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⌚Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:57 - A typical electric circuit
01:22 - Circuit breaker
02:16 - Fuse invention
03:22 - Circuit breaker invention
04:15 - Circuit breaker design
04:40 - Circuit breaker tripping principles
06:37 - Summary
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In this video, we are going to look at what a circuit breaker is, why they are needed, and how they work!
The circuit breaker is an electromechanical device whose function is to protect electrical installations, being used in electrical distribution boards.
It works by interrupting the electric current when it exceeds its design limitations, therefore preventing the supply of energy to the loads, and damage to the circuit.
Simply put, the circuit breaker basically works like an automatic switch, which has a base current value, switching off the circuit where it was installed whenever this value is exceeded!
It is important to note that for circuit breakers to work correctly, error-free sizing of the circuit and the components that compose it, is essential!
The first mention of a device that interrupted the current because of some problem is more than 100 years old and was made in a patent by Thomas Edison, inventor of the incandescent light bulb.
At that time, Edison needed a way to protect the lighting system he sold to big cities. For this, he proposed a device that would protect the network against possible short circuits and overloads and called it a fuse!
A fuse is a safety device used to protect against overcurrent, short circuits, and overload. It consists of a tube with a metal alloy inside, usually leads, which when overloaded heats up and breaks, preventing short circuits!
When this heating occurs, the metal alloy inside the fuse melts, causing the power supply to the circuit to be interrupted. To work again, the fuse must be replaced, generating unnecessary labor, costs, and interruptions!
This impasse was only resolved more than 40 years later, by an inventor named Hugo Stotz.
In 1923, Stotz launched the first compact device that combined the functions of thermal and magnetic protection on the market, produced in Mannheim, Germany. That was the first commercial circuit breaker!
He and his team, looking for an idea to replace the fuse, developed a brilliant invention: a device that had a component that, if heated, would contract and trigger a disconnecting mechanism, but, when cooled, could be turned on again. There, the circuit breaker was born!
Since then, companies have continually developed this technology, and today, there are several models of circuit breakers, such as the single-pole, two-pole, three-pole, and even the four-pole circuit breaker!
They are used in many types and sizes for use in different applications, from residential to large industrial systems.
This circuit breaker contains two different tripping principles to protect the circuit:
- a thermal protection design, that will lead to circuit interruption in case of overheating
- a protection design via an electromagnet principle, due to a short circuit.
On the thermal-magnetic circuit breaker, both thermal and electromagnetic protection happens in parallel on a similar principle to move the switching linkage.
Differently from fuses, once the issues that caused the circuit breaker to trip have been addressed, you can switch it back to the on position, and your circuit is once again protected.
Numerous advanced circuit breakers are available on the market. Those can be much more precise and can trip at much faster speeds, however, they are also much more expensive!
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