From the course: Electrical Systems: Panel Boards, Frequency Drives, and Transformers
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Circuit breakers and fuses
From the course: Electrical Systems: Panel Boards, Frequency Drives, and Transformers
Circuit breakers and fuses
- [Instructor] All conductors, wires and cables usually, can only carry so much current safely before they begin to heat up from being overloaded. This can be dangerous to equipment and people. To prevent this from happening, devices such as circuit breakers and fuses are designed and used to stop the flow of current when the maximum amount is reached. A circuit breaker is a piece of electrical equipment that opens up a circuit and protects it at the same time. Circuit breakers normally have mechanical pieces inside of them that assist in opening the circuit when the current gets too high, usually a spring mechanism activated by heat facilitates the opening of the circuit. Let's take a look at some of the main components of a circuit breaker. The frame, the circuit breaker's physical housing, or frame, as it's most commonly referred to, must provide the integrity needed to properly withstand the interruption process and achieve the desired interrupting. Occasionally the interruption…
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