Hi.
If i have a 63A power track, and the power consumption on it is less than 63A, can i use a smaller breaker when circuiting?
Hi.
If i have a 63A power track, and the power consumption on it is less than 63A, can i use a smaller breaker when circuiting?
In general it's perfectly acceptable and quite normal to use conductors (indeed accessories) rated higher than the design current - often that's just the result of physics and the practice of having a small number of standard sizes (e.g. using 2.5mm² cable rated at 27A clipped direct on a 20A circuit or a 20A switch on a 16A circuit) , other times it's to allow for other criteria to be satisfied (e.g voltage drop or loop impedances). Sometimes it's just for installation convenience (i.e. what happened to be in the van or re-using parts of a redundant higher rated circuit).
Provided Ib ≤ In ≤ Iz then it's fine (and even that's a bit flexible in some conditions, e.g. when overload protection need not be provided).
The advantage of running cooler isn't just a longer service life, but less power wastage.
- Andy.
In general it's perfectly acceptable and quite normal to use conductors (indeed accessories) rated higher than the design current - often that's just the result of physics and the practice of having a small number of standard sizes (e.g. using 2.5mm² cable rated at 27A clipped direct on a 20A circuit or a 20A switch on a 16A circuit) , other times it's to allow for other criteria to be satisfied (e.g voltage drop or loop impedances). Sometimes it's just for installation convenience (i.e. what happened to be in the van or re-using parts of a redundant higher rated circuit).
Provided Ib ≤ In ≤ Iz then it's fine (and even that's a bit flexible in some conditions, e.g. when overload protection need not be provided).
The advantage of running cooler isn't just a longer service life, but less power wastage.
- Andy.
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