[emc5888]

At recepticles and switches... put meter to check voltage... meter reads 134. On a 110 circuit why?

[donf]

Give us some help here, please.

Where are you located? If you are in the U.S.A. you should see 120 Vac (+/-) 10%.

So a voltage level of 134 Vac, while a tad high is not a big deal to worry about. Are you using a properly set up analog meter or a digital meter?

How are you getting the test readings?

[emc5888]

I am getting the readings across these two points; positive to common, Positive to ground, Positive to box (metal boxes). At one time a reading came at 154. Should I be concerned about the federal pacific panel?

[stanfortyman]

At recepticles and switches... put meter to check voltage... meter reads 134. On a 110 circuit why?

Because it is not a "110" circuit. Nominal voltage is 120V. Like Don said, 134 is a bit high, but nothing to worry about.

I am getting the readings across these two points; positive to common, Positive to ground, Positive to box (metal boxes).

In AC wiring there is no such thing as positive and negative. There is hot, neutral and ground.

Should I be concerned about the federal pacific panel?

Yes, but that has nothing to do with the voltage readings.

[donf]

You might want to check with your power company to see if they can explain the voltage swings or at the very least get someone on site to take accurate voltage reading of the input voltages levels from the power company.

An FPE panelboard does not have an effect on the incoming voltages.

[Studs ad]

First of all make sure your meter isn't the problem. If you aren't reading RMS voltage, it will be different. You should be, but until you clear that up it is hard to tell. A Federal Pacific Panel was UL approved, but experience in the business for over 40 years, I have seen a lot of failures, particularly at the connection point where the stab on the breaker connects to the buss. The panel won't cause the voltage issues you are experiencing, and Most utilities regulate their voltage to closer to 110, 120 vac and some places a little higher. Sometimes you see spikes in voltage during the period of a day when a lot of air conditioning and industrial loads are the greatest. Sometimes the power company will temporarily raise the voltage to compensate for huge loads, and when those loads are shut down, the voltage goes up until they can compensate for the load change. Even at that, 150 volts ac is what I would call abnormal if taken with a good meter. If you have a meter that is reading peak voltage instead of RMS voltage, you will see a higher number. Peak to Peak voltage is 1.414 x RMS voltage.