What a Circuit Breaker is and how it Works, sort of

So, you are curious about what a circuit breaker is and how it works. Ok, so, there are a few things that you initially need to know about circuit breakers, to give you an idea of what they are and what they do. First up, a circuit breaker is piece of equipment that can be found in an industrial, commercial or residential building. They are usually out of sight, but concealed inside the breaker box where all the electrical fuses live. The fuses are what helps to distribute the electricity around your building to make your lights go on, your coffee maker work and anything that you plug into the power outlet. Otherwise, you could plug your coffee maker in all day long and nothing would happen.

Electricity

There is a sort of running order to how we get our coffee maker to spring into action.  Let’s go backward to figure out how it all comes together. You put the filter in the top, followed by the grounds and the water. Then, you plug it in and expect it to bubble away until the perfect cup of wake-up juice is ready. However, what happens behind the scenes is actually the key, and that is the electrical sequence of events. Firstly, when you plug your coffee maker the metal prongs make contact with the ‘open’ circuit of electricity that constantly flows to your outlet. When the contact is made the electricity surges through from the source in much the same way as water surges along the hosepipe as soon as you turn the water on. Let’s suppose that the cord in your coffee maker has developed a fault but you are not aware of this. You suddenly hear small cracking sound and maybe the lights in your kitchen go out. What do you do? Ok, good answer, nip to the breaker box and see if a fuse has blown.

Sure enough there is a switch facing the wrong direction. This switch is known as a breaker switch and the only time they need to flip off is if your ITE circuit breaker has detected a fault and automatically shut off that portion of your power supply. If the problem is with the coffee maker, flip the switch back on but unplug the coffee maker and get a new one.

General Electric Circuit Breakers

One of the most well-known names in the electrical industry and the 6th largest firm in the entire United States, General Electric is one of the biggest contenders in the game as far as circuit breakers go. Currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, General Electric Energy manufactures thousands of power generation and energy delivery technologies every year. If you’re in the market for circuit breakers, then there are few better manufacturers to go through.

While circuit breakers are far from the main focus of General Electric, the company currently provides over four hundred models and associated parts and accessories. All of these models are among the very best of their kinds and can be used in a variety of electrical applications including home, auto, commercial, and industrial uses.

GE Circuit Breakers have you covered no matter the type of circuit breakers that you need. In addition to stocking circuit breakers for the variety of applications mentioned above, General Electric makes circuit breakers in just about every size imaginable. They make standard circuit breakers, ground fault breakers, motor circuit protectors, and many other types of circuit breakers. If it is a circuit breaker, then you’re 99% sure to find it available from GE.

It can be hard to discuss GE Circuit Breakers because they just offer so many. However, there are a few that are more popular than others both because they are the most adaptable and because they are the highest performing. The three circuit breakers outlined below will give you a good basic idea of what to expect from General Electric.

• GE TED Breakers: Otherwise known as thermal magnetic circuit breakers, TED Breakers are found in most distribution boards. They respond instantaneously to large surges in current, short circuits, and long-term over-currents.
• GE SFLA Breakers: General Electric’s Spectra RMS SFLA Circuit Breakers use interchangeable rating plugs and universal internal accessories to meet the need of even the most demanding applications. Superior performance coupled with a lengthy catalog of special accessories makes these circuit breakers some of the best in the business.
• GE SGLA Breakers: Also utilizing General Electric’s Spectra RMS line, the SGLA Breaker is designed to meet the most demanding applications and last or a long time. They are the preferred product for many commercial, industrial, and OEM applications.

As you can see, General Electric Circuit Breakers cover a wide variety of applications. They cover just about every area imaginable. If you’re looking for circuit breakers, then you should definitely check out General Electric’s fine stock.

Cutler Hammer Circuit Breakers

The circuit breaker industry is riddled with manufacturers, both large ones and small ones. To the inexperienced buyer, it can be incredibly hard to choose which company’s products to go with.

On first glance, the circuit breakers offered from manufacturer to manufacturer can seem the same. While this is true in some ways, it isn’t in others. And many of the ways in which it isn’t true are the most important to take into account.

Manufacturers that have been in the industry since the beginning – Cutler Hammer Circuit Breakers is a great example – have more experience at designing top-quality circuit breakers than their smaller competitors. The breakers that they manufacturer are oftentimes much more durable and longer lasting than the breakers offered by other companies. In addition, they can sometimes also be better performing – catching more electrical faults before they cause major problems.

Let’s focus on Cutler Hammer for a minute since they are one of the most respected names in the game. The company, which was originally an industrial electric equipment manufacturer based out of Milwaukee, is now a part of the Eaton Corporation. Under the wings of the larger company, Cutler Hammer now produces thousands of electrical regulating and distributing devices per year. A high percentage of these are circuit breakers for home, auto, commercial, industrial, and even national defense applications.

Some of the most popular types of circuit breakers offered by Cutler Hammer – ones that you should definitely keep your eyes on – are their Series C Breakers. These breakers have consistently been the best performers in their class year after year. Cutler Hammer Series C Breakers are also among the most durable around.

To get even more specific, three of the best Cutler Hammer Series C Breakers are:

• CHLD3600F, Series C, Digitrip RMS 310
• CHD3400 65k Rated Series, Series C, K-Frame
• ED3200 65k, Series C, 240 Volt AC

However, there are many other breakers available from Cutler Hammer both in the Series C category and in general.

Other circuit breakers to keep your eyes on and investigate include these three offerings from Cutler Hammer:

• JD3200 Circuit Breaker
• A200M5CAC Circuit Breaker
• HFD3060 Circuit Breaker

Whether or not you choose one of the popular circuit breakers mentioned above, take it to your heart that Cutler Hammer Circuit Breakers are as solid as they come. They work beautifully as a key part of many electrical applications. Better yet, there are literally thousands of options available to choose from. You will find the circuit breaker that is best for you when buying from Cutler Hammer.