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30mA trips versus fuses
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it used to be that the fuse box [ ok , consumer unit ] in your house contained fuses ; not only did they 'blow' if there was a short , they did so if you overloaded the circuit above the capacity of the wiring, fuse overheated and ....poof
now we commonly have the far better high sensitivity trips; question is , do they 'trip' if you overload the circuit as well as if there is a short , eg I have a ring main with 6 13 amp sockets , if I plug in 6 13 amp appliances that is above the rating for the cable ...what happens?
now we commonly have the far better high sensitivity trips; question is , do they 'trip' if you overload the circuit as well as if there is a short , eg I have a ring main with 6 13 amp sockets , if I plug in 6 13 amp appliances that is above the rating for the cable ...what happens?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I think you've got your wires crossed a bit. A short circuit will cause an overload. Fuses blow when a current above their rating flows through it. An MCB (minature circuit breaker) have replaced these and do the same job. A trip will fail when there is a current leakage usually to earth. It will not trip for a high current (overload/short circuit). Trip switches and fuses/circuit breakers are different devices for different types of fault.
thanks for the responses , but if you read my post again , I am not interested in shorts , only in overloading a circuit
if you note I refer to 30mA trips , ie rccb's ; so that if I replace a fuse or mcb with a rccb of the same rating [ to match the wiring] , will it trip in the same way ?
ring mains are my prime concern as the wiring could be overloaded , a 32 amp mcb or fuse won't allow an overload , will a rccb?
if you note I refer to 30mA trips , ie rccb's ; so that if I replace a fuse or mcb with a rccb of the same rating [ to match the wiring] , will it trip in the same way ?
ring mains are my prime concern as the wiring could be overloaded , a 32 amp mcb or fuse won't allow an overload , will a rccb?
An RCB has a rating in amps which is the highest current it can handle, and a rating in mAmps which is the current that will cause it to trip, i.e. if there's a difference of 30mA for example, between the positive and negative it will trip. These should be the same and if they're not then there is a current leakage somewhere. An RCB will not protect you against overload. That's what a fuse and MCB are for. You can't replace an MCB with an RCB as they are different devices for different types of potential faults.
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