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Circuit breakers have been around for a long time but nobody really realises why all of these electrical components actually come in useful.

Brief History

The very earliest form of the circuit breaker was actually talked about by Edison in a patent application back in 1879 so the idea has been around for a long time. Edison wanted to protect a circuit from accidental short-cirtcuits and overloads.

What They Do

All circuit breakers have things in common and that doesnt matter on whether they are big or small it does depend on the voltage class of course.

The circuit breaker will not jsut shut the power off for no reason so do not get annoyed if it does this, it will do it if there is something wrong. What happens is that once a fault has been found contacts within the breaker will open and put a stop to the circuit. The current can be switched off manually on many of the smaller ones.

Once the current gets to a stage where it has to be interrupted an arc must be generated and the contained. This then means that the gap that is supposed to be there can carry on.

Saving Lives

So believe it or not these circuit breakers actually save thousands of lives every single year. The problem occurs when somebody starts to plug in items that simply should not be put into the same place. If a circuit breaker is not in place these appliances could be too much and could start a fire. If you had a circuit breaker then a fire could actually be avoided which of course is always a good thing. Fires are prevented as the circuit breaker will cut the power before the wire has a chance to burn.

So although you may not think all of those mil spec cables are important it would seem that they are.