10/21/2015

WhatisthedifferencebetweenMCB,MCCB,ELCB,andRCCB|EEP

WhatisthedifferencebetweenMCB,
MCCB,ELCB,andRCCB
MCB(MiniatureCircuitBreaker)
Characteristics
Ratedcurrentnotmorethan100A.
Tripcharacteristicsnormallynotadjustable.
Thermalorthermalmagneticoperation.

MCCB(MouldedCaseCircuitBreaker)
Characteristics
Ratedcurrentupto1000A.
Tripcurrentmaybe
adjustable.
Thermalorthermalmagnetic
operation.

AirCircuitBreaker
Characteristics
Ratedcurrentupto10,000
A.
Tripcharacteristicsoftenfully
adjustableincluding
configurabletripthresholdsanddelays.
Usuallyelectronicallycontrolledsomemodelsaremicroprocessorcontrolled.
Oftenusedformainpowerdistributioninlargeindustrialplant,wherethe
breakersarearrangedindrawoutenclosuresforeaseofmaintenance.

VacuumCircuitBreaker
Characteristics
Withratedcurrentupto3000A,
Thesebreakersinterruptthearcinavacuumbottle.
Thesecanalsobeappliedatupto35,000V.Vacuumcircuitbreakerstendto
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havelongerlifeexpectanciesbetweenoverhaulthandoaircircuitbreakers.

RCD(ResidualCurrentDevice/RCCB(ResidualCurrentCircuit
Breaker)
Characteristics

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Phase(line)andNeutralbothwiresconnectedthrough
RCD.
Ittripsthecircuitwhenthereisearthfaultcurrent.
Theamountofcurrentflowsthroughthephase(line)
shouldreturnthroughneutral.
ItdetectsbyRCD.anymismatchbetweentwocurrents
flowingthroughphaseandneutraldetectbyRCDandtrip
thecircuitwithin30Miliseconed.
Ifahousehasanearthsystemconnectedtoanearthrod
andnotthemainincomingcable,thenitmusthaveallcircuitsprotectedbyan
RCD(becauseumitenotbeabletogetenoughfaultcurrenttotripaMCB)
RCDsareanextremelyeffectiveformofshockprotection

TOP

Themostwidelyusedare30mA(milliamp)and100mAdevices.Acurrentflowof30
mA(or0.03amps)issufficientlysmallthatitmakesitverydifficulttoreceivea
SHARE
dangerousshock.Even100mAisarelativelysmallfigurewhencomparedtothe
currentthatmayflowinanearthfaultwithoutsuchprotection(hundredofamps)

A300/500mARCCBmaybeusedwhereonlyfireprotectionisrequired.eg.,on

lightingcircuits,wheretheriskofelectricshockissmall.

LimitationofRCCB
StandardelectromechanicalRCCBsaredesignedtooperateonnormal
supplywaveformsandcannotbeguaranteedtooperatewherenonestandard
waveformsaregeneratedbyloads.Themostcommonisthehalfwaverectified
waveformsometimescalledpulsatingdcgeneratedbyspeedcontroldevices,
semiconductors,computersandevendimmers.
SpeciallymodifiedRCCBsareavailablewhichwilloperateonnormalacand
pulsatingdc.
RCDsdontofferprotectionagainstcurrentoverloads:RCDsdetectan
imbalanceintheliveandneutralcurrents.Acurrentoverload,howeverlarge,
cannotbedetected.Itisafrequentcauseofproblemswithnovicestoreplacean
MCBinafuseboxwithanRCD.Thismaybedoneinanattempttoincrease
shockprotection.Ifaliveneutralfaultoccurs(ashortcircuit,oranoverload),the
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RCDwonttrip,andmaybedamaged.Inpractice,themainMCBforthe
premiseswillprobablytrip,ortheservicefuse,sothesituationisunlikelytolead
tocatastrophebutitmaybeinconvenient.
ItisnowpossibletogetanMCBandandRCDinasingleunit,calledanRCBO
(seebelow).ReplacinganMCBwithanRCBOofthesameratingisgenerally
safe.
NuisancetrippingofRCCB:Suddenchangesinelectricalloadcancausea
small,briefcurrentflowtoearth,especiallyinoldappliances.RCDsarevery
sensitiveandoperateveryquicklytheymaywelltripwhenthemotorofanold
freezerswitchesoff.Someequipmentisnotoriously`leaky,thatis,generatea
small,constantcurrentflowtoearth.Sometypesofcomputerequipment,and
largetelevisionsets,arewidelyreportedtocauseproblems.
RCDwillnotprotectagainstasocketoutletbeingwiredwithitsliveand
neutralterminalsthewrongwayround.
RCDwillnotprotectagainsttheoverheatingthatresultswhenconductorsare
notproperlyscrewedintotheirterminals.
RCDwillnotprotectagainstliveneutralshocks,becausethecurrentinthe
liveandneutralisbalanced.Soifyoutouchliveandneutralconductorsatthe
sametime(e.g.,bothterminalsofalightfitting),youmaystillgetanastyshock.

ELCB(EarthLeakageCircuitBreaker)
Characteristics
Phase(line),NeutralandEarthwireconnected
throughELCB.
ELCBisworkingbasedonEarthleakagecurrent.
OperatingTimeofELCB:
ThesafestlimitofCurrentwhichHumanBodycan
withstandis30masec.
SupposeHumanBodyResistanceis500and
Voltagetogroundis230Volt.
TheBodycurrentwillbe500/230=460mA.
HenceELCBmustbeoperatedin
30maSec/460mA=0.65msec

OverLoad)

RCBO(ResidualCircuitBreakerwith

ItispossibletogetacombinedMCBandRCCBinonedevice(ResidualCurrent
BreakerwithOverloadRCBO),theprincipalsarethesame,butmorestylesof
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disconnectionarefittedintoonepackage

DifferencebetweenELCBandRCCB
ELCBistheoldnameandoftenreferstovoltageoperateddevicesthatareno
longeravailableanditisadvisedyoureplacethemifyoufindone.
RCCBorRCDisthenewnamethatspecifiescurrentoperated(hencethenew
nametodistinguishfromvoltageoperated).
ThenewRCCBisbestbecauseitwilldetectanyearthfault.Thevoltagetype
onlydetectsearthfaultsthatflowbackthroughthemainearthwiresothisiswhy
theystoppedbeingused.
Theeasywaytotellanoldvoltageoperatedtripistolookforthemainearth
wireconnectedthroughit.
RCCBwillonlyhavethelineandneutralconnections.
ELCBisworkingbasedonEarthleakagecurrent.ButRCCBisnothaving
sensingorconnectivityofEarth,becausefundamentallyPhasecurrentisequal
totheneutralcurrentinsinglephase.ThatswhyRCCBcantripwhentheboth
currentsaredeferentanditwithstanduptoboththecurrentsaresame.Boththe
neutralandphasecurrentsaredifferentthatmeanscurrentisflowingthroughthe
Earth.
Finallybothareworkingforsame,butthethingisconnectivityisdifference.
RCDdoesnotnecessarilyrequireanearthconnectionitself(itmonitorsonlythe
liveandneutral).Inadditionitdetectscurrentflowstoeartheveninequipment
withoutanearthofitsown.
ThismeansthatanRCDwillcontinuetogiveshockprotectioninequipmentthat
hasafaultyearth.ItisthesepropertiesthathavemadetheRCDmorepopular
thanitsrivals.Forexample,earthleakagecircuitbreakers(ELCBs)werewidely
usedabouttenyearsago.Thesedevicesmeasuredthevoltageontheearth
conductorifthisvoltagewasnotzerothisindicatedacurrentleakagetoearth.
TheproblemisthatELCBsneedasoundearthconnection,asdoesthe
equipmentitprotects.Asaresult,theuseofELCBsisnolongerrecommended.

MCBSelection
Thefirstcharacteristicistheoverloadwhichisintendedtopreventtheaccidental
overloadingofthecableinanofaultsituation.ThespeedoftheMCBtripping
willvarywiththedegreeoftheoverload.Thisisusuallyachievedbytheuseofa
thermaldeviceintheMCB.
Thesecondcharacteristicisthemagneticfaultprotection,whichisintendedto
operatewhenthefaultreachesapredeterminedlevelandtotriptheMCBwithin
onetenthofasecond.ThelevelofthismagnetictripgivestheMCBitstype
characteristicasfollows:
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Type

TrippingCurrent

OperatingTime

TypeB

3To5timefullloadcurrent

0.04To13Sec

TypeC 5To10timesfullloadcurrent

0.04To5Sec

TypeD 10To20timesfullloadcurrent 0.04To3Sec

Thethirdcharacteristicistheshortcircuitprotection,whichisintendedtoprotect
againstheavyfaultsmaybeinthousandsofampscausedbyshortcircuitfaults.
ThecapabilityoftheMCBtooperateundertheseconditionsgivesitsshortcircuit
ratinginKiloamps(KA).Ingeneralforconsumerunitsa6KAfaultlevelis
adequatewhereasforindustrialboards10KAfaultcapabilitiesorabovemaybe
required.

FuseandMCBcharacteristics
FusesandMCBsareratedinamps.TheampratinggivenonthefuseorMCB
bodyistheamountofcurrentitwillpasscontinuously.Thisisnormallycalledthe
ratedcurrentornominalcurrent.
Manypeoplethinkthatifthecurrentexceedsthenominalcurrent,thedevicewill
trip,instantly.Soiftheratingis30amps,acurrentof30.00001ampswilltripit,
right?Thisisnottrue.
ThefuseandtheMCB,eventhoughtheirnominalcurrentsaresimilar,havevery
differentproperties.
Forexample,For32AmpMCBand30AmpFuse,tobesureoftrippingin0.1
seconds,theMCBrequiresacurrentof128amps,whilethefuserequires300
amps.
Thefuseclearlyrequiresmorecurrenttoblowitinthattime,butnoticehow
muchbiggerboththesecurrentsarethanthe30ampsmarkedcurrentrating.
Thereisasmalllikelihoodthatinthecourseof,say,amonth,a30ampfusewill
tripwhencarrying30amps.Ifthefusehashadacoupleofoverloadsbefore
(whichmaynotevenhavebeennoticed)thisismuchmorelikely.Thisexplains
whyfusescansometimesblowfornoobviousreason
Ifthefuseismarked30amps,butitwillactuallystand40ampsforoveran
hour,howcanwejustifycallingita30ampfuse?Theansweristhatthe
overloadcharacteristicsoffusesaredesignedtomatchthepropertiesofmodern
cables.Forexample,amodernPVCinsulatedcablewillstanda50%overload
foranhour,soitseemsreasonablethatthefuseshouldaswell.

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Jignesh Parmar

jiguparmarJigneshParmarhascompletedM.Tech(Power
SystemControl),B.E(Electrical).HeismemberofInstitutionof
Engineers(MIE),India.MembershipNo:M1473586.Hehasmorethan13years
experienceinTransmissionDistributionElectricalEnergytheftdetectionElectrical
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