Advice The Home Improvement/Automation Thread

I have a Federal Pacific breaker box which I have been told is a ticking time bomb for burning my house down. I believe it because I had an outlet Arcing enough to melt the wire and the breaker never tripped. What are some good breaker boxes or other options for solving this issue?
 
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So I think I actually found the true problem with my HVAC that I had a couple of weeks ago. My Y wire had some bare copper that I missed during inspection. I started blowing fuses again the other day. Beat my head against the wall and reached out to the internet for a fix. While tracing some wires, I noticed the bare copper. All I had was masking tape, but I wrapped it up and everything has been working flawlessly since.

Total cost: $.01, plus the $15 for the contactor that I replaced a couple of weeks ago (apparently they fail a lot, so probably not the worst thing).
 
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OOD said:
I have a Federal Pacific breaker box which I have been told is a ticking time bomb for burning my house down. I believe it because I had an outlet Arcing enough to melt the wire and the breaker never tripped. What are some good breaker boxes or other options for solving this issue?
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Yeah, you'll need a new one. Square D, Eaton, Siemens, and GE all make replacements.
 
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OOD said:
I have a Federal Pacific breaker box which I have been told is a ticking time bomb for burning my house down. I believe it because I had an outlet Arcing enough to melt the wire and the breaker never tripped. What are some good breaker boxes or other options for solving this issue?
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Are you going to do the installation yourself?
 
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OOD said:
I have a Federal Pacific breaker box which I have been told is a ticking time bomb for burning my house down. I believe it because I had an outlet Arcing enough to melt the wire and the breaker never tripped. What are some good breaker boxes or other options for solving this issue?
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Thats not why FPE panels are timebombs.

The breakers and the bus bars in the panel itself is fire hazard.

Good panel brands include: Square D QO or Homeline, Cutler Hammer, Eaton, Siemens, and Murray.
 
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Valve1138 said:
Thats not why FPE panels are timebombs.

The breakers and the bus bars in the panel itself is fire hazard.

Good panel brands include: Square D QO or Homeline, Cutler Hammer, Eaton, Siemens, and Murray.
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I've heard that too. I assume both are an issue because the breakers in my other panel trip for an arc. I learned that by ignoring a breaker that kept tripping because I thought it was an overload due to using the microwave and toaster at the same time. I was just going to not use them at the same time during social distancing. I like anecdotes.
 
OOD said:
I've heard that too. I assume both are an issue because the breakers in my other panel trip for an arc. I learned that by ignoring a breaker that kept tripping because I thought it was an overload due to using the microwave and toaster at the same time. I was just going to not use them at the same time during social distancing. I like anecdotes.
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Square D is pretty much ubiquitous here from commercial to rich guy fancypants to cheap rentals. They just plain work. Reliability is king and they bring it.

The other brands mentioned are good stuff too. If one of those happens to be more available or affordable in your area get it, don't hesitate.

Never understood cheaping out on electrical stuff. So what if it's a few dollars more, it'll last as long as you do and your death certificate won't have the word "fire" on it.
 
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