Circuit Breakers & Fuses

Circuit protection is vital to any electrical system and circuit breakers and fuses are the main components to provide this protection. When a short circuit or overload occurs, breakers and fuses are designed to disconnect the current, preventing irreparable damage.

Fuses contain a wire that heats up and melts when the current going through the fuse is too great, thus breaking the circuit. The fuse would then need to be replaced.

Resettable fuses contain a polymer material that heats up when overcurrent occurs causing resistance to increase sharply. This resistance cuts off the current in the circuit. When the overcurrent conditions are removed, the resettable fuse cools and its resistance, drops causing the fuse to “reset” and allowing the current to flow through the circuit once again.

Miniature circuit breakers are electromechanical, temperature-sensitive devices contained within a plastic casing with an on/off switch, which makes them very easy to use. These breakers are mainly designed for low-energy circuits and automatically reset when the overcurrent is removed and the temperature returns to a safe level.

Molded circuit breakers are electromechanical, temperature-sensitive devices contained within a plastic casing with an on/off switch, which makes them very easy to use. These breakers are mainly designed for high-power equipment due to its better capacity and automatically reset when the overcurrent is removed and the temperature returns to a safe level.