RCDSVS.

CI
RCUI
TBREAKERS:
UNDERSTANDI
NGTHEDI
FFERENCE

byRy
anOl
d|Nov30,
2023|
Elect
ri
cal
Gui
de

Electr
icalsafet
yispar
amountforanyhomeorbusi ness.Dev
icesli
keRCDs(residual
-cur
rent
devices)andcircui
tbr
eaker
spreventfi
res,
elect
ri
calequipmentdamage,andelectr
ocuti
on.
Howev er,
thesetwopr
otect
ivedevi
cesworkdiff
erentl
ytodetectf
ault
sandcutt heelect
ri
cit
y
supplyt ocir
cuit
s.

I
nthi
spost
,we’l
lprov
ideanoverv
iewofhowRCDsandci r
cuitbr
eaker
soperat
e.We’
l
ldi
scuss
t
hei
rkeydi
ff
erencesi
ndetect
ingelect
ri
cal
issuesandt
ri
ppingpowersuppl
y.

We’l
lal
socomparet heirr
elati
veadvantagesanddisadv
antagesandrecommendwheneach
ty
peofdev i
cei
smostappr opri
ate.Whetheryou’
reanel
ectri
cianorahomeowner,
under
standi
ngthecapabili
tiesofRCDsv ersusci
rcui
tbr
eakerswill
hel
py oumakeinf
ormed
deci
si
onsaboutelectr
icalsafet
y.

WHATARERCDSANDHOW DOTHEYWORK?

AnRCD,orresidual
-currentdevice,i
saspecial
isedci r
cui
tbreakert
hatmonitor
scur r
entfl
owin
acir
cui
tandrapidlydisconnectst hepowerifi
tdetectsevenasmal li
mbalanceinthecurr
ent.
RCDsmeasur ethecurrentf l
owingoutont hel
ive/hotwir
eagainstthecur
rentret
urningonthe
neut
ral
wire.Undernor mal condit
ions,t
hesecurrentswil
lbeequal.

Buti
fsomeoft hecur
renti
sleaki
ngthroughtotheeart
hort hr
oughapersonwhohassuff
ered
anelect
ricshock,i
twil
lnotr
eturnthr
oughtheneutral
wire.Thi
scausesasmalldi
scr
epancyin
cur
rentthattheRCDisconstantl
ymonitor
ingfor.

WhentheRCDdet ect
sati
nydif
fer
enceofaround30mi ll
iamps,i
tinst
antlyt
riggersthesaf
ety
swi
tchtodi
sconnectort
ri
pthecir
cui
t.Thi
squi ckdi
sconnect
ionpreventsalethaldoseof
cur
rentf
rom cont
inui
ngt
oflowthr
oughaper sonandmi nimi
sestheriskofelectr
ocuti
on.
WHATARECI
RCUI
TBREAKERSANDHOW DOTHEYOPERATE?

Acircui
tbreakerisanautomaticel
ectr
ical
swi
tcht
hatprot
ectsanel
ectr
ical
circui
tfr
om excess
curr
ent.I
taimst opreventover
heat
inganddamagetothewir
esandotherhardwaredueto
overl
oadsorshor tci
rcui
ts.

Cir
cui
tbreaker
scontainastr
iporwi r
emadeoft womet alsthatexpandandbendwhenheated.
Whentoomuchcur rentf
lowsthroughthecir
cuit
,thi
sstri
pheat supandbendsunti
li
ttri
gger
s
themechanism i
nsi
dethecir
cuitbreakert
otri
ptheelectr
icalswit
chboardanddi
sconnectt
he
power
.

Theamountofcurrentrequi
redt
otri
paci r
cui
tbreakerdependsonit
sampr at
ingandi
s
si
gnifi
cant
lyhi
gherthanwhatwouldtr
iggeranRCD.Forexampl e,
astandar
d15ampcircui
t
breakermaytr
ipat135%or18amps.

Cir
cuitbreakersar ealsodesignedt otripmuchslowerthanRCDs.I
tmayt akeseveral
seconds
ofovercurrentflowingforthecircuitbreakermetal
stoheatupandbendsuf f
ici
entl
ytotr
ipthe
swit
ch.Incont rast,RCDstakej ustaf r
actionofasecondtodi
sconnectpowerwhenev ena
smallcurrentimbal ancei
sdet ected.

Whil
ecircuitbreakerspr
eventwi
resf
rom overheati
ng,t
heydonotmonit
orforl
eakagecur
rent
s
andcannotpr otectagai
nstel
ect
ri
cshocks.Theirgoal
ispri
mari
lyt
opreventpr
opert
ydamage,
noti
njur
y .

DI
FFERENCESBETWEENRCDSANDCI
RCUI
TBREAKERS

Cont
inuousmoni
tor
ingv
sov
ercur
rentdet
ect
ion

AnRCDswitchworksbycontinuouslymeasuringthecur
rentontheliv
eandneutral
wirest
o
det
ectanyi
mbalancei
ndicati
ngcur r
entleakage.Thi
slet
sthem quickl
ydi
sconnectpowerat
cur
rent
saslowas30mAt opreventelect
rocuti
on.

Cir
cui
tbreaker
sdonotact i
vel
ymoni torforleakagecur r
ents.Theyaredesignedtotri
ponly
whenhighovercur
rentsf
lowthrought heshortcircui
t,usuall
yatleastdoublether
atedcurr
ent
.
Thi
sprotect
sthewi r
ingf
rom overheatingdamagebutdoesnotpr eventel
ectr
icshocks.
Pr
eventel
ect
rocut
ionv
spr
eventf
ir
es/
damage

Thecorefunct
ionofRCDsist
oprev
entbodi
lyhar
mf rom el
ect
ri
cshocks.Ev
ensmal
ll
eakages
ofcur
rentcanbedeadly
,soRCDstr
ipr
apidl
ytomiti
gatethi
sri
sk.

Meanwhi le,circuitbreakersaremai nlyconcernedwi t

hpr event
ingproper tydamage.Theyallow
normal currentflowsandwi l
lonlytri
pwhenov er
currentsreachunsafel evelst
hatcould
overheatwi resorhar dware.Theci r
cuitbr
eakerwi l
lacti
vate,cutt
ingthepowerwheni tdetectsa
hi
ghcur rentf ault
, shortcir
cuit,oroverl
oad,suchaswhent oomanyappl iancesar
epl uggedinto
asinglepowerpoi nt.Cir
cuitbreakersarecrucial
inpr ot
ectingwiri
ngsy stemsandhumansf rom
el
ectri
cal accident s.Theirsloweractionisacceptablesincenoel ect
rocut i
onri
skexists.

Speedoft
ri
ppi
ng

RCDsprovi
deextr
aordi
nari
l
yfasttr
ippi
ngspeeds.Theirel
ect
roni
ccir
cuit
rydet
ectscur
rent
i
mbalancesanddi
sconnectspowerpoint
sinasli
tt
leas0.03seconds.Thi
sprevent
sprol
onged
el
ect
ri
cshocksthatcoul
dleadtodeathorser
iousburns.

Incontrast,
cir
cuitbreaker
srelyonmechanicalheat
ingandbendi
ngofabimetal
stri
p.Thi
s
causesasl owertri
pt i
me–upt osev
eralsecondsforl
oweroverl
oads.Whi
l
efastenoughto
preventfi
res,t
hislagistooslowtostopelect
rocuti
ons.

Resetopt
ions

RCDsusual l
yrequir
eamanualresetbut
tontobepushedtorest
orepoweraft
ert
ri
pping.Thi
s
ensurestheelect
ri
calsy
stemsarecheckedbefor
ebeingr
e-ener
gised.SomeRCDshaveauto-
reset
,butthi
si sl
esscommon.

Cir
cuitbr
eaker
saut
omati
cal
lyr
esetoncet
heover
loadorshor
tisremoved,
andtheelect
ri
cal
curr
entdropst
onor
mal.Thi
sal
lowspowertor
esumewithoutanymanuali
nter
vent
ionrequi
red.

ADVANTAGESANDDI
SADVANTAGESOFRCDSANDCI
RCUI
TBREAKERS

Cir
cuitbr
eaker
sarethepr
efer
redmethodforpr
eventi
ngproper
tydamagefrom wi
ri
ngov
erl
oads.
Theiraut
omati
cresetf
unct
ionmai
ntainspoweraf
tertemporar
yhighcur
rent
spass.
Butci
rcui
tbreaker
sareslowertotri
panddonotmoni torf
ordangerousl
eakagecurr
ent
s.On
theot
herhand,RCDsofferextr
emelyfast-
act
ingprot
ecti
onagainstanel
ectr
ical
shock,
which
makesthem superi
oratprev
entingi
njur
yandsavingli
ves.

Howev er
,RCDsaremor eexpensivethanci
rcuitbr
eakersandr equir
er esett
ingaft
ertrippi
ng.
Ult
imatel
y,RCDsarethebestchoicewhensaf etyi
spar amount,whilecircui
tbreakersprovi
dean
aff
ordabl
eform ofover
loadprotecti
on.Usi
ngRCDswi thappropri
atelysizedcir
cuitbreakers
bal
ancessafetyandconti
nuousoper ati
onf
oropt i
mal elect
ri
calprotecti
on.

WHI
CHSHOULDYOUCHOOSE?

Understandingthemai ndi
ff
erencesbetweenanRCDandaci rcui
tbreakerempower syouto
makesmar tdecisionsaboutelect
ri
calsafet
y.Whilecir
cui
tbr eaker
shelppr ev
entfir
esand
equipmentdamage, RCDsaresuperi
orfordetecti
nglet
halleakagecurrentsandpreventi
ng
el
ectrocuti
on.Usi ngbot hi
nacompr ehensiv
epr ot
ecti
onplanensur esthesafetyandconti
nuit
y
oftheelectri
calsuppl y.

I
fy ouneedhelpinstall
ingort est
ingRCDsandci rcui
tbreakers,
contactYourEl ectr
icalExper
ts.
Ourlicensedel
ectr
icianscanadv i
seont heidealcombinati
onofelectri
calsafetydevicesfor
youruniqueneeds.West ayup-to-dat
eont helat
eststandardsandinstall
ati
onbestpr acti
ces.
Forreli
ableandaffordableelectr
icalsaf
etyupgrades,call
YourElectr
icalExpertstoday.

Ifyouwanttoknowmoreaboutt
heseamazi
ngdev
ices,
findoutwhyRCDt
est
ingi
simpor
tantt
o
keepyourhomesafe!

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