Federal Pacific Panels

[Samantha M.]

I was taking a look at a house today with a federal pacific panel in it. These things are notorious for having their breakers fail. Has anyone here ever dealt with these? What do you typically do, put in a new panel?

I have also read you can just switch out the breakers (assuming its not wired with aluminum as well).

Thanks

[Joe Bertolino]

My 02 cents about using unlicensed contractors coming from a guy that sees a lot of claims on properties... imagine having a fire with a loss of life and you are explaining your actions as the landlord. During discovery or a deposition you will have to sit there and explain that your replaced the panel but it was done by a random guy hanging out at Home Depot with no license or insurance and you made that decision (and put your tenant in danger) because you wanted to save a few bucks by cutting corners. There are places where you can cut corners, but electrical is not one of them.