Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok breaker & Panel Safety Questions & Answers.

This article series explains the possible hazards of the Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok® electrical panels & circuit breakers,in more recently manufactured FP product versions.

Independent test data on Federal Pioneer circuit breakers sold in Canada indicate that recently-produced FP breakers (1992 and 2015) perform similarly to U.S. FPE circuit breakers, having similar failure rates.

FAQs on Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok® Electrical Panel / Breaker Safety

These questions and answers about the performance and safety of Canadian FP or Federal Pioneer circuit breakers and elecrical panels were posted originally at FEDERAL PIONEER PANEL SAFETY - be sure to review the study and failure data given there.

On 2018-11-21 by (mod) - Ontario electrical inspector would not certify work connected to the FP stab-lok panel.

Rufus,

Thank you for an important field report. Your personal experience echos Dr. Aronstein's independent test results that show convincingly that Canadian FP Stab-Lok breakers, both recent-models (2000) and even new stock purchased from suppliers have a worrying high rate of failure to trip.

In Canada where the government is the authority who approved that equipment in the first place, probably because of liability concerns, in my OPINION Ontario Hydro is never going to acknowledge that the equipment that they approved is now considered unsafe and should be replaced. Ditto for the manufacturer.

On 2018-11-21 by Rufus Simon

I have a Federal Pioneer stab-lok panel which was installed in the new house in the year 2000. I have twice experienced the circuit breakers failure to trip. In one case the lamp switch blew but the breaker failed.
I recently finished my basement and added the basement circuits to the additional breakers on the same panel.

The Ontario electric inspector made his second visit to certify the completed work. Though satisfied he would not certify the work connected to the FP stab-lok panel.

I am supposed to add a sub panel and transfer the basement circuits to the new sub panel. What is the Ontario Electrical Certification say about this.

On 2018-04-09 by (mod) -

Sorry Cathy and John, but what you report is inaccurate, as is the assumption that contemporary or recently-made FP (Federal Pioneer) or UBI circuit breakers perform better than older FP or FPE circuit breakers. That does not appear to be the case.

In fact "old" and "worn-out" or simply "obsolete" do not describe the circuit breakers discussed in this article series, nor would those conditions explain the failure rates given. Except when damaged by external conditions such as flooding or fire or mechanical abuse, an electrical circuit breaker is expected to perform properly from new until the electrical panel is replaced.

It was indeed disappointing to learn that even brand new replacement circuit breakers of several circuit breaker brands including FP and UBI have been found to have a significant rate of failure to trip in response to overcurrent.

The testing of these circuit breakers has been performed by engineers who have a very long and completely-respected history in the profession of forensic engineering, and who are independent from the companies involved.

Their credentials can be found under Aronstein and Carrier at ABOUT InspectApedia.com - this page is located at inspectapedia.com/Admin/About_InspectApedia.php )

We would welcome copies of (or being referred to copies of) actual reports of corporate or independent testing or other documents that support the claims made by those semi-anonymous but critical readers below.

Having worked on this topic since the 1980s, it remains the case that I know of no technical papers, studies, or reports (even company reports) on field performance of breakers or on the performance of new breakers that contradict the data and conclusions that we have posted in this article series.

This website, InspectAPedia.com is an independent publisher of building, environmental, and forensic inspection, diagnosis, and repair information provided free to the public - we have no business nor financial connection with any manufacturer or service provider discussed at our website. We do not sell products nor services.

We welcome informed, polite questions and criticism.

Where life safety issues are at stake readers should be particularly wary posts by aonymous readers or by those who are pehaps using a nom-de-plume, who are of unknown expertise and who are neither identified nor accountable for their claims.

On 2018-04-09 by Anonymous - suspects conflict of interest

... [ranting deleted - mod] Your commentary back and forth made to look like a person is commenting and responding is a lie used to trash Connecticut Electric and the FPE names. Who owns this site??? Seimens?? Square D??? Cutler???

Moderator reply:

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

We are dedicated to making our information as accurate, complete, useful, and unbiased as possible: we very much welcome critique, questions, or content suggestions for our web articles. Working together and exchanging information makes us better informed than any individual can be working alone.

More information about this website is at ABOUT InspectApedia.com

On 2017-06-22 by (mod) - some of our FP circuit breakers won't turn off

Watch out: You are describing in an unsafe condition. As you are reading this article series you should replace the panel

On 2017-06-22 by CATHY

Hello,

I have a question, we have a federal pioneer main disconnect switch type 16PL-3 class
25 poles
3 volts
600 max .
amp.1600,
int cap 200KA
SW. CAP 42ka
control 120V dc
Freq 60hz

We have a switch and ground fault relay

It seems like 2 of our HVAC units trip the main disconnect instead of the breaker on its own circuit.
It doesn't seem to be the motor in the units.
Any ideas what could be wrong?

On 2017-04-22 by (mod) - there is no "government report" from a U.S. nor Canadian government agency stating that FPE panels are safe to use.

@Anonymous

Adding to what John H. said, there is no "government report" from a U.S. nor Canadian government agency stating that FPE panels are safe to use.

On 2017-04-22 by John J Hazel

@Anonymous, "Educated' does not mean reading one report and deeming it conclusive. There is evidence from many testing laboratories, personal experiences, TV news broadcasts from all over the United States, some insurance companies refusing to write homeowner policies, and fire departments who educate the rest of us.

The test results are disappointing at the least. I would expect similar test results between the American and Canadian group as both groups were to my best guess manufactured by Federal Pioneer.

The good news is that the test results are better than the Connecticut Electric UBI Type F test results.

There is no doubt that the best solution is to replace the entire panel with a modern brand that has no negative history where possible to do so.If the industry standard for 'no trips' is less than 0.01% then these results are terribly troubling due to the number of Stab-Lok panels still in use.

If anyone can come up with a funding source to buy and test brand new Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok breakers, I will be more than happy to contribute. I chose Federal Pioneer as they are the only current manufacturer of genuine Stab-Lok breakers. I have personally experienced 'no trip' failures with the old Federal Pacific and new Connecticut Electric breakers.

On 2015-11-26 by (mod) - should I be thinking of replacing my Federal Pioneer 200A panel (BE132-64-200) installed in 1995

John, and Anonymous (below):

The article FEDERAL PIONEER PANEL SAFETY discusses the FP panel safety question -

also see CIRCUIT BREAKER FAILURE RATES that's our best data.

If it were my home I'd replace the panel and at the same time choose a new panel with enough space that the isolation switch for the generator has no trouble fitting into the new box.

About whether or not we have the necessary generator isolation switch: no, InspectApedia does not sell anything - doing so might undermine the trust of our readers.

On 2015-11-24 by John Chalmers

I have a Federal Pioneer 200A panel (BE132-64-200) in my home. It was installed in 1995. Due to weather related power outages, I acquired a 7500w potable generator and after much googling was thinking of installing a "Generator interlock Switch" The switch, to work properly, should marry up with the panel.

First question. Is this panel safe, or should I be thinking of replacing it? 2nd question. Do you have the required generator interlock switch kit? Appreciate all and any comments/recommendations.

On 2015-10-28 1 by Anonymous

Why would you recommend any FPE panels be replaced? The panels in question were manufactured 1979 and earlier and this was a situation of a company "self reporting" to the Federal Government after an acquisition of FPE by another company.

The government investigated and found no reason to recall and stated their findings, although limited, found no more incidence of failure than any other brand.

Recommending replacement if there is no sign of failure is irresponsible and feeding into the hands of some very dishonest electrical contractors.

There is a government report available online which backs up what I have stated. Any home inspector who automatically recommends replacement is uneducated and needs to educate themselves.

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

We are dedicated to making our information as accurate, complete, useful, and unbiased as possible: we very much welcome critique, questions, or content suggestions for our web articles. Working together and exchanging information makes us better informed than any individual can be working alone.

More information about this website is at ABOUT InspectApedia.com

...

Continue reading at FEDERAL PIONEER PANEL SAFETY - topic home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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Suggested citation for this web page

FEDERAL PIONEER PANEL SAFETY FAQs-2 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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