Replacement Circuit Breakers - Westinghouse and Federal Pacific

[olc]

Are replacement circuit breakers available for:
Federal Pacific panelboards (not load centers) (1981ish)?
Westinghouse NQP panelboard? (likely older than 1981)

 

[Ponchik]

Try these guys:
http://www.baybreakers.com/catalog/

 

[petersonra]

these kind of things appear on ebay from time to time as well.

 

[Jraef]

Westinghouse breakers are just Cutler Hammer now though. The FPE that was not "Stab-Lok" residential stuff became Challenger, who was later ALSO bought by Cutler Hammer / Eaton, so they have replacements for most of them too.

The Stab-Lok breakers are now officially gone but there are after-market suppliers, however most people chose to take the panels out altogether.

 

[mjf]

Try this site. they have most old hard to find breakers. http://www.aplussupply.com/break/breaker.shtml New, UL listed. I've ordered from them several times with satisfaction. ("bandaids" for a condo complex that has complete overhaul in the near future)

Alot of sites have "remanufactured" old breakers. Gar, a knowledgeable member of this forum assured me no company would truly remanufacture and properly test any breaker under 400 amps (not cost effective), so, have at it, but you're buying a used breaker that someone wiped down with a damp cloth.

 

[zog]

Are replacement circuit breakers available for:
Federal Pacific panelboards (not load centers) (1981ish)?
Westinghouse NQP panelboard? (likely older than 1981)

American Circuit Breaker was the last company to manufacture the FP Stab lock line (And yes they did all the correct UL testing), they closed the plant about 10 years ago but you can still find new surplus breakers on the market. Currently a company called UBI makes stab lok replacements, home depot carries them.

As mentioned Eaton makes about anything for replacement of old Westy breakers, they also have panel retrofits for the FP stab lok panels.

As mentioned, be careful about used or "reconditioned" small MCCB's, if you go that route ask for a complete test report. Dealers that are members of PEARL are certified to have correct test equipment and reconditioned procedures for MCCB's. Many of the so called dealers don't have the ability to test MCCB's and don't really stock much, they just go buy from the PEARL guys and resell. Astro Controls www.astrocontrols.com is perhaps the largest PEARL certified dealer of molded case breakers in the country.

What specific breakers are you looking for? That would be helpful for offering advice.

 

[euboss]

FPE and Challenger Circuit Breakers

FPE and Challenger Circuit Breakers

Just Google Federal Pacific. They have a lot of problems with these circuit breakers. In SW Florida I am getting a lot of panel changes because the Insurance companies will not insure a property that has Federal Pacific or Challenger loadcenters. As for replacement breakers they are available but very pricey. If you add 3 or 4 breakers you could probably change out the whole panel for a little more. In my 30 plus years of experience i have found that a 15 amp FPE trips at either 5 amps or 50 amps. Maybe not at all.

 

[mjf]

American Circuit Breaker was the last company to manufacture the FP Stab lock line (And yes they did all the correct UL testing), they closed the plant about 10 years ago but you can still find new surplus breakers on the market. Currently a company called UBI makes stab lok replacements, home depot carries them.

As mentioned Eaton makes about anything for replacement of old Westy breakers, they also have panel retrofits for the FP stab lok panels.

As mentioned, be careful about used or "reconditioned" small MCCB's, if you go that route ask for a complete test report. Dealers that are members of PEARL are certified to have correct test equipment and reconditioned procedures for MCCB's. Many of the so called dealers don't have the ability to test MCCB's and don't really stock much, they just go buy from the PEARL guys and resell. Astro Controls www.astrocontrols.com is perhaps the largest PEARL certified dealer of molded case breakers in the country.

What specific breakers are you looking for? That would be helpful for offering advice.

My apologies, Zog, I erroneously referred to you as Gar:slaphead:. You are the knowledgeable member that taught me about "remanufactured" breakers.

 

[olc]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[zog]

My apologies, Zog, I erroneously referred to you as Gar:slaphead:. You are the knowledgeable member that taught me about "remanufactured" breakers.

Gar is the knowledgeable member that teaches us about a lot of things so I 'll take that as a compliment.

 

[mjf]

Gar is the knowledgeable member that teaches us about a lot of things so I 'll take that as a compliment.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: