Understanding Circuit Breaker Tripping: Causes and Solutions

Common Reasons for Circuit Breaker Tripping

Electrical circuits are tripped due to numerous reasons which can damage an electrical circuit. Different protection circuits are used to protect a circuit from tripping again and again. Circuit breakers are tripped in case of any tripping condition and protect the circuit from catching fire or damaging the electrical components in the circuit. Circuit breakers are tripped automatically in case of an overload condition and are then again set back to normal automatically or manually. But constant tripping can be frustrating as the circuit breaker will keep on tripping constantly. The reason behind the tripping should be fixed to prevent constant tripping. The common three reasons for the constant tripping are discussed below.

• Short Circuits:

The common reason for the tripping of a circuit breaker is the short circuit. When a hot wire comes in contact with a neutral wire a huge amount of current passes through the circuit. With a huge current flowing through the circuit more than its rating, the circuit catches up the fire or is damaged.

• Circuit Overloads:

Another common reason for the tripping of the circuit is the overload condition of the voltage and current. When the current or voltage more than the rated value for a circuit tries to pass through the circuit, the circuit breaker is tripped. The overload condition can occur due to the faults in the transmission lines and when the circuit is forced to produce more output than its predefined ratings.

• Ground Fault Surges:

Ground fault surges and short circuits are similar to each other as in both conditions hot wire comes in contact with the neutral or ground wire thus allowing a huge amount of current to flow through the circuit. The circuit breaker is tripped to protect the circuit.

Circuit Breaker Trip Protection Settings

[caption id="attachment_1251" align="aligncenter" width="524"] Circuit BReaker Trip settings[/caption] There are different protection settings for the circuit breaker which are utilized in different circuits as per the need and setting of the circuit. The common protection settings are:

• Continuous Amps.
• Ground fault pickup.
• Instantaneous pickup.
• Long-time delay.
• Short time pickup.
• Short time delay.

 

Diverse Types of Protection Units

Different protection units are utilized in different appliances as per the setting of the appliance.

• Protection Unit for Generator:

Generator circuit breakers are used between and the transformer to protect the generator from various faults which can occur due to any reason. The generator circuit breakers (GCBs) protect the generator from short circuits and other faults occurring in the transmission lines. The GCBs are also used to connect and disconnect the generator from the grid easily and with reliability. Another protection technique used for the protection of the generator is the grounding technique. As the generators are grounded and generators are always subjected to ground faults. Different relays which are also a kind of circuit breaker are used in the generators to protect the generator from the ground faults.

• Protection Units for Motors:

Motor protection circuit breakers are used in different motors to protect the motors from different overload conditions and fault settings. The protection units for motors are connected with the motors in different configurations. The protection units for motors protect the motors from overload conditions of current and voltage, short circuits and ground faults. Without a protection circuit, the motors can be easily damaged as the motors are used commonly for the continuous interval of time which can result in heating conditions.

• General Protection Units:

General protection units include different circuit breakers that are used daily with different household appliances. Other general protection units include the relays which are also commonly used for the protection of different circuits. Circuit breakers are the modified form of the relays. Different circuits prefer relays over circuit breakers. In a relay, due to any fault condition, the relay is tripped and needs to be set back to normal manually or automatically depending upon the type of the relay. Old circuit breakers were manually reset to normal after tripping but the latest models are automatically set back to normal after the predefined interval of time.