Ugrade Your Federal Pacific Breaker Box

The federal government has issued a message of caution about Federal Pacific Stab-Lok electric panels to homeowners, electricians, home inspectors and real estate agents. At issue, when a circuit breaker gets overloaded and overheats, the breaker is supposed to trip, shutting off to prevent a fire, but some of the breakers don’t work properly. The panels were installed in thousands of homes in North Texas in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Federal Pacific is no longer in business. This story was published February 28, 2011 – 11:08 p.m.