05/01/2017 6AdjustableTrippingSettingsofaCircuitBreakerYouMUSTUnderstand|EEP

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6AdjustableTrippingSettingsofaCircuit
BreakerYouMUSTUnderstand

6 Adjustable Tripping Settings of a Circuit Breaker You MUST Know

BasictrippingsettingsofCB
There are (at least) six basic adjustable tripping settings (functions) you must understand in order to fully
understand how circuit breaker actually works. All these adjustable functions actually shape the time-current curve
of a circuit breaker and allows proper tripping according to the network parameters and also the proper
coordination between upstream and downstream devices.

Note that modern circuit breakers (MCCB, ACB) mostly have an electronic tripping unit which is much more
advanced comparing to these explained here, but the basics are the same, very same.
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So, lets start with explanation!

1. Continuous Amps (Ir)

2. Long-Time Delay
3. Short-Time Pickup
4. Short-Time Delay
5. Instantaneous Pickup
6. Ground Fault Pickup

Circuit breaker adjustable tripping functions

The below time-current curve reflects one possible setup for a 1200 ampere circuit breaker with a nominal
(maximum continuous ampere) rating of 1000 amps. This time-current curve will be the basis for
discussing adjustable tripping settings of the circuit breakers.

Time-current curve of a circuit breaker

1.ContinuousAmps(Ir)

Continuous Amps (Ir) varies the level of current the circuit breaker will carry without tripping. Ir is a
percentage of the circuit breakers nominal rating (In). Continuous amps can be adjusted from 20 to 100 percent
of the circuit breakers nominal rating.

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For example, a 1000 amp breaker can be changed from 1000 amps to 800 amps by adjusting the breaker continuous
amps setting to 80%.

Continuous current [Amps]

Go back to CB tripping settings

2.LongTimeDelay

Long-time delay causes the breaker to wait a certain amount of time to allow temporary inrush currents, such
as those encountered when starting a motor, to pass without tripping.

The adjustment is from 2.2 to 27 seconds at six times the continuous amps (Ir) setting.

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As shown below, the long-time delay effects the position of an I2T slope. This means that lower levels of current
will allow the breaker to remain online for longer periods of time.

Long time delay tripping settings

Go back to CB tripping settings

3.ShortTimePickup

Short-time pickup is used for selective tripping. The short-time pickup function determines the amount of
current the breaker will carry for a short period of time, allowing downstream protective devices to clear short-
circuits without tripping the upstream device.

Short-time pickup is adjustable from 1.5 to 10 times the trip unit ampere setting (Ir).

For example, a 1000 ampere frame can be adjusted to trip anywhere from 1500 to 10,000 amps. The switch also
has an OFF position to eliminate short-time pickup and short-time delay.

Short-time pickup used for selective tripping

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Go back to CB tripping settings

4.ShortTimeDelay

Short-time delay, used in

conjunction with short-time pickup,
controls the time involved in
postponing a short-time pickup trip.

There are two modes: fixed time,

or I2T ramp. Fixed time is
adjustable from .05 to .5 seconds.
The I2T ramp mode is adjustable
from .18 seconds to .45 seconds,
providing a short inverse time ramp.

This allows better coordination

with downstream thermal-magnetic
circuit breakers and fuses. A fixed
instantaneous trip point of 10,000
amps trips the breaker automatically
and overrides any pre-programmed
instructions.

Short-time delay, used in conjunction with short-time pickup

Go back to CB tripping settings

5.InstantaneousPickup

Instantaneous pickup is used to trip the circuit breaker with no intentional delay at any current between 2 and
40 times the breakers continuous ampere setting (Ir).

In this example instantaneous pickup has been set to 10 times the continuous amp setting, or 10,000 amps (10
x 1000) with a continuous amp setting of 1000 amps. In this case a higher setting would still trip at 10,000 amps
due to a fixed instantaneous override of 10,000 amps which automatically trips the breaker regardless of the
instantaneous pickup setting.

If the continuous amp setting had been 300 amps, setting the instantaneous pickup at 10 would make the instantaneous
setting equal to 3000 amps, well below the fixed instantaneous override.

Instantaneous pickup Used to trip the circuit breaker with no

intentional delay at any current between 2 and 40 times the breakers
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continuous ampere setting (Ir)

Go back to CB tripping settings

6.GroundFaultPickup

Ground fault pickup controls the amount of ground fault current that will cause the breaker to interrupt the
circuit. The adjustment can be set from 20 to 70% of the maximum breaker rating. In compliance with NEC
230-95 (A), no trip point setting exceeds 1200 amps.

The ground fault pickup is divided into three sections .1s, .2s, and .4s. This feature adds a time delay of .1, .2, or .4
seconds to the breakers trip when a ground fault occurs.

Ground fault pickup controls the amount of ground fault current that
will cause the breaker to interrupt the circuit

Circuit breaker coordination

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The ground fault pickup time

delay feature is useful for
circuit breaker coordination.
In the following scheme,
upstream breaker A has been
set to .2s and downstream
breakers B and C have
been set to .1s.

The ground fault pickup time delay

feature is useful for circuit breaker
coordination

A ground fault occurring in the circuit supplied by B will trip the B breaker without disturbing A or
C.

Go back to CB tripping settings

Reference // STEP 2000 Molded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCB) by SIEMENS

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AboutAuthor//
Edvard Csanyi

Edvard - Electrical engineer, programmer and founder of EEP. Highly specialized for design of LV high power
busbar trunking (<6300A) in power substations, buildings and industry fascilities. Designing of LV/MV
switchgears.Professional in AutoCAD programming and web-design.Present on Google+

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