Most people have taken a peak at their electrical panels and noticed those strange looking switches. They are called circuit breakers and are designed to protect residential and commercial electrical systems. Knowing how these things work can help when you need wholesale circuit breakers for business or electrical supplies for your home. Here is some basic information to give you a better understanding.
Overload Protection
A basic house circuit is designed to carry no more than 15 amps of electrical current at one time. In fact, most outlets and wires are rated for 15 amps. So what happens if you use a toaster, microwave oven and vacuum cleaner at the same time on the same circuit? You could easily draw more than 15 amps of current. Let’s look at what happens without technology like retail and wholesale circuit breakers.
When current is increased heat is built up within the wiring. This is why jumper cables can get very hot in a short amount of time. If the wires get too hot the thermoplastic insulation will start to melt. In fact, the heat can become intense and start a fire. Since most wiring is behind walls, underneath floors and above ceilings, you may not be aware of the fire until it is too late. This is not the only hazard associated with overloads.
Sometimes things will happen to cause short circuits. Have you ever accidentally touched two live wires together? If so, you probably saw a large spark and noticed an enormous amount of heat. Faulty appliances and equipment can cause short circuits to happen and it can draw an unbelievable amount of current in an instant. This can be a severe fire hazard.
Circuit Protection to the Rescue
The earliest circuit protection utilized fuses. They contained piece of heat sensitive metal which completed the circuit when the fuse was installed. When enough current passing through heated the metal to the melting point, it broke the connection and killed power to the circuit. Equipment like retail and wholesale circuit breakers serve the same purpose as fuses but through different means.
Modern Breakers
A circuit breaker works on the principle of electromagnetism. For instance, when you pass electric current through a coil of wire it becomes a temporary magnet. Sensing mechanisms in the breaker react to the flow of electricity and when too much is flowing this triggers a switch (operated by electromagnetic energy) which kills the circuit. This is an oversimplification of the process but gives you an idea how it works.
Setting Tripped Breakers
When a breaker trips, you only need to turn it to the “off” position and then back to the “on” position. This should reset the mechanism and restore power.
