MCB

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This video is about miniature circuit breakers, which are one of the

most fascinating and essential component in our electrical systems.


These tiny but powerful devices play a crucial role in keeping our
homes and workplaces safe from electrical hazards, Although it may
seem puzzling at first. The inner working of an MCB is built upon
fundamental principle of electricity before we dive into the details. Let's
get a clear understanding of what an (@#) is and why even we use
this device in an electrical system. Two major types of faults are there
overloading in Short CIrcuit a short circuit occur when a direct
connection between phase and neutral form due to some unpredictable
reason. On the other hand, overloading occurs when the load on the
system increases above its recommended value In both situations,
the value of current exceeds its recommended limit. This excessive
amount of current creates lots of heat which can burn the wire and
can cause some serious problems. Here comes the role of miniature
circuit breaker. Normally a miniature circuit breaker is connected to
the phase wire. However, in certain situations a twopole ) MCB is
used instead of single pole B (@#. This is done because a twopole
(@#) offers an extra level of protection by also including the neutral
wire .NK] is a selfoperated switch. It means when current rises above
its recommended value. A MCB automatically trip and protect the
system. In earlier days, a much simpler device known as electric fuse
was used to protect electrical systems from the overloading and short
circuit. A fuse is made of a wire that uses a metal alloy with a low
melting point. When the current in the system exceeds the
recommended value. It generates excessive heat in the fuse wire
when it gets too hot. The fuse wire melts because it has a low melting
point. This action breaks the electric circuit which help to protect other
electrical equipment from damage. The main downside of using a fuse
is that whenever the fuse wire melts. We have to manually replace it
with a new one, but in case of MCB no such problem is faced when
AMC be tripped due to a fault we can easily switch it back on after
fixing the problem I'm like a fuse we don't need to replace anything
let's explore how a miniature circuit breaker detects short circuit and
overloads by understanding its internal working The internal structure
of MCB can be divided into four main sections. First section is
consists of bimetallic strips. Second section is the arc chamber. Third
section contains electromagnetic coil and operating mechanism, and
the fourth one houses the connectors. As we discussed earlier. An
MCB is always connected in series with the phase wire in an MCB
load current flows through biometallic strips and electromagnetic coil.
A moving part known as a plunger is responsible for making and
breaking the connections between the input and output connectors.
When current passes through this coil, a magnetic field form around
the coil as the current passing through coil is an alternating current.
The magnetic field form is also pulsating in nature a cylinder made up
of a ferromagnetic material is placed inside this coil. The magnetic
field of the coil exerts a force on the cylinder due to a phenomenon
known as electromagnetism. At normal current values, a spring won't
allow the cylinder to move because the force developed in the cylinder
cannot overcome the spring tension, but in case of a short circuit. The
value of current can rise to 50 or even 100 times of its normal value.
As a result, a much stronger magnetic field is created, which applies
a significant amount of force on the cylinder. Due to this Force
cylinder move and Trigger the operating mechanism, causing it to
immediately cut off the circuit, but it is not over yet This sudden
Interruption of current can cause an electric ARc to form between the
contacts. The temperature of the electric ARc can go as high as
thousands of degrees Celsius, which can easily cause damage to our
B (@#. To solve this issue we use a component called as an arc
chamber. An arc chamber is designed to split this ARc into smaller
pieces, so that the energy of ARc can safely dissipate it and that's
how an MCB protected electrical system from Short Circuit, but what
about overloading condition an overloading condition happens when
you use too many appliances simultaneously. This condition puts too
much load on the system as a result, the current passing through the
circuit breaker goes beyond its safe limit. In overloading condition.
The current is higher than its usual amount, but not as Extreme as in
the short circuit condition. Because of this MCB is not tripped by
electromagnetic coil as we saw in the short circuit condition instead of
this an overloading condition MCB uses biometallic strips to trip the
circuit. A bimetallic strip is a component made up of two different
metal bonded together. These metals have different coefficients of
thermal expansion. It means that when these metals are heated, they
expand at different rates. When an overload current passes through
bimetallic strips for a few seconds. It generates excessive heat in the
bimetallic strip. Due to this excessive heat a bimetallic strip bends
and triggers the operating mechanism. Please note that a short circuit
is much more dangerous than the overloading that's the reason a
circuit breaker quickly trips within two to five milliseconds during a
short circuit, but in case of overloading it takes few seconds to trip
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