Zhejiang Jiuce Intelligent electric co., ltd.
Residual Current Operated Circuit Breaker (RCBO) Principle and Advantages
An RCBO is the abbreviated term for a Residual Current Breaker with Over-Current. An RCBO protects electrical equipment from two types of faults; residual current and over current.
Residual current, or Earth leakage as it can sometimes be referred to, is when there is a break in the circuit that could be caused by faulty electrical wiring or if the wire is accidentally cut. To prevent the current redirecting and causing an electrical shock, the RCBO current breaker stops this.
Over-Current is when there is an overload caused by too many devices being connected or there is a short circuit in the system.
RCBOs are used as a safety measure to reduce to chances of injury and danger to human life and is part of existing electrical regulations that require electrical circuits to be protected from residual current. This generally means that in domestic properties, an RCD will be used to achieve this rather than an RCBO as they are more cost effective however if an RCD trips, it cuts power to all the other circuits whereas an RCBO does the job of both an RCD and MCB and ensures that power continues to flow to all other circuits that haven’t tripped. This makes them invaluable to businesses that simply cannot afford for the entire power system to cut out simply because someone has overloaded a a plug socket (for example).
RCBOs are designed to ensure the safe operation of electrical circuits, triggering disconnections quickly when there is a residual current or over-current detected.
Working principle of RCBO
RCBO works on Kircand live wires. Admittedly, the current that flows to the circuit from the live wire should equal the one that flows through the neutral wire.
If a fault happens, the current from the neutral wire reduces, and the differential between the two is referred to as the Residential Current. When the Residential Current is identified, the electrical system triggers the RCBO to trip off the circuit.
The test circuit included in the residual current device ensures that the RCBO reliability is tested. After you push the test button, the current begins to flow in the test circuit since it established an imbalance on the neutral coil, the RCBO trips, and supply disconnects and checked the reliability of RCBO.
What is the advantage of RCBO?
All in one device
In the past, electricians installed the miniature circuit breaker (MCB) and residual current device in an electrical switchboard. The residual current operated circuit breaker is meant to protect the user from exposure to harmful currents. In contrast, MCB protects the building wiring from overloading.
Switchboards have limited space, and installing two separate devices for electrical protection sometimes becomes problematic. Fortunately, scientists have developed RCBOs that can perform dual functions in protecting the building wiring and users and freed up space in the switchboard since RCBOs can replace two separate devices.
Generally, RCBOs can be installed within a short period. Therefore, the RCBOs are used by electricians who want to avoid installing both MCB and RCBO breakers.
