Things You Should Know About MCCB Circuit Breakers

Posted by Aliza Elly
6
Mar 30, 2017
226 Views
MCCB circuit breaker, as the name suggests, is an electrical protection device which is used to prevent outages and dangerous current flows in case of short circuit. These circuit breakers can hold up to 2500 amps of current and are available in multiple trip settings. This is how the circuit breakers contribute to the safety of the premise:

1.     They protect all the appliance and electrical connections from getting exposed to high current flow in case of fault in line.

2.     If the current in any device stays for longer than normal, or if the current exceeds the standardized value, these breakers prevent the overload from causing large damage.

3.     The MCCB panel board can be switched on or off easily to keep the operations on or for enabling seamless testing during replacement or maintenance schedules.

Important areas of application of circuit breakers

As it is evident that the residual circuit breaker is capable of handling heavy current flows, these find their best use in applications where high current flows take place. Some of the important functions of these circuit breakers are:

·         They are used in welding machines: The welding machines need high current flow which is certainly not possible to handle with the help of mini circuit breakers. Thus, these heavy duty circuit breakers are employed while using welding machines.

·         Electric feeders: The electric feeders are the carriers of large amount of current as these are distributing current as a part of their functioning. Sometimes, these need additional circuits with different trip settings. Circuit breakers handle the large current and provide trip settings to meet the functional requirements of electric feeders.

·         Motors and generators: Motors are connected with circuit breakers in order to protect them from current overload and to avoid tripping. Similarly, gen-sets are required to handle the large current produced as an output by the generator. A simple MCCB can do the job of handling current ratings and managing the current flow.

·         Capacitor banks: These are protection modules for correcting power factor in industrial settings. If they come across current overload, the MCCB covers them against it sufficiently.

How to ensure circuit breakers are safe

A number of miniature circuit breakers are tested before deployment to ensure that the correct product reaches the end user and does not ditch them in case of power overload. One of the tests is insulation resistance test. In this test, the MCCB is disconnected to find the insulation level across phases, load and supply terminals. If the insulation is less that the recommended value, then the MCCB will not be able to provide ample protection.

Another test is tripping test where the fault or overload is simulated to find the response of the MCCB board. This test is carried out in two phases – thermal protection and magnetic protection. In the former, over-current thrice the allowed value is made to pass through, while in the latter, pulses of high current are sent to check the performance.

Moulded case circuit breakers are the ideal choice for protection of electrical connections. These are easy to maintain and simple processes of lubrication and cleaning can help elongate the functional life of these circuit breakers.

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