Motor Protection Circuit Breaker Sizing

Sizing a circuit breaker circuit breakers are designed to carry 100 of their rated current while the nec dictates an 80 application.

Motor protection circuit breaker sizing.

Circuit breaker size 2. A 30a circuit breaker can safely carry the exact 30a current but nec suggests 80 as a safe current limit as compared to the rated current. Breaker size must be rated for a minimum of 125 of the full load current of the motor it is protecting rounded up to the next standard breaker size. Nec for 2002 a new rule for the conductor sizing was added for devices that are listed and marked suitable for use as tap conductor protection.

Lps rk sp lpn rk sp frs r and frn r fuses are sized for motor running back up protection and provide superb short circuit protection at the same time. The table will give you the size of the short circuit protection as a percentage of the full load current. Lpj sp tcf and lp cc fuses are sized a little larger but are even more current limiting providing an even greater degree of short circuit protection for the motor circuit. Therefore they are selected for the type of installations described above however some boundary.

Breaker cannot be larger than ampacity of wire except for motors and a few other loads. As circuit breakers cbs and overcurrent protection devices ocpd are designed for 100 rated current i e. Motor protection circuit breaker and motor circuit protector specifications bulletin 140m summary of changes. The best method for providing overcurrent protection for most circuits is to use a circuit breaker that combines overcurrent protection with short circuit and ground fault protection.

This table is used to size the short circuit protection check the motor data sheets for the motor s full load current. Circuit breakers with motor protection characteristics mpcb manual motor controllers according to ul 508 are multifunctional devices providing motor overload protection disconnector isolator properties and short circuit protection. Locate where your motor falls in table 430 52 based on the full load current and motor size. Maximum loading of any circuit breaker is 80 of rating for non motor loads with exceptions as noted below.

With rare exceptions the best method for providing overcurrent protection in these cases is to separate the overload protection devices from the short circuit.