Federal Pacific breaker box?

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Cristian

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Hi all,

I recently acquired a house that has an older (circa 1979) Federal Pacific breaker box. I was advised by the previous owner that she had been told by her insurance agent that she wouldn't be able to renew her homeowner policy until the box was replaced. Can anyone here advise as to whether there is any truth to this sort of thing? I was hoping to get a bit of info here before contacting an insurance agent. If this is the case, would anyone here know about how much it would cost to do this change? The house is a smaller 2 bedroom 2 bath with nothing fancy going on. Any comments or assistance are really appreciated!
 

Breplum

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This is off the top of my head, but recall that the issue was failure of those breakers to pop when overloaded, leading to fires.
So, makes sense that Federal Pacific box and breakers are a fire hazard.
 

Tuttles Revenge

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Zinsco panels are the ones I've seen that fail. I've flipped breakers and found current still flowing past them..
 

Afjes

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Yes, definitely, Federal Pacific panels should (actually) must be replaced. This is NOT new news in the field and has been for quite some time. I am a retired electrician and quite honestly if I received any calls to do any work in someone's home and found that they have a Federal Pacific panel I turned down the job instantly. I was not going to make any changes/additions etc to the panel except a complete replacement of the panel.

Yes, many insurance companies will require you to replace a Federal Pacific panel or they will drop your coverage.

And honestly these panels are in fact dangerous because the breakers are not reliable. Bite the bullet and just get it changed out as soon as possible.

As far as the cost of replacement that will vary a lot on location. Get at least 3 different estimates for a complete replacement from licensed electricians. Remember, the cheapest estimate is not always the best.

Do it really soon!!!!
 
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