9 Breaker Manufacturers in 2023
This section provides an overview for breakers as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 9 breaker manufacturers and their company rankings.
Table of Contents
What Is a Breaker?
A breaker is a safety device that protects electric circuits and wires from abnormal conditions that occur in electric circuits. Such as automatically interrupting the circuit when a current exceeding the specified level flows or when an abnormal current is generated in the circuit to ensure the safe use of electricity.
Generally, it often refers to the distribution board installed in a house. The distribution board incorporates different types of breakers:
- Service breakers
- Safety breakers (wiring circuit breakers)
- Ground-fault breakers (ground-fault circuit breakers)
Uses of Breakers
As already mentioned, circuit breakers protect against overcurrents and leakage currents and can be broadly classified into wiring circuit breakers and ground-fault circuit breakers.
Residential distribution boards are one of the most common types of breakers, and both wiring circuit breakers and ground-fault circuit breakers are built into the distribution board.
Other special breakers include breakers for motors. General breakers interrupt the current when an overcurrent flows. Still, motors require a large current to start, so some have a mechanism that does not interrupt the current even when a large current flows during motor startup.
Principle of Breakers
In a breaker, the disconnecting device detects abnormal currents, such as overcurrents or leakage currents, and the disconnecting device automatically performs a current interruption operation called tripping.
There are several types of disconnecting devices, including thermal, electromagnetic, thermal electromagnetic, and electronic.
- Thermodynamic Type In the thermokinetic type, if the bimetal is heated by an overcurrent, the bimetal is deformed, and the pull-off device trips automatically.
- Electromagnetic Type In the electromagnetic type, an overcurrent generates an electromagnetic force that automatically trips the disengaging device.
- Thermodynamic Electromagnetic Type The thermokinetic-electromagnetic method combines the advantages of both the thermokinetic and electromagnetic methods. The thermodynamic method is responsible for minute overcurrents and allows a certain amount of time for the bimetal to deform. This allows sufficient time for tripping. On the other hand, large currents cause the electromagnetic method to generate large electromagnetic forces, resulting in instantaneous tripping.
- Electronic Type In the electronic type, an electronic circuit detects an overcurrent or large current and electrically trips the disconnecting device.
Type of Breakers
There are three main types of breakers: service breakers (also called SBs), wiring circuit breakers (also called MCCBs, MCBs, safety breakers, circuit breakers), and earth leakage breakers (also called ELBs, earth leakage breakers).
These three types of breakers are located in the distribution board and play a role in checking electrical capacity and ensuring the safety of indoor wiring.
- Service Breaker A service breaker is a breaker that determines the contracted capacity of the electric power company and automatically detects and shuts off electricity when the contracted capacity is exceeded. If the electricity meter between the wiring circuit breaker and the incoming line is a "smart meter," it may not have a service breaker in the distribution board because it takes on the role of a service breaker.
- Wiring Circuit Breaker A wiring circuit breaker is a device that shuts off electricity to protect wires and circuits when an "overcurrent" (a phenomenon in which more than a certain amount of current flows) occurs in a circuit.
- There are two leading causes of overcurrent: short-circuits caused by faulty wiring or malfunctioning electrical equipment, and overloading of equipment or other cases where more current than allowed flows (for example, when a microwave oven, hair dryer, and electric kettle are used at the same time).
- If an overcurrent condition continues, the wire cable may heat up, resulting in fire or ignition.
- Wiring circuit breakers protect circuits and electrical equipment by interrupting the power supply before such events occur.
- Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker An electrical device that interrupts a circuit when it detects a leakage to prevent accidents and disasters. Also called "ELCB (Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker * sometimes called ELB)" or "earth leakage breaker. Ideally, each power line in a distribution board should be insulated. Still, the insulation performance of power cables deteriorates over time, and other factors cause current to leak outside the power line (i.e., leakage). The device that detects and detects this leakage is a leakage circuit breaker.
- While the function of a wiring circuit breaker is to protect circuits and equipment by interrupting the circuit when it detects an abnormal current, an RCD prevents electric shock accidents caused by ground faults by interrupting the circuit when it detects a leakage to the ground (earth) line.
- It is dangerous to come in contact with the outer box of electrical equipment in a leaky condition due to the reduced insulation performance of the electric circuit. To prevent this, RCDs are installed to minimize the risk of electric shock by momentarily interrupting the current.
How to Read Breakers
Words used to describe how to read a breaker are "AF (ampere frame)" and "AT (ampere trip)."
AF (Ampere Frame): The size or maximum current rating of a breaker is called "AF (Ampere Frame)." The larger this value, the larger the dimensions of the breaker container and the electrical capacity it interrupts.
AT (Ampere-Trip): The unit of measure for the rated current of a breaker is called AT (ampere-trip). In the case of 20AT, it is rated at 20A.
From the above, AF (ampere frame) represents "the value of current that the breaker can withstand," and AT (ampere trip) is "the value of current at which the breaker interrupts.
For example, if the capacity of a breaker is listed as "100AF/80AT," it can theoretically withstand a current of up to 100A. In practice, however, it will trip at 80A, and so on.
List of 9 Breaker Manufacturers
*Including some distributors, etc.
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- Company Size: largest first
- Year Founded: oldest first
- Year Founded: earliest first
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Eaton
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Yueqing Feeo Electric Co.,Ltd.
DC Circuit Breaker
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Breaker Manufacturer Ranking
*Including some distributors, etc.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
- Yueqing Yro Electric Co.,Ltd: 2009 (14 years ago)
- JIANGSU AISIKAI ELECTRIC CO.,LTD.: 2007 (16 years ago)
- Taixi Electric Co., Ltd: 2002 (21 years ago)
Company with a History
- CZ Electric Co., Ltd.: 1990 (33 years ago)
- Taixi Electric Co., Ltd: 2002 (21 years ago)
- JIANGSU AISIKAI ELECTRIC CO.,LTD.: 2007 (16 years ago)
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