Attention: Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Issues Update Regarding Federal Pacific Electrical Panels

Due to continuing pressure from engineering firms and others concerned with the safety of continued use of Federal Pacific Stab-Lok electrical panels, on February 18, 2011 the CPSC released a revised version of it’s original March 3, 1983 press release regarding FPE circuit breakers. Stopping short of re-opening the investigation, due to budget concerns, they have advised consumers to take certain safety precautions with all circuit breakers and fuses.  To read more, click on link below:

(http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml83/83008.html).

Although, once again, the CPSC does not definitively say that Federal Pacific breakers are defective, the fact that this issue is still getting this much attention 28 years after the CPSC’s original press release, and 23 years after Federal Pacific went out of business, may indicate a problem with these breakers.  Federal Pacific breakers usually have a wide orange stripe on the tip of the switch handle and you should be able to read their name on the panel label.

If you have a FPE panel or an older electrical panel and are concerned about it’s safety, give us a call at 770-455-4556 to schedule an inspection.

Also, leave  us a comment below if you have personally experienced any problems with Federal Pacific panels or circuit breakers.