Professional Documents
Culture Documents
com/what-is-the-difference-between-mcb-mccb-elcb-and-rccb
Characteristics
Rated current not more than 100 A. Trip charact erist ics normally not adjustable. Thermal or thermal-magnetic operation.
Characteristics
Rated current up to 1000 A. Trip current may be adjustable. Thermal or thermal-magnetic operation.
Characteristics
Phase (line) and Neut ral both wires connected through RCD. It trips the circuit when there is earth fault current. The amount of current flows through the phase (line) should return through neutral . It detects by RCD. any mismatch between two currents flowing through phase and neutral detect by -RCD and trip the circuit within 30Miliseconed. If a house has an earth system connected to an earth rod and not the main incoming cable, then it must have all circuits protected by an RCD (because u mite not be able to get enough fault current to trip a MCB) RCDs are an extremely effective form of shock protection The most widely used are 30 mA (milliamp) and 100 mA devices. A current flow of 30 mA (or 0.03 amps) is sufficiently small that it makes it very difficult to receive a dangerous shock. Even 100 mA is a relatively small figure when compared to the current that may flow in an earth fault without such protection (hundred of amps) A 300/500 mA RCCB may be used where only fire protection is required. eg., on lighting circuits, where the risk of electric shock is small.
Limitation of RCCB
St andard elect romechanical RCCBs are designed t o operat e on normal supply wavef orms and cannot be guaranteed to operate where none standard waveforms are generated by loads. The most common is the half wave rectified waveform sometimes called pulsating dc generated by speed control devices, semi conductors, computers and even dimmers.
Specially modified RCCBs are available which will operate on normal ac and pulsating dc. RCDs dont of f er prot ect ion against current overloads: RCDs detect an imbalance in the live and neutral currents. A current overload, however large, cannot be detected. It is a frequent cause of problems with novices to replace an MCB in a fuse box with an RCD. This may be done in an attempt to increase shock protection. If a live-neutral fault occurs (a short circuit, or an overload), the RCD wont trip, and may be damaged. In practice, the main MCB for the premises will probably trip, or the service fuse, so the situation is unlikely to lead to catastrophe; but it may be inconvenient. It is now possible to get an MCB and and RCD in a single unit, called an RCBO (see below). Replacing an MCB with an RCBO of the same rating is generally safe. Nuisance t ripping of RCCB: Sudden changes in electrical load can cause a small, brief current flow to earth, especially in old appliances. RCDs are very sensitive and operate very quickly; they may well trip when the motor of an old freezer switches off. Some equipment is notoriously `leaky, that is, generate a small, constant current flow to earth. Some types of computer equipment, and large television sets, are widely reported to cause problems. RCD will not prot ect against a socket out let being wired wit h it s live and neut ral t erminals the wrong way round. RCD will not prot ect against t he overheat ing that results when conductors are not properly screwed into their terminals. RCD will not prot ect against live-neut ral shocks, because the current in the live and neutral is balanced. So if you touch live and neutral conductors at the same time (e.g., both terminals of a light fitting), you may still get a nasty shock.
Characteristics
Phase (line), Neutral and Earth wire connected through ELCB. ELCB is working based on Earth leakage current. Operating Time of ELCB: The safest limit of Current which Human Body can withstand is 30ma sec. Suppose Human Body Resistance is 500 and Voltage to ground is 230 Volt. The Body current will be 500/230=460mA. Hence ELCB must be operated in 30maSec/460mA = 0.65msec
This means that an RCD will continue to give shock protection in equipment that has a faulty earth. It is these properties that have made the RCD more popular than its rivals. For example, earth-leakage circuit breakers (ELCBs) were widely used about ten years ago. These devices measured the voltage on the earth conductor; if this voltage was not zero this indicated a current leakage to earth. The problem is that ELCBs need a sound earth connection, as does the equipment it protects. As a result, the use of ELCBs is no longer recommended.
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 Type B Type C Type D Tripping Current 3 To 5 time full load current 5 To 10 times full load current 10 To 20 times full load current Operating Time 0.04 To 13 Sec 0.04 To 5 Sec 0.04 To 3 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.
true. The fuse and the MCB, even though their nominal currents are similar, have very different properties. For example, For 32Amp MCB and 30 Amp Fuse, to be sure of tripping in 0.1 seconds, the MCB requires a current of 128 amps, while the fuse requires 300 amps. The fuse clearly requires more current to blow it in that time, but notice how much bigger both these currents are than the 30 amps marked current rating. There is a small likelihood that in the course of, say, a month, a 30-amp fuse will trip when carrying 30 amps. If the fuse has had a couple of overloads before (which may not even have been noticed) this is much more likely. This explains why fuses can sometimes blow for no obvious reason If the fuse is marked 30 amps, but it will actually stand 40 amps for over an hour, how can we justify calling it a 30 amp fuse? The answer is that the overload characteristics of fuses are designed to match the properties of modern cables. For example, a modern PVCinsulated cable will stand a 50% overload for an hour, so it seems reasonable that the fuse should as well.