I wasn’t about to take the cover off of this one…
They understood, and are using part of their $8,000 new-homebuyers credit
for panel replacement.
good thing.
Why not???
Yea why not? You just have to be really careful with the cover so you don’t hook a breaker and pull it out too.
it’s all what you’re comfortable with…
First, the dang thing was painted shut, and I wasn’t about to cut away the paint. The buyer hadn’t taken ownership of the property yet.
They had already clued me in to the fact that they knew the panel needed replacement, and said they’d get it replaced as part of the repairs they were going to do with the money from the credit.
So, there was really no need…
In that case I wouldn’t have opened it either…
Well you covered that quite nicely Steven. 
From the scratches on the panel and the paint missing from the screws it looks like someone already tried to remove the cover. Even though they say they are gonna replace it I would still have removed the cover just to be sure. I know of a few fellow inspectors that had gotten stung with that line before.
Chuck
I see these things all the time. Stab-Lok breakers included. I know they are supposedly defective but I have never seen one with an issue. I have literally seen dozens of these FPE panels. Of course I still always recommended they be evaluated by a licensed electrician.