MCBs or Miniature Circuit Breakers are electromechanical devices which protect

an electrical circuit from an overcurrent. The overcurrent, in an electrical circuit, may

result from short circuit, overload or faulty design. An MCB is a better alternative to a
Fuse since it does not require replacement once an overload is detected. Unlike
fuse, an MCB can be easily reset and thus offers improved operational safety and
greater convenience without incurring large operating cost.

The principal of operation is simple. An MCB functions by interrupting the continuity

of electrical flow through the circuit once a fault is detected. In simple terms MCB is a
switch which automatically turns off when the current flowing through it passes the
maximum allowable limit. Generally MCB are designed to protect against over
current and over temperature faults (over heating).
There are two contacts one is fixed and the other moveable. When the current
exceeds the predefined limit a solenoid forces the moveable contact to open (i.e.,
disconnect from the fixed contact) and the MCB turns off thereby stopping the
current to flow in the circuit. In order to restart the flow of current the MCB is

manually turned on. This mechanism is used to protect from the faults arising due to
over current or over load.
To protect against fault arising due to over heating or increase in temperature a bimetallic strip is used. MCBs are generally designed to trip within 2.5 millisecond
when an over current fault arises. In case of temperature rise or over heating it may
take 2 seconds to 2 minutes for the MCB to trip.

All the parts of this single pole MCB have been shown together in the following
image.

APPLICATIONS
1. Home Electrical Panels
2. Ground Fault Trip Mechanism
3. Lights
4. Industrial Applications
5. Heaters
MCB Selection:

The first characteristic is the overload which is intended to prevent the accidental overloading of the
cable in a no fault situation. The speed of the MCB tripping will vary with the degree of the overload. This is
usually achieved by the use of a thermal device in the MCB.

The second characteristic is the magnetic fault protection, which is intended to operate when the fault
reaches a predetermined level and to trip the MCB within one tenth of a second. The level of this magnetic
trip gives the MCB its type characteristic as follows:

Type

Tripping Current

Operating Time

Type B

3 To 5 time full load current

Type C

5 To 10 times full load current

0.04 To 5 Sec

Type D

10 To 20 times full load current

0.04 To 3 Sec

0.04 To 13 Sec

The third characteristic is the short circuit protection, which is intended to protect against heavy faults
maybe in thousands of amps caused by short circuit faults.

The capability of the MCB to operate under these conditions gives its short circuit rating in Kilo amps
(KA). In general for consumer units a 6KA fault level is adequate whereas for industrial boards 10KA fault
capabilities or above may be required.

FUSE
The verb "fuse" means "to melt". A fuse is an overcurrent responsive
safety device used to protect an electrical circuit from the effects of
excessive current. It is placed in series with the electrical circuit it is
intended to protect. Its essential component is a strip of metal that
will melt when the electric current in the circuit exceeds the fuse's
rated value. The element (link) in the fuse melts and opens the
circuit.
NEED FOR OVERCURRENT PROTECTION
When a problem exists, the fuse is called upon to open (melt its link).
The opening of a fuse signifies that something is wrong with the
circuit and should be corrected before the current is turned back on.
The problem can be an accident, a defective component or a worn-out
component.

Types
The main components of a standard fuse unit consist of the following items:

Metal fuse element

Set of contacts

Support body

Rewireable Fuses

This kind of fuse is most commonly used in the case of domestic wiring and small scale usage. Another
name for this type is the KIT-KAT type fuse. The main composition is of a porcelain base which holds the
wires.

The fuse element is located inside a carrier that is also made out of porcelain. It is possible for you to
remove the fuse carrier without any risk of electrical shock. Normally what happens is that when the fuse
blows, you can replace it without having to change the complete thing.
The main metals or alloys used in making fuse wire include lead, tinned copper, aluminum or tin lead alloy.

When there is an over surge that causes the fuse element to blow off, you can replace it. A new fuse carrier
is inserted in the base.
The main advantage of this type of fuse is that it is easy to install and also replace without risking any
electrical injury. But there are certain shortcomings associated with it too. For instance, with this fuse you
would have an element of unreliability. There is a level of lack of discrimination and a small time lag, which
may hinder its functionality.
With a slow speed of operation, you also get a low rupturing capacity.
Other types have current limiting features, and this one does not.
All this being said it is still a valuable fuse device for small scale usage.

Totally Enclosed or Cartridge Type

In this type of fuse, we have a completely closed container and there are contacts (metal) on either side.
The level of sub division in this case includes:
D type
Link Type
APPLICATIONS

Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker or ELCB

If any current leaks from any electrical installation, there must-be
any insulation failure in the electrical circuit, it must be properly
detected and prevented otherwise there may be a high chance of
electrical shock if-anyone touches the installation. An earth
leakage circuit breaker does it efficiently. Means it detects the
earth leakage current and makes the power supply off by opening
the associated circuit breaker. There are two types of earth

leakage circuit breaker, one is voltage ELCB and other is

current ELCB.

Voltage Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker

The working principle of voltage ELCB is quite simple. One

terminal of the relay coil is connected to the metal body of the
equipment to be protected against earth leakage and other
terminal is connected to the earth directly. If any insulation
failure occurs or live phase wire touches the metal body, of the
equipment, there must be a voltage difference appears across the
terminal of the coil connected to the equipment body and earth.
This voltage difference produces a current to flow the relay coil.
If the voltage difference crosses, a predetermined limit, the
current through the relay becomes sufficient to actuate the relay
for tripping the associated circuit breaker to disconnect the power
supply to the equipment. The typicality of this device is, it can
detect and protect only that equipment or installation with which
it is attached. It cannot detect any leakage of insulation in other
installation of the system.

Current ELCB or RCCB or Residual Current Circuit Breaker

The working principle of current earth leakage circuit

breaker or RCCB is also very simple as voltage operated ELCB
but the theory is entirely different and residual current circuit
breaker is more sensitive than ELCB. Actually, ELCBs are of two
kinds, but it is general practice to refer voltage based ELCB as
simple ELCB. And current based ELCB is referred as RCD or
RCCB. Here one CT core is energized from both phase wise and
neutral wire.Single Phase Residual Current Circuit Breaker or
Current ELCB. The polarity of the phase winding and neutral
winding on the core is so chosen that, in normal condition mmf of
one winding opposes that of another. As it is assumed that, in
normal operating conditions the current goes through the phase
wire will be returned via neutral wire if there's no leakage in
between. As both currents are same, the resultant mmf produced

by these two currents is also zero-ideally. The relay coil is

connected with another third winding wound on the CT core as
secondary. The terminals of this winding are connected to a relay
system. In normal operating condition there would not be any
current circulating in the third winding as here is no flux in the
core due to equal phase and neutral current. When any earth
leakage occurs in the equipment, there may be part of phase
current passes to the earth, through the leakage path instead of
returning via mental wire. Hence the magnitude of the neutral
current passing through the RCCB is not equal to phase current
passing through it.

This relay causes tripping of the associated circuit breaker to

disconnect the power supply to the equipment under protection.
Residual current circuit breaker is sometimes also referred as
residual current device (RCD) when we consider the device by
disassociating the circuit breaker attached to RCCB. That means,
the entire parts of RCCB except circuit breaker are referred as
RCD.