A circuit breaker is an electrical switch that can be operated automatically and is designed to defend an electrical circuit from the harm that can result from a short circuit or by excess current from an overload. Its main function is to interrupt the flow of current whenever a fault is recognized. In contrast with a fuse that needs to be replaced after its first use, a circuit breaker can be made to reset to get back into its normal operation.

Circuit breakers are available in different sizes, from large switchgear made to defend high voltage circuits supplying an entire city to small gadgets that defends against individual household appliances or low current circuits. One of the general function of a circuit breaker to remove power automatically from a flawed framework is frequently curtailed as Over Current Protection Device (OCPD).

Types of Circuit Breakers

Circuit breakers can be classified into several features, like, construction type, voltage class, structural features and interrupting type.

• Low Voltage – Low voltage circuit breakers ( < 1,000 V) are popular in commercial, industrial and domestic applications. They include:

1. MCB or Miniature Circuit Breaker – It has a rated current up to 125 A. The trip characteristics are generally not adjusted.
2. MCCB or Molded Case Circuit Breaker - It has a rated current up to 1600 A.

• Solid State – Digital Circuit breakers or Solid-State Circuit breakers are a development in technology which guarantees advance circuit breakers. It offers multiple advantages, like, monitoring of circuits loads in a much better way, longer lifetime and cutting the circuit in fractions of microseconds.

• Magnetic – A solenoid, whose force of pulling is proportional to the current, is being utilized in Magnetic Circuit breakers. The contacts of a circuit breaker are held closed using a latch. As soon as the current in the solenoid gets a value above the circuit breaker’s rating, the solenoids pull releases the latch.

• Thermal Magnetic – These types of circuit breakers are most popular in Europe. It fuses both the methodologies i.e. the electromagnets are providing an instantaneous respond to short circuits and the bimetallic strips used responses to less outrageous yet longer-term over-current conditions.

• Magnetic Hydraulic – A magnetic hydraulic circuit breaker takes the help of a solenoid coil to offer force to open up the contacts. It comes with a hydraulic time delay characteristic using a viscous fluid. A spring holds the core back until the current surpasses the breaker rating.

• Ganged or Common trip breakers – To offer simultaneous breaking on the different circuits as a consequence of a fault on one of them we use ganged breakers.

These were some of the most important types of circuit breakers. There are other types of circuit breakers available in the market, like the medium voltage breakers, high voltage breakers, disconnecting circuit breakers, carbon dioxide high voltage breakers and sulfur hexafluoride high voltage breakers.

Hope you liked the article. Brands that manufacture circuit breakers are Carling, Eaton, and ETA. Make sure to follow them using the links as provided.

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