electricalheating
I know Federal Pacific is infamous for their American Stab-Lok panels which should be replaced on sight. However, this panel is Cutler-Hammer CH type (the narrow 3/4" breakers).
It's the 240V electric baseboard heaters that are Federal Pacific. There's a 2000W heater, and three 1000W heaters (all sharing a 30A breaker).
Is this something I should be worried about?
Running 20amp for your workbench is a good idea (and be sure to use 12/2 wire), but overkill for a computer circuit: most residential circuits are 15A and are run on 14/2.
You don't have any choice in the breaker: Siemens panels only accept Siemens breakers, and StabLok panels only accept StabLok breakers (and of course there are several other brands). The bus design in each panel is different, and so other brands of breakers won't fit. This isn't the full truth: there are other companies that make breakers that are compatible with Siemens panels, but they'll be marked that way. Just realize there are different designs of panels with different designs for how the breakers physically connect in, and they're not all cross-compatible.
There are some known problems with the design of StabLok panels (which are made by Schneider Electric, and sold as Federal Pacific, Federal Pioneer, StabLok). InspectAPedia has some pretty dire warnings against using FPE StabLok panels - I was actually not aware of the extent of problems until just now. According to the article, it's actually a fire hazard as they can come loose, and that's aside from the apparent defects in the breakers themselves (they can fail to trip, and even fail to shut off when you manually turn them off).
I personally am not a huge fan of StabLok, the connection is just not as solid as you get with, eg, SquareD panels, and most StabLok panels are ugly for that reason: all the breakers are skewed in random directions.
Concurring mostly with Some Guy's answer here -- the reason why I take an aggressive tone in my other answers regarding FPE is because many of the OPs are coming to us because they want to do something to the breaker box, such as adding a new circuit or replacing a breaker that "died". Note also that all of this advice applies to panels labeled "Federal Noark" or just "Noark", as well as Canadian panels labeled "Federal Pioneer".
I will start by linking my main source here, the latest revision of Jesse Aronstein's paper on the topic. In short, there are three main problems with the FPE Stab-Lok system:
and three follow-on problems that stem from the system's obsolescence:
as well as one final problem that seems to be connected somehow to the common-trip jam defect:
Federal Pacific Electric started off making electrical switchgear, but in the 1950s some folks at a company called Federal Electric Products came up with a circuit-breaker and panel design to jump in on the building boom (and newfangled invention of residential circuit breakers) that was going on at the time. Production started up in the 1950s, and went smoothly for a short while, at least.
Then, FPE acquired FEP in 1954, and proceeded to trademark the name Stab-Lok for their newly acquired circuit breaker, due to its unique design which used a "stab" terminal on the breaker that mated with a slot in the busbar; other panel designs use a tab on the busbar that mates with a spring-clip-type contact in the breaker.
However, for all its infelicities, the Stab-Lok would have not earned its infamy had it not been for the work of some even dimmer bulbs in the testing department at Federal Pacific Electric in building an elaborate testing apparatus for the sole purpose of fooling UL into allowing them to accept breakers that were actually outside of the UL standard criteria. This hoodwink started about the time FPE acquired FEP and continued for many years, until FPE itself went bankrupt and went through multiple changes of ownership, first by a holding company known as UV Industries, and then being acquired by Reliance Electric. Reliance began to sniff around, and what they found shocked them -- causing them to suspend FPE executives without pay, and UL to start delisting the FPE Stab-Lok line. By 1982, the Stab-Lok line was well and truly out of production in the US, and Reliance was well on their way to suing FPE/UV for their deception.
At about the same time, the CPSC began to investigate this issue in earnest; however, in about 1983, Reagan-induced budgetary shortages and the negative precedents from the aluminum wiring case conspired to force the CPSC to abandon their investigation before they could come to a conclusion; all that came of it was a generic press release that neither exonerated nor found any definitive fault with the FPE breaker line. As a result of this, no recall was actually ever issued for the FPE breaker line, and there may never be a recall of the product, lest the aluminum wiring court debacle repeat itself.
After this, FPE basically was broken up -- their US switchgear plant went one way (to Westinghouse to be converted for aftermarket breaker manufacture, then possibly to Cutler-Hammer and then closed down by C-H only to be reopened by its manager as an independent company), their US breaker line formally went another way (to Challenger Electric who proceeded to sell it off to a company that eventually became American Circuit Breaker Corporation), and their Canadian breaker line went a third direction (being absorbed into Schneider Canada). This led to some infighting between the US and Canadian sides -- as part of this, in the early 90s, the two products were acknowledged as identical and interchangeable in the course of the ensuing court case, which was settled in 2005. Schneider Canada, of course, is not forthcoming about any of this; however, there have been sporadic recalls of Stab-Lok-type breakers that appear to be of somewhat later designs than FPE's original type NA.
A class-action suit was filed against the remains of FPE in 2002 in New Jersey; however, the ensuing judgement and 2008 settlement, while finding that FPE did violate state consumer fraud statutes, provided very little right of recovery for New Jersey homeowners, and no help whatsoever outside of NJ. Finally, in 2011, the CPSC issued a clarifying note to their original 1983 press release that more explicitly stated that the CPSC had to close their investigation before they could publish findings.
All of the preceding history aside, here is my guide to "I see a FPE panel, but it's otherwise apparently OK, I'm not trying to add anything to it, and this house isn't changing hands any time soon", in it, "as soon as feasible" means "as soon as you have the money to hire an electrician to come out", not "when I'll get around to it" or "oh, that'll happen when we remodel":
There are two options available for the replacement of FPE Stab-Lok electrical panels; either the panel is replaced in its entirety with a modern panel, or gutted and retrofitted using an Eaton retrofit kit to convert it to a type BR or type CH panel.
Of the two, the retrofit kit is more costly parts-wise ($500 for a retrofit interior vs $200 for a new panel); however, if your panel is large enough to accommodate it (due to wire-bending space issues in older panels caused by the 1982 changes to the NEC), the retrofit kit can be installed in the existing enclosure, which is a significant labor savings over having to remove the enclosure entirely and install a complete new panel. Another factor that complicates this is while BR retrofit interiors can take tandem/quadruplex type BR breakers, tandem GFCI, AFCI, and DFCI breakers don't exist due to the space required for the electronics -- this significantly restricts the utility of the retrofit kit when the wiring is not grounded, or a significant number of GFCIs, AFCIs, and/or DFCIs need to be installed to meet current Code circuit protection requirements.
Unfortunately, both NOS (new old stock) and newly-manufactured type NA breakers are available on the market these days. Some may be tempted to go "hey, I'll just replace the crummy old breakers with new ones, and it'll be fine now!" However, there are three problems with this approach:
In all of these three cases, or in any other case where an electrical panel alteration, such as:
is called for, this is a sign that the Stab-Lok panel needs to be replaced; see above for replacement advice.
First off, good on the home inspector -- not all of them keep up on such esoterica as faulty electrical service equipment! The advice from here depends on if you're the buyer or the seller.
I'm buying a house with a FPE panel in it, what should I do?
In this case, making replacement of the panel a condition of sale is wise -- now would be a good time for a general electrical overhaul, as well, and the best part is that it may be possible to do a bit of creative financing on the seller's side to use the proceeds from the sale to finance the electrical work at the end of the day.
If that's absolutely impossible, the panel should be examined by an electrician for any sign of overheating or internal arcing that poses an immediate fire hazard, at a barest minimum. "Exercising" or "testing" FPE breakers in situ is hazardous and should not be attempted under any circumstances.
My house has a FPE panel in it, and I want to sell it
Just replace the electrical panel, alright? Electricity is different from many other household systems (such as HVAC, plumbing, or even structural) in that the system can appear to function normally (unlike a leaky pipe or a clearly bowed beam) while posing grave dangers to the house's occupants -- a shorted dryer drawing 1000A of current until the utility's fuses blow will catch on fire, despite everything appearing to be normal up until the moment the dryer shorted out.
First off -- do not sell this stuff. There is a "black market" for old FPE hardware, and given the out-and-out danger it poses, getting involved with said black market is beyond unwise, it is complicit in endangerment. Throwing it away is also not ideal option either, as it represents evidence of FPE's failings, but if you must toss it in the can, taking steps (such as double-bagging) to thwart trash-pickers is a good idea.
A better idea than simply trashing evidence, though, is to send it to someone who can add it to the record. Jesse Aronstein has been performing independent testing and research on residential circuit breakers, including FPE, for almost a decade now, and has published results not only in the reports I rely on here, but in a journal paper as well, and would be happy, I am certain, to receive more FPE hardware to add to his collection; so I would recommend contacting him through his website and offering to donate your FPE hardware to him.
Best Answer
The only problem I have ever had with FPE base board heaters is the thermostat. I am not saying there was a flaw. The contacts fail after many years of service and have required replacement. Your total of 5000 watts would be 20.8A so a 30 Amp breaker would be normal with #10 wire supplying them. If you cannot find a replacement thermostat (for the ones in the base board) I have added a wall mounted thermostat for the room and bypassed the thermostat but not the over temp sensor that is a safety if the contacts weld closed in the thermostat. Added Today I just did a power survey on an older 25kva 480 to 240-120v transformer that has been in use for? It wal lightly loaded at 54A at 240. I increased its load to 91A at 240 even ballanced loads (120) and it is still running cool on a hot day here (mid 90's) so I would still say FPE products other than "stab lock" are good.