FAQs about field reports & photos of FPE Stab-Lok® panel or breaker incidents & Field photographs of FPE Stab-Lok® equipment failures.

This article series provides field reports and photographs of Federal Pacific FPE Stab-Lok® equipment fires, overheating, trip-failures, burn ups and other dangerous failures.

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. 

Q&A & Comments on Field Reports of FPE Incidents and FPE Stab-Lok® & Federal Pioneer Breaker or Panel Failure Photos

These questions, answers & comments about photographs of fires and field failre photos of FPE Federal Pacific Electric Stab-lok or FP or Federal Pioneer panels were posted originally at FPE FAILURE FIRE PHOTOS - be sure to review those FPE fire examples.

[Click to enlarge any image]

On 2019-02-25 by (mod) - Reader-submitted FPE panel fire photo - without comment

Thank you for the field photo of an FPE electrical panel fire, PD. Any details you can add would be helpful: country, city, building age, fire department comments.

On 2019-02-25 by (mod) - reader-posted FPE panel fire photo

Thank you for the field photo of an FPE electrical panel fire, PD. Any details you can add would be helpful: country, city, building age, fire department comments.

Readers must keep in mind that even when an electrical panel is involved in a fire or is badly burned as is PD's photo below, from the photo alone we cannot make a sure statement about the actual cause of a fire.

For example in the photo below there is evidence of rust and corrosion that can cause a circuit breaker to fail to trip when it ought.

Without more details about the fire involving the panel shown below, more-expert forensic examination of the electrical panel and the origin of the building fire would be necessary.

On 2019-02-25 by PD - FPE Panel Fire Photo

FPE Panel Fire. [PD's photo is posted above on this page]

On 2018-03-28 by (mod) - Kevin (no last name, no other identification) opines FPE fire hazards re not real

Regarding Kevin's unfortunate and apparently not well informed OPINION below that FPE panel hazards are a hoax, we can but note that there is ample independent research data, there are ample field failure reports, court documentation of fraudulent listing and testing by the company, and a record of breakers that fail to trip as much as 60% of the time when called on to do so.

If that's not unsafe at any speed then not much can be added to Kevins view except our advice to disregard it as putting people's lives and property at unnecessary risk of fire, property loss, injury, or worse.

Please see the ARTICLE INDEX where we provide in-depth authoritative information that is more than "opinion" and demonstrates that Kevin's view is mistaken.

In the "CPSC incident" to which Kvin refers, a more-accurate description is FPE's attorney, asking the commission to stop investigation into FPE failures, argued that the particularly egregious "no-trip" problem occurring on two-pole FPE breakers (60%+ failure rate) that that problem - jamming in the breaker after an over-current on one of the two breaker poles - would never occur "in real life" in the field and therefore should be disregarded.

Of course any appliance repair person who has worked on an electric clothes dryer as well as many electric ovens and ranges knows perfectly well how easily and commonly an overcurrent in fact does occur on just one leg of the two pole breaker-circuit, such as a broken dryer drum belt and consequent shorting of one heater terminal in the dryer - a common event.

The CPSC ceased their 1970's investigation without reporting a conclusion. The CPSC never found that FPE panels were safe and the Commission later issued a letter clarifying that observation.

Regarding Kevin's opinion that "There are plenty of people with photos of melted breakers that may or may not have failed. "

That's confusing: any circuit breaker that has melted is certainly evidence of an electrical component that is unsafe and of a failure.

Regarding Kevin's more intelligent gripe that some home inspectors focus on reducing their own liability,

see OTHER PEOPLE's MONEY for more about this real problem.

Watch out: Nevertheless, a home inspector who follows Kevin's advice is betting their client's life and property on bad advice about well-known and thoroughly documented safety hazards is in my OPINION guilty of very serious malpractice, neglect, and an unconscionable act, perhaps to please some other party to the transaction - itself a conflict of interest.

On 2018-03-28 by Kevin

The FPE StabLok fire hazard scare is just that. The CPSC (Consumer Protection Safety Commission) studied this equipment after FPE/Republic did a self reporting in late 1979, due to the fact that they discovered they had mis-interpreted a UL test they were performing in their quality lab. FPE had corrected the testing procedure and received UL's blessing in June of 1980. The CPSC concluded their investigation in 1983 and found no higher incidence of failure than any other brand of breaker. [Editor's note, Watch out: this is not correct. In fact CPSC management overrode the agency's own engineers in agreeing to drop further investigation of FPE hazards and failures.]

Some electricians and most home inspectors will simply flag any FPE box as dangerous and needing replacement. This is about like saying all GM cars are dangerous because of issues with the 1961-1964 Corvair. Most of us would consider this irrational at best.

There are plenty of people with photos of melted breakers that may or may not have failed. I had a GE breaker melt and smoke in front of me a couple years ago. I have seen melted breaker from every manufacturer. To really determine what caused the breaker to fail would take some extensive research. Nobody in their right mind could conclude the failure was because of the brand name.

Home inspectors are trained,not to determine if there is a problem, but to cover themselves from liability. A few years ago, I had a discussion about this, with the founder of one of the largest home inspection organizations. He acknowledged to me he really had no concern over the safety of FPE breakers, but stated he would never acknowledge this publicly.
Many electricians jump at the opportunity to replace an FPE panel.

Many will charge $1,100 to $2,700 to replace a 100 AMP panel. A new panel with all the breakers will run $125 to $150. The labor is about 3 to 4 hours. Do the math. Your electrician is not a heart surgeon, but might want you to pay him like one.
If your FPE panel and breakers do not fall under any specific federal recall, and has no physical damage, you likely have nothing to worry about. If they do, just have the replacement parts installed

The following exchange illustrates the difficulty of assuring that building managers and maintenance people are accurately informed about latent safety hazards.

Question: where can I buy replacement door clips to hold shut the panel covers on the electrical panels in my building?

I work at XYZ Condominiums where we have over 300 units. The panels inside these units are from as far back as 80s-90s. I was looking to locate a manufacturer because we need to find the actual locking mechanism on the door panel. I cannot find the name of it and was hoping you can help me identify the actual handle/mechanism that properly opens and closes the panel.

We need to find a replacement because it is missing and the panel door just swings open. It may seem like an easy task but we all here have been searching for it and cannot find it.

PLEASE contact me via email or phone if you can help in anyway.

The manuafacutrer is FPE stablok (least from what ive researched) Should we just have the entire door/panel replaced? If anyone can help me Id appreciate it and I can send pictures and try to give anyone more information to the best of my knowledge and direction.

Id appreciate if someone can please call me or email me to diagnose this and to seek some advice.

Thank you for your help and time. Have a wonderful day! - Anonymous, leasing agent

Reply: forget about door clip replacements & replace the panels

I urge you to read the explanation of the fire & safety hazards concerning FPE equipment - home page is

at FEDERAL PACIFIC FPE HAZARDS

In the ARTICLE INDEX you'll see related article links to

FPE REPLACEMENT BREAKERS

& FPE REPLACEMENT PANELS

& FPE REPLACEMENT PANEL COSTS - separate articles

In the replacement panels section you'll see that Eaton Cutler hammer makes replacement "guts" (breaker & bus assemblies) as well as replacement panel enclosures.

In my OPINION and based on expert, authoritative research on this topic, your liability may actually be increased if you perform superficial "repairs" like replacing a damaged panel cover door on unsafe equipment.

We would much appreciate hearing any comments, critique, suggestions, or further questions that you may have after you've taken a look at that article.

Reader follow-up: Here are photos of our FPE panels - if you cannot provide panel door clips please let me know

I appreciate your response. Thank you for getting back to me. Please find attached 3 pictures of the panel door, box and clip we need. If able to provide please let me know. We would be prospective clients since we are going to replace a lot of these clips etc.

I have NOT read the articles yet but Im truly looking forward to them. Thanks again for your time and attention to this matter. - Anon

Did you recieve our pictures? Apparently, FPE sold their company in 1986 and whoever replaced them stopped making the products or went out of business.. Im not sure. But I think I give up on this particular thing.

It is clear they/products no longer exist. Maybe its time for us to replace/update our breaker boxes! Thanks again for your help! - Anon 

Reply: We don't sell anything - if you take note of the FPE hazards you'll see that door clips are not the first worry

Thanks for the follow-up Anon.
When you read the information about FPE hazards you will doubtless see that there is little point in replacing panel clips and doors - you will be risking future blame for having seen, touched, and failed to address more serious fire and shock hazards.

We do not sell anything. InspectAPedia provides building and environmental diagnostic and repair information.

In order to absolutely assure our readers that we write and report without bias we do not sell any products nor do we have any business or financial relationships that could create such conflicts of interest.

InspectAPedia is an independent publisher of building, environmental, and forensic inspection, diagnosis, and repair information for the public - we have no business nor financial connection with any manufacturer or service provider discussed at our website.

We very much welcome critique, questions, or content suggestions for our web articles. Website content contributors, even if it's just a small correction, are cited, quoted, and linked-to from the appropriate additional web pages and articles - which benefits us both. Working together and exchanging information makes us better informed than any individual can be working alone.

Reader follow-up: I assumed you sold door clips; I feel safe putting in door clips on FPE panels and don't expect to be blamed for later fires or worse - if you don't carry clips then ... have a nice day

I agree 100%. I assumed you sold product (through no fault of your own) but it's fine. Thank you for your explanation. I was not misled just assumed.

I understand what you say about the hazard possibility but in order to put in the clip nothing has to be touched or replaced except the clip itself. "you will be risking future blame for having seen, touched, and failed to address more serious fire and shock hazards".

There is nothing MORE serious in regards to fire hazards and how can I possibly fail at something that isn't even an area of conern..? 

Nor will I be to blame for anything for I fully own up to everything I do and accept all responsibility for EVERYTHING in my life. Only ignorance gets blames, knowledge seeks truth and owns. Hence why I seek only the clip.

Besides FPE doesnt exist and neither does their replacement or older products.

 Placing a clip where their is a nonexistent one will not even TOUCH anything that has to do with electricity or fire hazards... and if for any reason there is a hazard I would not overlook that in order to easthetically repair something.. I'm not an electrician nor I'm I inclined to make such decisions but I'm also a logical person.

If you do not carry the clips then thank you for your time and information. It has been truly helpful! Not sure if i sent pics originally but i attached them here if there is anything else youd like to add or research.

Have a wonderful day! - Anon

Reply: worrying about door clips on an FPE Stab-Lok panels?

Anon, I'm not worried about touching the clip or not; it would be trivial to fabricate a replacement where needed, and cheap;

I'm concerned about the failure to understand and point out that the presence of the equipment is a hazard and that it needs replacement, not a door clip.

Worrying about door clips is like worrying that there is a spot on the seat cushion of your airplane seat in an airplane while in fact the wing is on fire.

Reader Follow-up: Nah. I'm not worried about anything. That's someone else's problem.

I understand FPE has/had many problems and a bunch of their stuff got recalled. But ours are working fine and we have no problems other then the doors swing open and close and/or water can splash inside causing a real hazard.

To you that spot may not seem like a big deal but to the owner and maintenece corporation where we have over 300 units, appearance in details is important and all I seek to justify.

I am no Manager or electrician. I'm just doing the research as per requested from the maintenace company and presidents on the board of the association. They are professionals and are well aware of details regarding all breakers and whatever nonexistent hazards for their breakers/boxes whatever their called. I was asked to find clips since I am an expert in research and being able to find info/parts/and pretty much anything.

They are not going to waste anymore time on this considering they themselves looked personally everywhere for them.

Its not like the breakers are hanging out of the box, wires sticking out, missing buttons and wires, and its about to combust or be set a flame by the nonexistant electrical shocks. I don't seek to replace doors or replace anything.

I seek to only buy a couple clips to put them back where they go. Its more of a hazard having the doors swinging open and close... Quite frankly your metaphor is rhetoric cause there is no initial problem as of YET other then the only hazard of having swinging doors and exposed breakers.

Our staff is experienced and maintain these very very well and we have replaced a couple just because of the clip when again there is no initial issue.

Im sure the future will bring more money so we can replace them all in their entirety but there is not enough money and especially if there is no one to rent a unit because one clip is missing.

Perhaps you have too much time on your hands... these scenarios are a distraction to my work and like I said these metaphors are rhetoric/not realistic. Try living from a state of love and consciousness rather then fear. I do not draw to me these such hazards so I'm sure we will be fine. Thanks for your concern. Bye now.

Reply: A breaker that fails to trip 60% of the time when  an overcurrent occurs, in an industry where the no-trip rate is a tiny fraction of 1%, is a serious latent hazard.

No you are misinformed.

There was never a recall - though there was money set aside for one.

And the fact that you think yours are working fine has no significance.

A breaker that fails to trip 60% of the time when  an overcurrent occurs, in an industry where the no-trip rate is a tiny fraction of 1%, is a serious latent hazard. It is doubtful that your management have been adequately briefed by an unbiased expert.

But I see that your interests are focused elsewhere.

As you said earlier,

have a nice day.

 

Readers who need to know the history of US CPSC testing and to read the government research that also confirmed failures of FPE Stab-Lok® equipment (though no product recall was issued) should see "FPE Stab-Lok® Panel Failure Research, Public documents" the ARTICLE INDEX given below.

...

Continue reading at FPE FAILURE FIRE PHOTOS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• CIRCUIT BREAKER FAILURE RATES - independent test results for several widely-used brands of circuit breaker
• FPE FAILURE FIELD REPORTS
• FPE HAZARD SUMMARY
• FPE Stab-Lok® : FIRES WAITING TO HAPPEN

Suggested citation for this web page

FPE FAILURE FIRE PHOTO 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

Or use the SEARCH BOX found below to Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Try the search box just below, or if you prefer, post a question or comment in the Comments box below and we will respond promptly.

Note: appearance of your Comment below may be delayed: if your comment contains an image, photograph, web link, or text that looks to the software as if it might be a web link, your posting will appear after it has been approved by a moderator. Apologies for the delay.

Only one image can be added per comment but you can post as many comments, and therefore images, as you like.
You will not receive a notification when a response to your question has been posted.
Please bookmark this page to make it easy for you to check back for our response.
Our Comment Box is provided by Countable Web Productions countable.ca

Citations & References

In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.

---

ADVERTISEMENT

---