CIRCUIT BREAKER

Circuit Breakers
All circuit breakers have common features in their operation, although details
vary substantially depending on the voltage class, current rating and type of the
circuit breaker. The circuit breaker must detect a fault condition; in low-voltage
circuit breakers this is usually done within the breaker enclosure. Large highvoltage circuit breakers have separate devices to sense an over-current or other
faults. Once a fault is detected, contacts within the circuit breaker must open to
interrupt the circuit; some mechanically stored energy within the breaker is used
to separate the contacts, although some of the energy required may be obtained
from the fault current itself. When a current is interrupted, an arc is generated this arc must be contained, cooled, and extinguished in a controlled way, so that
the gap between the contacts can again withstand the voltage in the circuit.
Finally, once the fault condition has been cleared, the contacts must again be
closed to restore power to the interrupted circuit.
Power circuit breakers are built into switchgear cabinets which are combination
of electrical disconnects, fuses and/or circuit breakers used to isolate electrical
equipment. Switchgear is used both to de-energize equipment to allow work to
be done and to clear faults downstream.
Many different classifications of circuit breakers can be made,
based on their features such as voltage class, construction
type, interrupting type, and structural features.
Low voltage (less than 1000 V AC) types are common in domestic, commercial
and industrial application, include:
MCCB (Molded Case Circuit Breaker)rated current up to
1000 A. Thermal or thermal-magnetic operation. Trip
current may be adjustable in larger ratings.

 MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker)rated current not more

than 100 A. Trip characteristics normally not adjustable.

Photo of inside of a circuit breaker

1. Actuator lever - used to manually trip and reset the circuit
breaker. Also indicates the status of the circuit breaker (On
or Off/tripped). Most breakers are designed so they can
still trip even if the lever is held or locked in the on
position. This is sometimes referred to as "free trip" or
"positive trip" operation.
2. Actuator mechanism - forces the contacts together or
apart.
3. Contacts - Allow current to flow when touching and break
the flow of current when moved apart.
4. Terminals
5. Bimetallic strip
6. Calibration screw - allows the manufacturer to precisely
adjust the trip current of the device after assembly.
7. Solenoid
8. Arc divider / extinguisher
Common trip breakers

Three pole common trip breaker for supplying a three-phase

device. When supplying a branch circuit with more than one
live conductor, each live conductor must be protected by a
breaker pole. To ensure that all live conductors are interrupted
when any pole trips, a "common trip" breaker must be used.
These may either contain two or three tripping mechanisms
within one case, or for small breakers, may externally tie the
poles together via their operating handles. Two pole common
trip breakers are common on 120/240 volt systems where 240
volt span the two live wires. Three pole common trip breakers
are typically used to supply three phase power to large motors
or further distribution boards.

RELAYS
Relays
A relay is an electrical switch that opens and closes under the control of another
electrical circuit. In the original form, the switch is operated by an
electromagnet to open or close one or many sets of contacts. Because a relay is
able to control an output circuit of higher power than the input circuit, it can be
considered to be, in a broad sense, a form of an electrical amplifier.
When a current flows through the coil, the resulting magnetic field attracts an
armature that is mechanically linked to a moving contact. The movement either
makes or breaks a connection with a fixed contact. When the current to the coil
is switched off, the armature is returned by a force approximately half as strong
as the magnetic force to its relaxed position. Usually this is a spring, but gravity
is also used commonly in industrial motor starters. Most relays are
manufactured to operate quickly. In a low voltage application, this is to reduce
noise. In a high voltage or high current application, this is to reduce arcing.
By analogy with the functions of the original electromagnetic device, a solidstate relay is made with a thyristor or other solid-state switching device.
Relays are used:

 to control a high-voltage circuit with a low-voltage signal,

as in some types of modems,
to control a high-current circuit with a low-current signal,
as in the starter solenoid of an automobile,
to detect and isolate faults on transmission and
distribution lines by opening and closing circuit breakers
(protection relays),
to isolate the controlling circuit from the controlled circuit
when the two are at different potentials, for example when
controlling a mains-powered device from a low-voltage
switch. The latter is often applied to control office lighting
as the low voltage wires are easily installed in partitions,
which may be often moved as needs change. They may
also be controlled by room occupancy detectors in an
effort to conserve energy,
to perform logic functions. For example, the boolean AND
function is realized by connecting NO relay contacts in
series, the OR function by connecting NO contacts in
parallel. The change-over or Form C contacts perform the
XOR (exclusive or) function. Similar functions for NAND
and NOR are accomplished using NC contacts. The Ladder
programming language is often used for designing relay
logic networks. See section2 for more information on
Ladder logic.
Latching relay

A latching relay has two relaxed states (bistable). These are also called 'keep' or
'stay' relays. When the current is switched off, the relay remains in its last state.
This is achieved with a solenoid operating a ratchet and cam mechanism, or by
having two opposing coils with an over-center spring or permanent magnet to
hold the armature and contacts in position while the coil is relaxed, or with a
remnant core. In the ratchet and cam example, the first pulse to the coil turns the
relay on and the second pulse turns it off. In the two coil example, a pulse to one
coil turns the relay on and a pulse to the opposite coil turns the relay off. This
type of relay has the advantage that it consumes power only for an instant, while
it is being switched, and it retains its last setting across a power outage.
Mercury-wetted relay
A mercury-wetted reed relay is a form of reed relay in which the contacts are
wetted with mercury. Such relays are used to switch low-voltage signals (one
volt or less) because of its low contact resistance, or for high-speed counting
and timing applications where the mercury eliminates contact bounce. Mercury
wetted relays are position-sensitive and must be mounted vertically to work
properly. Because of the toxicity and expense of liquid mercury, these relays are
rarely specified for new equipment. These are often found in older type pressure
switches
Solid state contactor relay

25 amp or 40 amp solid state contactors

A solid state contactor is a very heavy-duty solid state relay, including the
necessary heat sink, used for switching electric heaters, small electric motors
and lighting loads; where frequent on/off cycles are required. There are no
moving parts to wear out and there is no contact bounce due to vibration. They
are activated by AC control signals or DC control signals from Programmable
logic controller (PLCs).
Solid-state relay

solid state relay (SSR) is a solid state electronic component

that provides a similar function to an electromechanical relay
but does not have any moving components, increasing longterm reliability. With early SSR's, the tradeoff came from the
fact that every transistor has a small voltage drop across it.
This collective voltage drop limited the amount of current a
given SSR could handle. As transistors improved, higher current
SSR's, able to handle 100 to 1,200 amps, have become
commercially available. Compared to electromagnetic relays,
they may be falsely triggered by transients.

1.1.1. Pole & Throw

Since relays are switches, the terminology applied to switches is also applied to
relays. A relay will switch one or more poles, each of whose contacts can be
thrown by energizing the coil in one of three ways:
Normally-open (NO) contacts connect the circuit when the
relay is activated; the circuit is disconnected when the
relay is inactive. It is also called a Form A contact or
"make" contact.
Normally-closed (NC) contacts disconnect the circuit when
the relay is activated; the circuit is connected when the
relay is inactive. It is also called a Form B contact or
"break" contact.
Change-over, or double-throw, contacts control two
circuits: one normally-open contact and one normallyclosed contact with a common terminal. It is also called a
Form C contact or "transfer" contact. If this type of
contact utilizes a "make before break" functionality, then it
is called a Form D contact.
The following types of relays are commonly encountered:
SPST - Single Pole Single Throw. These have two
terminals which can be connected or disconnected.
Including two for the coil, such a relay has four terminals
in total. It is ambiguous whether the pole is normally open
or normally closed. The terminology "SPNO" and "SPNC" is
sometimes used to resolve the ambiguity.
SPDT - Single Pole Double Throw. A common terminal
connects to either of two others. Including two for the coil,
such a relay has five terminals in total.
DPST - Double Pole Single Throw. These have two pairs of
terminals. Equivalent to two SPST switches or relays
actuated by a single coil. Including two for the coil, such a
relay has six terminals in total. It is ambiguous whether
the poles are normally open, normally closed, or one of
each.

Circuit symbols of relays. "C" denotes the common terminal in

SPDT and DPDT