Canadian Federal Pioneer Electrical Hazards Website InspectAPedia® -
Federal Pioneer (Canadian) Electrical Panels & Circuit Breaker Hazards
Federal Pioneer Electric Panel Recall
1997 Federal Pioneer electrical panel warranty alert
Are recently-manufactured Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok Electrical Panels Safe?
Federal Pacific Electric (U.S.) Stab-Lok panels
Field reports (a few) of Federal Pioneer electrical panel failures
We recommend that residential FPE Stab-Lok electrical panels be replaced entirely or the entire panel bus assembly be replaced entirely, regardless of model number or year of manufacture. We recommend against replacing individual FPE Stab-lok circuit breakers. We do not sell circuit breakers nor any other products.Our site offers impartial, unbiased advice without conflicts of interest.
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This article discusses possible hazards of the Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok electrical panel, a Canadian version of
the Federal Pacific Electric Stab-Lok equipment.
The FPE website explains the hazards associated with the American product: Federal Pacific Electric Stab-lok circuit breakers and service panels,
provides a history of the issue, recounts research on FPE failures, and recommends replacement of the panels.
Readers should also see HOW TO IDENTIFY FPE & FPfor help in identifying Federal Pioneer old and more recently-manufactured Stab-lok products, and see Are Recent Federal Pioneer Stab-Loks Safe? for a discussion of the safety of older and more recently made Federal Pioneer equipment. These discussions pertain only to the Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok electrical equipment brand made in Canada, not to the Federal Pacific Stab-lok brand made and installed in the United States.
Electronic copies and reproduction of this information at other websites are prohibited. Readers are welcome to
make and distribute printed copies of our articles about FPE Stab-Lok equipment provided this web page is cited and provided that the content
is not edited or changed. (Contact us to suggest edits, changes, corrections, updates).
What Are Canadian Federal Pioneer Electrical Panel or Breaker Concerns?
In May 1999 I learned from Schneider Canada that Federal Pioneer circuit breakers sold by that company are re-named from Federal Pacific circuit breakers and that
two 15-amp single-pole models NC015 and NC015CP made between August 1, 1996 and June 11, 1997 have been recalled.
The Schneider recall noticeis available at this website.
Note that this is a very specific recall. It did not pertain to the entire Federal Pioneer product line nor to other products manufactured by Schneider Electric.
By telephone call I asked the engineer with whom I spoke at Schneider if he could tell me if Federal Pioneer and Federal Pacific components sold
in Canada were made in the U.S. or if tooling used to produce them was identical with that used in the U.S.
If this is the case (as one might expect based on
economies of production) one should consider the possibility that other defects reported in the U.S. may also appear in Canadian installations.
While the engineer was polite and friendly at the time of our telephone call, the company never responded to this information request.
Federal Pioneer Warranty Alert - 1997
The Warranty Alert was issued by the Ontario New Home
Warranty program in October 1997 and provides for circuit breaker replacement. Schneider Canada is an electrical supplier whose product lines combine those previously marketed under the names
Federal Pacific Electric, Federal Pioneer, Square-D, Tele Mechanique, Modicon, and Merlin Gerin.
The attorney who researched FPE failures (the American version of this product) for the New Jersey class action suit explains that since a portion of the safety defect with FPE breakers may be due
to variations during manufacture, and since Canadian breakers may have been and may continue to be be manufactured in a different plant from those made in the U.S., it is possible that the field performance of Canadian breakers
is different than the U.S. design.
Schneider Canada, the Federal Pioneer parent company, has not provided information regarding the original breaker and panel design or manufacturing line changes over the U.S. design, nor provided test result data regarding the Canadian product.
Federal Pioneer Electrical Panel Recall
A
1997 Schneider Canada Federal Pioneer circuit breaker recall was issued
in 1997, addresses Schneider Canada NC015/NC015P Circuit Breakers, and is reported in the article at that link.
In some circumstances these breakers may not
trip. In other cases, the breakers will continue to
protect anticipated overloads and short circuit
currents. If the circuit breaker does not perform
as intended, there is potential for property
damage and/or personal injury. There [were, at the time of the recall in 1997]
no reports of injuries or fires as a result of the
potential problem.
Field Reports of Federal Pioneer Electrical Problems
As of May 2007 we have had just a few reports of failures in the Canadian Federal Pioneer (Stab-Lok) equipment and also reports of failures of "replacement" FPE circuit breakers
installed in U.S. panels. We do not know whether this is due to better electrical work in Canada than in some U.S. locations, thus
calling on the breakers to trip less often than in the U.S., different manufacturing runs of the product, different levels of reporting
between the two countries, or other factors.
Canadian reports of Federal Pioneer electrical panel or breaker field failures are included with the FPE failure reports at REPORTS OF FPE FAILURES but are clearly identified as FP, not FPE.
Canadian homeowners, electricians, home inspectors who encounter Federal Pioneer electrical panels or those who encounter problems with them
are asked to report them to us for tabulation. Contact Us to report this equipment.
If you encounter failures, also please report them to the CSA and the US CPSC.
Remaining Safety Concerns in Federal Pioneer Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers
Having inspected a few (less than 10) Canadian FPE (Federal Pioneer-brand) electric panels, I observed two ongoing concerns:
The same circuit breaker bus design was used as in the U.S. equipment. I've seen very poor retention of breakers in the bus - in one house the breaker was held in place by duct tape, as the spring design in the contact of the breaker where it plugs into the special opening in the bus
appears not to have held the breaker in place. I have also seen breakers modified with their inserting pins bent and modified to fit a breaker into a slot where it did not belong - a step that is
impossible with other breaker designs.
A similar or identical panel design may expose consumers to panel arcing and fires regardless of changes in the circuit breakers themselves.
Federal Pacific Electric "Stab-Lok" service panels and breakers are a latent hazard and can fail to trip in response to overcurrent, leading to electrical fires. The breakers may also fail to shut off internally even if the toggle is switched to "off."
Some double-pole (240-Volt) FPE circuit breakers and single-pole FPE Stab-Lok circuit breakers simply do not work safely.
There are other Federal Pioneer / Federal Pacific electric panel-defects independent of the breaker problems, panel and panel-bus fires and arcing failures in some equipment. The failure rates for these circuit breakers were and still are significant. In some cases failure to trip occurs 60% of the time - a serious fire and
electrical shock hazard. Failures are documented in the CPSC study and by independent research.
Additional independent testing and research are on-going and are reported here. FPE Stab-Lok electrical panels (the American product) should be replaced. Do not simply swap in some replacement breakers (in either the American or the Canadian product).
Federal Pioneer Electrical Panel Field Reports Requested
We invite building owners, electricians, fire marshals, manufacturers, or independent testing laboratories to report to us on the field performance or field failures or product testing results for this product and we will publish here any updates we are able obtain.
We’d also like to see photos of the bus design itself – an electrician can open the panel – remove the cover, and if necessary pull a breaker to expose the bus and breaker connectors – that might tell us if visible changes were made even if we don’t know if internal breaker design changes were made.
No Conflicts of Interest at InspectAPedia.com concerning FP and FPE products
Because Schneider Electric has at other website and forum postings represented inaccurate information on our role in reporting on Federal Pioneer Electrical panels and circuit breakers, we emphasize here that we have not in the past and do not now sell any product or service whatsoever concerning electrical panels, equipment, home repairs, or anything similar.
Our policy on conflicts of interest is summarized on our home page InspectAPedia.com
Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website, and if you wish, to receive online listing and credit as a contributor. Particular thanks are due to the many experts and also consumers who read and critique technical articles at InspectAPedia.com.
Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.
Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
Readers who own a Federal Pioneer electrical panel should see:
FPE Field Failure Reports Wanted: Contact the Author to report problems you have
observed or experienced with this equipment, Federal Pacific Electric Stab-Lok panels, circuit breakers, replacement circuit breakers of any brands and type used in FPE panels.
Inspectors or consumers should also report failures and FPE issues by sending an Incident Report to the US CPSC - please email us with the same information.
Note: as we didn't add this reviewers list until 2007, this list of technical reviewers is incomplete; we have received comments and suggestions
regarding this topic, edits and remarks included, from engineers and management from the US CPSC, electricians (many listed at our
page on field reports of FPE failures), home inspectors, licensed electricians, and electrical engineers, and even a few attorneys and
real estate agents, since 1986. Technical review, critique, content suggestions, questions, or clarifications are invited and
where a contributor wishes, credit and links will be provided to that source. Contact us to provide feedback.
Dr. Jess Aronstein, electrical engineer, Poughkeepsie, NY, forensic engineering services, independent laboratory testing for various agencies
Alan Carson, Carson Dunlop Associates, Toronto, Ontario. Mr. Carson is a home inspection professional, educator, researcher, writer, and a principal of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection and education firm. Mr. Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors
Mark Cramer Inspection Services Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, Mr. Cramer is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors and is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator.
Carl Grasso, Esq., Herzfeld & Rubin, New York, NY. Mr. Grasso is an attorney who managed a plaintiff's class action litigation against Federal Pacific Electric in New Jersey.
William King, US CPSC Director of Electrical Engineering (Ret).
Licensed Electricians: FPE Fire and Failure Reports includes electricians who have provided cases and photographs of field failures of FPE equipment at this website.
Homeowners, Home Inspectors, Electricians: Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) Panel Fires and other Failures includes anecdotal field reports provided by a range of contributors including electricians (and some home owners or home inspectors) who have provided cases and photographs of field failures of FPE equipment at this website.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
Replacement Panels for FPE Stab-Lok load centers - options include conventional complete panel replacement and a less costly replacement of the panel interior load center/bus assembly
2007 Where is Federal Pacific Electric today? Leaving out some steps and omitting (for now) Exxon's role:
There is currently no "FPE Corporation" to whom consumers can easily presently direct a complaint unless they participated in the New Jersey Class Action - see below
An FPE attorney exists, apparently charged with protecting some un liquidated assets and apparently charged with sheltering intermediate owners and corporations (Reliance, Exxon, Challenger, Others) from litigation. I believe his efforts were
behind the silly article that appeared in the IAEI magazine on this issue.
FPE Class Action Lawsuit Results - 2002: New Jersey Judge's Summary Judgment for the Plaintiffs against FPE 8-15-2002 & 29 October 2002 - "FPE violated the Consumer Fraud Act because FPE knowingly and purposefully distributed
circuit breakers which were not tested to meet UL Standards as indicated on their label and there is an ascertainable loss for which treble damages
are recoverable;" as reported by the Superior Court of New Jersey. [Note: only very limited recovery rights were granted to homeowners and only in New Jersey. The case may still be under appeal as of January 2007].
Electro-Mechanical Corporation, purchased the assets of a dry-type transformer facility from Challenger and in conjunction with that purchase, acquired the right to use the name Federal Pacific in connection with their products, excluding Stab-Lok circuit breaker products.
HC Zang Agency in Buffalo, NY says that "Federal Pacific Company and Federal Pacific Transformer Company of Bristol, Virginia are in no way related to the old Federal Pacific Electric (FPE)" and offers to answer questions about the old equipment.
Consumers should report FPE failures and inspection/reporting issues to the U.S. CPSC, and
We request that you also report FPE Stab-Lok equipment failures, FPE home inspection or FPE hazard reporting issues to us
2007 FPE Stab-Lok TECHNICAL REPORT - an updated test report of independent testing (a large 1.2MB PDF file) using a larger pool of FPE Stab-Lok circuit breakers than the older CPSC and Wright Malta tests found significantly higher failure rates of FPE Stab-Lok circuit breakers, including a look at critical safety failures (breaker failed to trip at 200% of rated current or jammed) which found up to 80% failure rate for FPE Stab-Lok GFCI circuit breakers (n=4), 12% failure rate for double pole FPE Stab-Lok circuit breakers (n=120), and a 1% failure rate for FPE Stab-Lok single pole circuit breakers (n=345).
2003 Federal Pacific Electric Breakers - an encyclopedic, non-prioritized inventory of FPE StabLok deficiencies by Douglas Hansen. [www.codecheck.com - Code Check] offers building code inspection guides for field use, and links on codes and failures.
FPE Class Action Lawsuit Results: New Jersey Judge's Summary Judgment for the Plaintiffs against FPE 8-15-2002 & 29 October 2002 - "FPE violated the Consumer Fraud Act because FPE knowingly and purposefully distributed
circuit breakers which were not tested to meet UL Standards as indicated on their label and there is an ascertainable loss for which treble damages
are recoverable;" as reported by the Superior Court of New Jersey.
1999 The International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) published (6/99) an inaccurate article asserting that there is no hazard with FPE Stab-Lok equipment - OUR REPLY disagreed and cited authoritative data found here along with follow up notes.
1982 CPSC Calibration and Condition Tests of Molded Case Circuit Breakers, Final Report December 30, 1982, summary pages, indicating failure rates found for FPE Stab-Lok circuit breakers
1982 Reliance Electric Co. SEC Quarterly Report: Note C. reports litigation between Reliance and UV Liquidating Trust and contends that "... improper and deceptive practices were employed for many years to secure UL listings for Federal Pacific's circuit protective products..."
1980 Reliance Electric Co. Press Release: improper practices improper practices used to obtain UL Listing for most of FPE's circuit breakers and notes testing which indicates "possible defects." 1980, Reliance Electric Co.
1980 FPE - Exxon Buys A Scandal Along With A Company improper practices used to obtain UL Listing for most of FPE's circuit breakers and notes testing which indicates "possible defects." 1980, Reliance Electric Co.
Aluminum Wiring Information Website Aluminum Electrical Wiring Hazards and Repairs: in-depth authoritative info, photos, documents including selection of proper vs. ineffective repair methods. E.g.: Ideal 65 "Twister" purple connector fails in field and lab testing with aluminum wire.
Electrical Panels, How to Inspect in Buildings, safety for electrical inspectors, electrical panel, fusing, wiring defects, defective products. Inspection Class Presentation
InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map - Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice: In-depth research & advice on diagnosing, testing, correcting, & preventing building defects & indoor environmental hazards. Unbiased information, no conflicts of interest.
The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems
Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.
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2000 FPE breakers fail in lab test of field-supplied panel 10/00
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