Circuit breaker
The Illustrated Guide to Electrical Building Services, Third Edition (BG 32/2014), by David Bleicher & Peter Tse, published by BSRIA in 2014, states: ‘A circuit breaker is a mechanical switch that can be used to manually interrupt a circuit and also to provide protection for overcurrent and short-circuit faults. When a circuit breaker opens, it must be capable of extinguishing a high temperature arc that forms between the contacts. A major advantage circuit breakers have over fuses is that circuit breakers can be reset after the fault is cleared, whereas a fuse needs to be replaced. The current rating of a circuit breaker is the current above which it will open. The fault rating is the maximum current at which a circuit breaker can safely operate.’
--BSRIA
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