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Have you ever wondered HOW breakers actually put out power? Interesting fact is that they don’t actually put out power and this is a common misconception among non-electricians. In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about what a breakers function is.

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One of the larger misconceptions in the electrical industry (usually made by non-electricians or brand-new apprentices) is that a breaker will PUT OUT power. So, say a 20-amp breaker will put out 20 amps worth of current. In actuality, a breaker is a safety device with 2 primary functions. To LIMIT the amount of current allowed to pass through it, and to have the ability to shut whatever is on the LOAD side of the breaker OFF. But how does a breaker accomplish these 2 goals?
First, let’s talk about the overload function of a breaker. This function is the THERMAL portion of a breakers design. Breakers are designed to trip when the load becomes greater than its rating. So, a 20-amp breaker will trip when the load attached to it becomes greater than 20 amps, sort of. Most breakers are designed to trip (with the overload function) at 100-130% of their rated value. In-rush of a motor starting is one of the reasons why they are built not to trip at exactly their rated values. When a motor (or any load really) is attempting to first start up (from a dead stop), it will generally pull more amperage for a short period of time, as it is struggling to get moving from a nonmoving state. This will calm down within a few seconds (usually!) and will be within its normal range. If breakers weren’t designed to allow for this, then we would have to install larger amperage breakers and wouldn’t be able to protect the load at the values we need to and would run the risk of damaging equipment or overloading circuit conductors.
There is another major portion of a breaker’s design that protects against short circuits. This is accomplished by the magnetic trip of a breaker. The values of this function are much higher than the overload functions values and are in the 200-300% of the breakers listed amperage. Some breakers are even designed with adjustable magnetic trips. The reasoning behind the higher amperage rating of this function is that there is a considerably higher amperage available in a short circuit condition, as the loads resistance is basically removed from the equation.

So, as we can see, a breaker’s primary functions are to protect the equipment/conductors attached to it and don’t really put out power, but rather control how much current is allowed to flow through it. We hope this has been an insightful look into a breaker’s function and how they operate. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed here on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin Stelzer and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.


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