8 Circuit Breaker Manufacturers in 2023
This section provides an overview for circuit breakers as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 8 circuit breaker manufacturers and their company rankings.
Table of Contents
What Is a Circuit Breaker?
A circuit breaker is an electrical device capable of interrupting a circuit through which an accidental current flows.
Circuit breakers for low voltage include wiring circuit breakers that detect overcurrents and ground-fault circuit breakers that detect leakage currents. Circuit breakers for high voltage are used in conjunction with protective relays because they are not equipped with accidental current detection functions.
Usage of Circuit Breakers
Wiring circuit breakers are also used as safety breakers in ordinary homes. A circuit breaker is essentially a device that interrupts a circuit in general, but a wiring circuit breaker installed in a home switchboard is called a safety breaker.
The purpose of installing circuit breakers is to protect circuits and people from accidental currents, such as short circuits and ground faults. Since these can cause electric shock or fire, they are always installed in electrical products and switchboards.
Principle of Circuit Breakers
Wiring circuit breakers are generally of the thermodynamic electromagnetic type, utilizing the deformation of bimetal caused by overcurrents. When an overcurrent flows, the bimetal generates heat and deforms to release the latch, thereby breaking the circuit.
Thermodynamic electromagnetic-type wiring circuit breakers can be restored by manually returning the latch after the bimetal temperature drops and returns to its original shape. RCDs monitor the current in a circuit and interrupt it if there is a difference in traffic. If the circuit is properly insulated, the outgoing and incoming current values will be equal.
The difference between the outgoing and incoming currents is called leakage current, which is detected by the magnetic field of the zero-phase current transformer built into the RCD. Vacuum circuit breakers are mainly used for high-voltage circuit breakers. Vacuum circuit breakers are circuit breakers that turn off the arc by creating a vacuum at the opening and closing points of contact.
When a circuit with a current flowing through it is opened, a discharge phenomenon called an arc is generated. At high voltages, the arc discharge cannot be broken, and the contact point will burn up. Extinguishing the arc discharge is called quenching, and every high-voltage circuit breaker has a function that can quench high-voltage arc discharges.
Types of Circuit Breaker
Circuit breakers that protect against short-circuit currents of high-voltage or extra-high-voltage voltages have the function of quenching arcs, as mentioned above. Based on the arc quenching mechanism, the following types of circuit breakers are available.
1. Air Circuit Breaker (ACB)
Aerial circuit breakers are generally used for low-voltage circuit breakers because they can be used in the air without any problems. General low-voltage circuit breakers, such as safety breakers, fall under the category of air circuit breakers.
2. Gas Circuit Breaker (GCB)
When opening an electric circuit, this circuit breaker quenches the arc by spraying an inert gas on the contacts. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas is used as an inert gas, but because SF6 is a greenhouse gas, it is a circuit breaker that should be used with caution.
3. Oil Circuit Breaker (OCB)
This circuit breaker uses insulating oil to quench the arc. Since its dielectric strength is inferior to that of a vacuum, this type of circuit breaker is rarely used today. In the past, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were used as insulating oil, but the production of PCBs is now prohibited. 4.
4. Vacuum Circuit Breaker (VCB)
A vacuum Circuit Breaker (VCB) is a circuit breaker that extinguishes an arc by creating a vacuum at the open/close contact point. Vacuum circuit breakers are the main type of compact high-voltage circuit breakers. They have few driving parts and are easy to maintain.
Other Information on Circuit Breaker
Difference Between Circuit Breaker and Breaker
There is no difference between a circuit breaker and a breaker. The English word for a circuit breaker is "breaker." Breaker is an abbreviation, and in English, a circuit breaker is called a breaker. The literal translation is an electric circuit breaker.
In Japan, however, the term "circuit breaker" generally refers to low-voltage overcurrent circuit breakers or low-voltage ground-fault circuit breakers. When electrical engineers speak of circuit breakers, they often refer to high-voltage or special high-voltage circuit breakers.
List of 8 Circuit Breaker Manufacturers
*Including some distributors, etc.
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- Company Size: largest first
- Year Founded: oldest first
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Schneider Electric
Circuit Breakers
Company Overview
Schneider Electric S.E. is headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, France, and has been operating since 1836. Schneider Electric provides a number of products and services including electrical car charging, energy management software, surge protection devices, load banks, servers and HMIs, valve and valve actuators, feeder automation, grid automation, and SCADA software products, data center cooling and software, home automation and security, light switches, motion control and robotics, signaling units, solar and energy storage, RFID systems, as well as other hardware, services, and software.
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Ace Hardware
Circuit Breakers
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Circuit Breaker Manufacturer Ranking
*Including some distributors, etc.Ranking as of March 2023 in United States of America
Derivation Method| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Littelfuse | 22.7% |
| 2 | c3controls | 18.2% |
| 3 | Schneider Electric | 18.2% |
| 4 | Bay Power Inc. | 13.6% |
| 5 | COAST BREAKER | 9.1% |
| 6 | Ace Hardware | 9.1% |
| 7 | Automation Systems Interconnect | 9.1% |
Ranking as of March 2023 Globally
Derivation Method| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Littelfuse | 27.6% |
| 2 | c3controls | 17.2% |
| 3 | COAST BREAKER | 13.8% |
| 4 | Schneider Electric | 13.8% |
| 5 | Bay Power Inc. | 10.3% |
| 6 | Ace Hardware | 10.3% |
| 7 | Automation Systems Interconnect | 6.9% |
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the circuit breaker page as of March 2023. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
- Automation Systems Interconnect: 1999 (24 years ago)
- COAST BREAKER: 1987 (36 years ago)
- c3controls: 1976 (47 years ago)
Company with a History
- Schneider Electric: 1871 (152 years ago)
- Ace Hardware: 1924 (99 years ago)
- Littelfuse: 1927 (96 years ago)
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