power tools on these circuits, and unattended things like battery chargers. I need to be able to trust this panel. The panel cover actually is applying a fair amount of pressure on the breakers themselves.

Does this in any way improve the reliability of the connection to the buss bar? - K.K. in New Windsor, Ontario, Canada - by private email, 2015/12/28

Reply:

Watch out: regarding loose circuit breakers held into an FP or Federal Noark panel by its cover or faceplate: this electrical panel was not designed to rely on the cover to hold the circuit breakers securely in place.

Reliance on cover pressure on circuit breakers to keep the breaker seated is inherently dangerous, and in fact some time ago an electrician working in in the U.S. in Atlanta Georgia was killed from just this circumstance.

On removing the electrical panel cover one or more circuit breakers moved, causing an electrical arc explosion and the worker died.

Question: replacement circuit breakers for Federal Noark, Federal Pioneer, & FPE sold in Canada

I went and took a stroll around Home Depot, estimating materials costs, and had a conversation with an employee who took me to the cabinet of breakers.

New-manufactured (white in colour, with green levers) Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok branded breakers are produced by Schneider Canada, with a magnetic trip mechanism and a revised "stab" component. Supposedly the breakers share nothing whatsoever with the original design, other than compatibility with the same panel.

I have a family friend who is an industrial electrician coming on Saturday to help me plan my next steps, but I'm curious to hear any response you may have to the new-manufactured breakers. Assuming the bus bar shows no evidence of arcing, and new breakers mate with it reliably, does this not address all of the Stab-Lok concerns?

I spoke with my home inspector and he advises that his association instructed them to stop saying Federal panels are universally bad, since in Canada there was never conclusive evidence (or something to that effect), and that the newer Canadian product was superior...but I understand from reading that this point may be contentious.

I appreciate any further feedback you can offer. - K.K. by private email 2015/12/30

Reply: replace the electrical panel when you can; reduce load and use as much as you can before that time.

OPINION:

I would replace the electrical panel in your photos. It is overcrowded, antiquated, and unreliable. Replacing individual circuit breakers will not correct these conditions.

In the interim I would minimize the use of the panel as you described earlier, and I would not trust that switching a circuit breaker to "OFF" actually turns it off, as sometimes these breakers may remain "ON" internally.

If you cannot afford to replace the electrical panel see the advice at CAN'T AFFORD A NEW ELECTRIC PANEL?

You are correct that we do not have many field failure reports on FPE equipment from Canada. Without more research one cannot determine if that is because of any of a variety of factors such as: differences in wiring installation, differences in usage patterns, differences in age, differences in reporting of failures, differences in total number of installations.

Certainly there were no discernable differences between a Canadian FP breaker and panel and the U.S. models of the older equipment, and certainly we have reports of the very same type of failures (no-trips, falling out of panel) as in the U.S.

I asked Schneider to give us data, test reports, *anything*, that would show changes in the performance and reliability of replacement breakers, UL listing, CSA listing etc. The company declined. Which in my opinion tells us something.

I agree that the most troublesome feature in the original FPE design was its failure to trip, combined with a market price point that made redesign unlikely. I also agree that the very long history of deception, label swapping, cheating on qualification tests, etc. cited in the class action litigation and in other court records was not pointing to Schneider Electric who came along later.

Some readers and some experts have opined "If I were a manufacturer who had data supporting the claim that my product performed well in service and that earlier performance problems were not present I would want to make that information public". However I suspect that a manufacturer, even with better performance data, may be reluctant to release it out of fear of opening a liability concerning their earlier products that were sold before such changes.

So we are kept in the dark on product testing results. If there are any.

There are other inherent design concerns in an FPE panel including the bus and bus connections that make me nervous about plugging any replacement breaker into an existing FPE panel.

Some data on cost comparisons might also be helpful. You can buy an entire Siemens 200A 30 space 54 circuit panel for under $150. Breakers begin at under $4.00.

Even if we found data supporting the performance of replacement circuit breakers in these residential panels (whose other features may leave some performance and safety concerns still in place), consider that one CE replacement circuit breaker costs between $50. and $75. depending on model and panel brand, the economics even before safety argue for replacing the panel, though one needs to add the cost of the electrician's work to do so.

And at least some of these "replacement" breakers are "NOS" - new old stock - or were produced on the exact equipment and process as the bad-performing originals.

An electrical panel and circuit breaker are a safety feature for your home's electrical system. Defective breakers are latent hazards that don't usually initiate a fire or injury.

Rather they fail to protect you when they should. If a home never happens to have an over-current on its circuits, if its breakers are never switched on and off during their service (a step that increases the no-trip risk for FPE), in sum if nothing ever goes wrong, the equipment will pass along electrical current happily for decades and will seem to be "just fine".

I fasten my seat belt when driving my car, and in my home I want electrical safety devices I trust. As there are plenty of reliable alternatives I am not motivated to rely on questionable products.

...

Continue reading at FEDERAL NOARK PANELS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• FEDERAL NOARK PANELS
• FPE HAZARD SUMMARY
• FPE & FP IDENTIFICATION, HOW TO
• FPE HAZARD REPORT - 2017 [PDF] independent research article by Jess Aronstein, supercedes older FPE hazard reports by this author - separate file reports independent FPE failure test results

Suggested citation for this web page

FEDERAL NOARK PANEL FAQs at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to FPE STAB-LOK BREAKERS & PANELS

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