Measuring molded case circuit breaker resistance

Author

Shea, John J. ; Bindas, John A.

Author_Institution

Westinghouse Sci. & Technol. Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Volume

16

Issue

2

fYear

1993

fDate

3/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

196

Lastpage

202

Abstract

Measurements of molded case circuit breaker resistance under various conditions carried out to demonstrate the need for more standardized procedures when performing millivolt drop measurements are discussed. Breakers rated at 600 V_ac/250 A_ac and 120/240 V_ac/50 A_ac, with silver-tungsten contacts, were used to show that contact resistance can cause variability in circuit breaker resistance. They were also used to demonstrate the unique influence that current, time, contact temperature, and applied voltage each had on contact resistance. Based on these results, guidelines were developed for improving the reliability of the millivolt drop test

Keywords

circuit breakers; contact resistance; electric resistance measurement; electrical contacts; silver; tungsten; 120 V; 240 V; 250 A; 50 A; 600 V; Ag-W contacts; applied voltage; contact resistance; contact temperature; current effect; millivolt drop measurements; molded case circuit breaker resistance; reliability; resistance measurement; time effect; Circuit breakers; Circuit testing; Computer aided software engineering; Contact resistance; Electrical resistance measurement; Guidelines; Heating; Performance evaluation; Temperature; Voltage measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Components, Hybrids, and Manufacturing Technology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0148-6411

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/33.219405

Filename

219405