The Internet is a great library, but some of the books are old....
Russel Ray, a great home inspector/Renaissance Man from San Diego posted this excellent article about Federal Pacific Electric Stab-Lok electrical panels. We've run across a bunch of these over the years - it's definitely worth checking on the next time you walk by your panel box.
The Internet is a library,
but some of the books are old!A few days ago I had the opportunity to evaluate some foundation cracks; see Cracks happen (an ActiveRain success story). That post, and this post, and primarily for Paul McCartney (I made up the name to protect his identity).
When I'm on someone else's property, regardless of why my motive is for being there, my eyes are always looking around, and on this gentleman's property, right above some of the cracks we were looking at, was a Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) "Stab-lok" panel:
I told him that out of everything I had seen at his property, the FPE Stab-lok pane was what I considered the most problematic.
Here are some links to Internet sites discussing this brand of panel:
- http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm
- http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpe.html
- http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpecpsc.htm
- http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpetest.htm
When I find these panels at a home inspection, this is the verbiage that my attorneys, my E&O insurance provider, a few electrician friends here in San Diego, and I have compiled:
A Federal Pacific Electric "Stab-Lok" service panel was present. FPE circuit breakers may fail to trip in response to an overcurrent or a short circuit. A circuit breaker that may not trip does not afford the protection that is intended and required, creating a fire hazard. Simply replacing the circuit breakers might not be a reliable repair.
A common "defense" of the electric panel is that "it's always been there and hasn't caused any problems." Electric panels in and of themselves typically do not "cause any problems." It is the electric components or appliances that typically cause problems, e.g., a short in an appliance, an electric outlet, or a light switch. Electric panels and circuit breakers are designed to prevent personal injury and property damage in the event of a short (or other problem) by shutting down the electric current to the faulty appliances or electrical components.The fact that there "have not been any problems" simply means that the electric wiring, switches, and outlets; and the appliances using the wiring, switches, and outlets, have not had any problems. There appears to be no official recall on these panels, mainly because the companies that made these panels are out of business.
Due to the problems associated with Federal Pacific Electric panels and inadequate clearance between breakers and edges of covers (removing covers can dislodge circuit breakers and/or all circuits might need to be shut off), I do not remove covers; type of power cable and/or main wiring was unknown; type of branch wiring was unknown; adequacy of grounding system was unknown; and condition of wiring and any specific wiring problems was unknown.For additional helpful information about Federal Pacific electric panels, click here, click here, click here, and click here. This electric panel might be at the end of its useful life.
Standards generally recognize the life expectancy of electric panels to be about 25 years. With older panels, contact points become corroded, possibly causing arcing, brownouts, and, at worst case, fires, personal injury, and property damage.
I do not remove any circuit breakers to inspect for corrosion at the circuit breaker contact points since that would require shutting off electric service to remove the circuit breakers. There is the possibility that this electric panel has been upgraded, but only a licensed electrician can make that determination since electric service might again have to be shut off and circuit breakers removed.
Note that home inspectors are not licensed as electricians in the State of California. Recommend further evaluation by a licensed electrician before close of escrow.After I left, Paul, who seems to be very astute at doing Google searches, found an article by John Schneider:
It's a copyrighted article, so I have included just the link.
The most interesting thing in Mr. Schneider's article is that he documents all the problems with this brand of panel but still goes out of his way to find one — one! — electrician who would give him the answer that he had obviously previously arrived at: He didn't have to replace his electric panel. He made that quite clear early in his article because he didn't want to spend $1,500 to replace it — a quote that I consider high; Paul, let me know what quotes you get!
The other thing is that Mr. Schneider's article is copyrighted 2002. In addition to me knowing everything in Mr. Schneider's article in October 2001 when I started my home inspection company here in San Diego, we also have another nine years of experiential evidence, and it is my unqualified opinion that Federal Pacific Stab-lok panels should be replaced. The sooner, the better.
The Internet is a great library, but some of the books are old. Other books are written with a specific audience in mind, or with a specific bias. If you're browsing the Internet library, get that library card out and take several books home with you!
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Picture of the Moment — My little friend
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If you need a home inspection to make your day,
make sure it's one by Russel Ray!
Member since 2003 of
The world’s largest and best trade association for home inspectors!
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