Federal Pacific panels ...

[Nolan Kienitz]

JP,

I've read, seen, experienced many of the FP Panel problems.

I'm seeking clarification on a comment from an electrician suggesting that "not ALL" FP panels are bad. He went into the details of which breakers were installed and that it could "depend", but would have to be reviewed.

He was commenting about the color of the labeling on the breakers ... some orange, red, white, etc., etc. and that could be a hint as to one panel being more suspect to problems than others.

Any clarification from you for input?

[Jerry Peck - Codeman]

Hi Nolan,

You were talking with the electrician about FPE "panels".

The electrician was answering back regarding FPE "breakers".

The FPE "panels" had a problem related to their design, the mounting of the bus bars, the installation of the breakers into the bus bars, and the relationship of the bus bar adjustment screws, the bus bars, the breakers, and the dead front cover, all of which if not completely and correctly installed would leave the breakers in so-so contact with the bus bars and ready to jump out into the face any anyone removing the dead front cover.

I'm not even sure that properly adjusted and mounted everything resisted that, but all conditions being exactly correct as intended may have. However, if something is that precise in requiring "all conditions being exactly correct as intended" then there is an inherent design problem as in construction nothing is every "all conditions being exactly as intended", that is where there are "construction tolerances" - because construction is done with materials and methods which by their very nature are imprecise - construction is not like building a car in a factory with all machined parts which fit exactly the same on one car after another, and even in that example there are a lot of service bays filled with those "fit exactly the same on one car after another" cars where the things did not "fit exactly the same" ... unlike a car you cannot bring the house in for warranty work, any work needs to be done with what is "as built" by whomever built it however it was built.

That was for FPE "panels".

Now for FPE "breakers".

FPE breakers were, as with all electrical equipment like that, tested, listed, and labeled, and all "worked as per the Standard they were being tested against".

"Were" being the key phrase in the above.

It was later discovered that FPE breakers were not being manufactured as designed and intended, and as required, resulting in FPE breakers losing their listing and labeling, meaning they were no longer suitable for use.

After that, the FPE breakers were again manufactured as they should have been all along, but the damage was done. FPE was sold and another company began manufacturing FPE breakers, I am not sure but I believe they did not manufacture the FPE panels, they just purchased the breakers.

Those are probably the "breakers" the electrician was describing to you.

Regardless, the electrician would have to install those "new" FPE "breakers" in that "old" FPE "panel". Placing a good apple in a barrel of rotten apples does not make the barrel of rotten apples 'good apples'.

Here is a link to a Class Action lawsuit regarding those FPE "breakers", attached is a copy of the fax I received from the attorney back then ( viewtopic.php?f=3&t=111 ), I copied this over from the Recalls and Class Actions forum and made it a sticky post here at the Electrical forum, I should have done that before.