Fuse Vs Circuit Breaker

A fuse's main purpose is to quickly disconnect a short circuit from the distribution system. A circuit breaker has a twofold function: it trips on a short circuit by utilizing a magnetic sensor device and it also trips on a thermal device which senses a current overload that is higher than its rated current. Both devices are housed inside the breaker case. Fuse: When the current passing through a fuse exceeds its rated value it physically burns through a thin strip of metal and opens the circuit so current can no longer flow. You have to get a new fuse to restore operation. Circuit breaker: When a circuit breaker trips it opens a mechanical switch to interrupt the flow of current. You just need to reset the breaker and you are ready to go again. In both cases you must always be sure to remove the cause of the over-current situationbecause, if you don't do that, the effects of a blown fuse or a tripped breaker will continue! <><><> Fuses and circuit breakers were invented to protect electrical items from being damaged by taking too much current (amps), something which is also known as an over-current fault condition.

Fuses How a fuse works When an over-current fault condition occurs, which is the same as saying the current gets bigger than the fuse can carry, its internal "fuse wire" gets so hot that it melts and breaks apart, which cuts off the supply of current. When that happens the fuse is said to have "blown". After whatever caused the over-current fault condition in the circuit has been repaired, a blown fuse must either be replaced with a new one or, if it is the type of fuse which can be rewired, it must be repaired using the correct size of special "fuse wire". A new fuse should then remain in place un-blown until another over-current fault condition occurs in the circuit it is protecting, which would then cause the new fuse to blow. What are the advantages and disadvantages of fuses? To give the same over-current protection, fuses are generally cheaper to make and smaller in size than circuit breakers. However an ordinary fuse cannot blow as quickly as a circuit breaker can "trip".

Some equipment may require special "quick-blow" fuses so that damage can be prevented when an over-current fault condition occurs. Quick-blow fuses cost much more to make than ordinary fuses but must sometimes be used where a circuit breaker would be too expensive and/or too large in size. Further notes about fuses:

Some fuses are rewireable, meaning they can be repaired if they blow. This must only be done using new fuse wire of the correct size. It is dangerous to use fuse wire which is thicker than the size marked on the rewireable fuse's body. Other fuses, known as "one-time" or "cartridge" fuses, cannot be repaired when they blow. If that happens they must be thrown away and replaced by a new fuse of the correct size. Some one-time fuses look like small cylinders with a metal cap at each end; others look like a small cylinder with a metal screw-cap on one end like a light bulb. One-time fuses for vehicles, known as "fuse-links", have small bodies made of plastic and two metal blades which push into fuse slots in the vehicle's fuse box. If a one-time fuse blows it should only be replaced by a new one of the correct size (Amps) for the circuit. The ones which screw in have different sized screw-caps for each size of fuse, with matching sockets to ensure that only a fuse which is the correct size can be screwed into the fuse holder. Similarly, fuse-links have different sized metal blades and matching slots to ensure that a given slot can only accept the correct size of fuse link.

Circuit breakers How a circuit breaker works When an over-current fault condition occurs, which is the same as saying the current gets bigger than the circuit breaker was designed to carry, it's mechanism causes its switch contacts to open, which cuts off the supply of current. When that happens the circuit breaker is said to "trip". When whatever fault condition in the protected circuit has been repaired, the circuit breaker can be "Reset" by pressing a button to close its switch contacts. The contacts should then remain closed until another over-current fault condition occurs in the circuit it is protecting, which would cause the breaker to trip again. What are the advantages and disadvantages of circuit breakers? To give the same over-current protection, circuit breakers can be designed to trip much faster than an ordinary fuse but they are generally larger in size and cost more to make. However circuit breakers are re-usable and can easily be reset after they have tripped - provided, of course, that the fault condition in the protected circuit has been repaired.

A fuse is a protective device that destructively opens when the current flow exceeds a preset value. It is usually designed as a low value resistor that heats up and melts at the specified current value. Once the fuse blows, it must be replaced. A circuit breaker is a protective device than non-destructively opens when the current flow exceeds a preset value. It is usually designed as a tripping relay/switch that can be reset and reclosed when the fault is cleared. In both cases, the design can provide for different preset values as a function of time. It depends on whether the intended load pulls a larger startup current than when it runs, such as a motor, which can easily pull four times their run current when they startup. The protective device is selected for the specific type of load, and for the rating of the conductors supplying it.

Fuse Vs Overload Relay

Overcurrent protection is protection against excessive currents or current beyond the acceptable current rating of equipment. It generally operates instantly. Short circuit is a type of overcurrent. Magnetic circuit breakers, fuses and overcurrent relays are commonly used to provide overcurrent protection. Overload protection is a protection against a running overcurrent that would cause overheating of the protected equipment. Hence, an overload is also type of overcurrent. Overload protection typically operates on an inverse time curve where the tripping time becomes less as the current increases. Overload relays as well as slow blow fuses are commonly used to provide overload protection. Some devices provide both overcurrent and overload protection. A thermal-magnetic circuit breaker has both thermal (overload) and magnetic (overcurrent) elements. Both elements operate as described above. Likewise the dual element fuse has both instantaneous and inverse time characteristics in the same fuse providing both overcurrent and overload protection.

Circuit Breaker
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. Circuit breakers for large currents or high voltages are usually arranged with pilot devices to sense a fault current and to operate the trip opening mechanism. The trip solenoid that releases the latch is usually energized by a separate battery, although some high-voltage circuit breakers are self-contained with current transformers, protection relays, and an internal control power source. Once a fault is detected, contacts within the circuit breaker must open to interrupt the circuit; some mechanically-stored energy (using something such as springs or compressed air) contained within the breaker is used to separate the contacts, although some of the energy required may be obtained from the fault current itself. Small circuit breakers may be manually operated, larger units have solenoids to trip the mechanism, and electric motors to restore energy to the springs. The circuit breaker contacts must carry the load current without excessive heating, and must also withstand the heat of the arc produced when interrupting (opening) the circuit. Contacts are made of copper or copper alloys, silver alloys, and other highly conductive materials. Service life of the contacts is limited by the erosion of contact material due to arcing while interrupting the current. Miniature and molded case circuit breakers are usually discarded when the contacts have worn, but power circuit breakers and high-voltage circuit breakers have replaceable contacts. 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. Different circuit breakers use vacuum, air, insulating gas, or oil as the medium the arc forms in. Different techniques are used to extinguish the arc including:

Lengthening / deflection of the arc Intensive cooling (in jet chambers) Division into partial arcs Zero point quenching (Contacts open at the zero current time crossing of the AC waveform, effectively breaking no load current at the time of opening. The zero crossing occurs at twice the line frequency i.e. 100 times per second for 50 Hz and 120 times per second for 60 Hz AC) Connecting capacitors in parallel with contacts in DC circuits.

Finally, once the fault condition has been cleared, the contacts must again be closed to restore power to the interrupted circuit.