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Federal Pacific Panel Replacement
A panel directory nobody can read costs the next electrician an hour and the owner the bill for it. Most panel calls start as something smaller: a breaker that will not reset, a burning smell, an inspector’s note on a sale.
Federal Pacific Panel Replacement in O’Fallon and across St. Charles, St. Louis, Lincoln and Warren counties.
No dispatcher and no commissioned salesman. Seventeen years in the trade, four of them on his own.
5.0 from 94 Google reviews · BBB A+ since 2022
What this work actually involves
Permits are pulled where the municipality requires them, and the work is left ready for inspection rather than tidied up afterward.
Clint measures before he quotes. The reading comes first, then what it means, then the one repair that solves it. If the honest answer is smaller than what you called about, that is the answer you get, even when the bigger job pays better.
Work that needs a permit gets one, and work that needs an inspection is left ready for it. One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician.
When people call about this
- Breakers that trip under normal load
- A panel brand an inspector flags on sight
- Scorch marks, heat or a smell at the cover
- No room left for a new circuit
Why people choose Clint for it
One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician, and nobody is paid to sell past the finding.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them running his own shop, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and an A+ BBB accreditation held since 2022.
Where this is done
Out of O’Fallon across five jurisdictions: St. Charles County, St. Louis County, St. Louis City, and Lincoln and Warren counties. About fifty miles in any direction.
See the full service area, or the rest of our panels & service work.
How the load actually gets calculated
A load calculation is arithmetic, not a guess. Square footage sets a baseline, then the fixed appliances get added at their nameplate ratings: the range, the dryer, the water heater if it is electric, the air conditioning, and anything else with its own circuit. The largest of the heating or cooling loads counts, not both.
What comes out is a number in amps. Compare it to the service rating and you know whether the house is near its limit or nowhere close. That is the whole decision, and it is why the measurement happens before anyone quotes a panel.
Sub-panel, service upgrade, or neither
These three get confused constantly and they differ by thousands of dollars. A sub-panel adds places to land circuits and is right when the service carries the load but the box is full. A service upgrade raises what the house can draw and is right when the calculation says the service is genuinely at its limit.
Neither is right when the real problem is one overloaded circuit, which is more common than either. The load calculation is what separates the three, and it happens before anything is quoted.
Panels: full, overloaded, or obsolete
Three different problems get called the same thing. A full panel has no space left but adequate service. An overloaded service cannot carry the house. An obsolete panel has a known defect or no available parts. Each has a different and very differently priced answer.
The load calculation and a look at the bus with the cover off decide which one you have. A sub-panel solves the first for a fraction of the third.
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and why it gets replaced
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok breakers have a documented history of failing to trip on an overload. The panel looks ordinary and the breakers look ordinary, which is why so many are still in service.
There is no listed replacement breaker still manufactured for them, so the panel is replaced rather than repaired. If you have one, that is worth knowing before an inspection or a sale, not after.
Labeling, torque and the parts nobody sees
The parts of a panel job that decide whether it lasts are invisible once the cover goes back on: conductors torqued to specification, neutrals and grounds separated correctly downstream of the main, and a directory that names real circuits.
None of that shows in a photograph and all of it shows in ten years. It is also what an inspector reads first.
“Clint did an excellent job installing two bathroom exhaust fans. He installed high-quality fans that were far superior to the ones I had purchased from a big box store. I highly recommend his services.”
David Hinners · Google review
How the visit goes
- The call
You describe what the house is doing and what prompted it: a tripping breaker, an inspector’s note, a planned addition. That shapes what gets measured first.
- The measurement
Load across the service under real conditions, voltage at the main, the condition of every lug and the bus. On an older panel, the breaker brand gets identified, because some have no listed replacement still made.
- The finding
You get the number and what it means. If the service carries what the house asks of it, you hear that, and the conversation becomes a sub-panel or a single circuit instead of a service upgrade.
- The work
Permit where required, utility coordinated for the disconnect, new equipment installed, every circuit identified and labeled, and the site left ready for the inspector.
What the job includes
- A load calculation against what the house actually runs, given to you as a number
- Permit application where the municipality requires one
- New panel, breakers and a legible circuit directory
- Utility coordination for the disconnect and reconnect
- Grounding and bonding brought to current requirements
- The site left ready for inspection, and the inspection attended
What it does not
- Drywall repair beyond the panel opening
- Appliance repair, which is a different trade
- Work on the utility side of the meter, which is the utility’s own
Plumbing, HVAC and structural work get a pointer to someone who does them properly. Recent jobs are worth a look before you call.
Related panels & service work
Federal Pacific Panel Replacement across the metro
Five jurisdictions, five different sets of conditions. Clint works out of O’Fallon across five jurisdictions, and the same service means different work in each.
St. Louis City
St. Louis City is century brick with shared walls and basement panels that have been added to five times. Code corrections and occupancy inspections are the common call.
Lincoln County
Rural properties where the panel is fine and the two hundred foot run to the barn is the actual job.
Warren County
Warren County mixes newer builds with older farm properties, and generator work comes up more often there than it does in town.
Thirty towns across five jurisdictions, all on the service areas page.
Questions worth asking first.
How do I know if my panel brand is a problem?
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco both have documented failure-to-trip histories and no current listed replacement breaker, so the panel gets replaced rather than repaired. The label on the door identifies it in seconds.
Do I need a permit for panel work?
In every municipality in this footprint, yes, plus an inspection and a scheduled utility disconnect. That is why a panel change is a planned day rather than a same-day call.
Do I need a bigger service, or just more space in the panel?
Those are different problems. A full panel with spare capacity takes a sub-panel or tandem breakers. A panel that is out of capacity takes a service upgrade, and the load calculation tells us which one you have before anything is ordered.
Do you pull permits?
Where the municipality requires one, yes, and the work is left ready for inspection with the panel labeled and junctions accessible. Requirements genuinely differ across this metro, which is why it is established per address rather than assumed.
How long have you been doing this?
Clint has seventeen years in the trade and has been running his own shop out of O’Fallon since 2022.
Get the measurement first.
The reading comes before the number, so you know what you are deciding about. Federal Pacific Panel Replacement in O’Fallon and across the metro.
Mon-Thu 8-5 · Fri 8-4 · Sat 10-3. Emergencies outside that are still worth the call, or message instead.