Circuit breakers and fuses are used to prevent a high amount of current from overloading a circuit and to avoid the occurrence of an electric fire. They also intervene at the time of a ground fault or short circuit that can harm your electronic appliances. Read on to know more about the working and advantages of circuit breakers and fuses:
Understanding the working of circuit breakers and fuses
Fuses are constructed with a piece of metal. The metal melts when too much power passes through a fuse. These devices are the best option for over-current protection. On the other hand, circuit breakers contain moving and fixed contacts. These contacts touch each other and carry the current when the circuit is closed under regular conditions.
At the time of regular operating conditions, the circuit breaker’s arms can be closed or opened for maintenance and switching of the system. When a fault occurs in any section of the system, the trip coils becomes energized and the moving contacts move apart from one another because of a certain mechanism and in turn open the circuit.
Advantages of circuit breakers
Circuit breakers are circuit protection devices. There are many types of circuit breakers in the market, such as air circuit breakers, miniature circuit breakers, moulded case circuit breakers, earth leakage circuit breakers, etc.
- There are many advantages of using circuit breakers, such as:
- They are reliable circuit protection devices.
- They are sensitive in nature and respond very quickly.
- These devices can be reset.
Advantages of fuses
Fuses are protection devices against short circuits. They are used in both high and low voltage circuits that have a capacity ranging from moderate to high. Here is a list of advantages a fuse offers:
- It is the cheapest type of protection that can be used in an electrical circuit.
- They have a simple operation.
- They require zero maintenance.
These protection devices are extremely useful in electric circuits and can help you avoid an electrical fire.
