FEDERAL PACIFIC STAB-LOK BREAKERS

The mounting information  against the Federal Pacific Stab-Lok breakers (and their panels) has risen over the years and the answer to what to do with them is becoming "replace them." There is still however, some lingering perceptions to the contrary and thus some confusion may exist depending on who you ask.  These breakers and panels were UL listed when manufactured, therefore, many presume they are safe.  We have asked local electrical code enforcement officers of their opinion of the safety issues related to these breakers and found that some of them are not familiar with the problems related to these breakers. One town inspector told us he had them in his house and had heard of no safety problems. 

The problem with these breakers is a latent one.  They do not pose a hazard by themselves when all conditions in the electrical system are good.  In other words, you will never know you have a problem unless you have a condition that creates an overcurrent that demands the breaker to trip. This may or may not ever happen.  However, in most homes, overcurrents do happen at some  point and you want to know your breakers will provide the protection they are designed for. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has done testing on these breakers, particularly the two pole breakers using the UL standards.  They have found that many of the two-pole  Stab-Lok breakers may jam when trying to trip from overcurrent on one pole.  This type of failure occurred in about 10% of the two-pole breakers.  There are other problems associated with one pole breakers and the breaker panels themselves. However, these are too lengthy to elaborate in this newsletter.  You may wish to visit http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpestlouis.htm that details information from a 2004 ASHI seminar in St. Louis.

We believe on this issue, when these breakers are found in a home, the home inspector should  recommend additional consultation and evaluation of the panel and breakers by an electrician who is familiar with this issue and who has studied the available test data.

The information contained on this page is not exhaustive and is meant to be only an overview.  For complete documentation on this subject please contact local or State heath officials.