09/01/2025
Hey everyone, today I am going to be talking about Federal Pacific (Fed Pac) breaker panels. These panels are dangerous, they are a fire hazard and should be replaced immediately.
Fed Pac panels have issues such as breaker malfunction and inconsistent manufacturing. On top of these issues, a widespread recall was never officially released so therefor many home owners have no idea that their panel is unsafe.
Breaker Malfunction:
- The breakers commonly fail to open the branch circuit when an overload occurs which creates high resistance and in turn creates heat. the breakers will heat up because of their failure to trip and eventually start melting and arcing and blow out. it only goes down hill from here.
- It has been observed that some breakers jam or lock up, particularly after the breaker has been toggled off and back on preventing the breaker from tripping which caused total melt down of their equipment and in a lot of cases, total loss for home owners.
Inconsistent manufacturing:
- In 2002 Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) was busted distributing breakers with a (UL) listing knowing that they were in fact not listed.
- After being investigated thoroughly reports show that the company was using weak / poor quality materials that worsened over time. This also adds to the already high rate of failure.
Insurance companies may deny your claim or cancel your policy completely if your home has a (FedPac) panel. This is not good because now on top of having panel that is a fire/safety hazard, now if it burns your home down you have zero coverage.
The best way to identify a (FedPac) panel is to look at the cover if it still has one, generally it will say Federal Pacific Electric right on the front, or by looking at the breakers. The handles on the breakers are almost always red. Examples below.
- Their stab-lok design used pressure to connect breakers to the buss bar but these pressure connections are inadequate causing loose connections and arcing, which again creates heat and eventually a fire will occur.
Please, We urge you to have these panels replaced immediately for your safety and others.
I hope you all stay safe out there.
