Hi I’m Katie with your Galco TV tech tip!
When sizing up a circuit breaker there are a few necessary features to look for such
as voltage class, current rating, tripping method, tripping characteristics, and short
circuit protection capabilities.
The current rating is maximum current allowed to flow to the load.
A circuit breakers’ short circuit breaking capacity will be much higher than its current
rating, and indicates how much fault current the circuit breaker can safely interrupt and
switch to an off position in the case of a short circuit.
Improper sizing of a circuit breaker could result in nuisance tripping, or in the case
of an improper short circuit withstand rating, fault current could jump the internal contacts
of a breaker, causing catastrophic failure.
To find out more about circuit breakers, check out our other videos on Galco TV.