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Frequently Asked Questions

Circuit Breaker

Is the functionality of the breaker affected by the position in which it is mounted?

Answer

Mounting positions

Yes and no, mostly due to the technology of the circuit breaker employed.  For hydraulic magnetic technology refer to the diagram below.  The effect of gravity on the tripping mechanism is due, or not, to the gravity forces being influential on the mechanism.  For example, aiding the tripping will be faster and opposing tripping will be slower.

 

Circuit breakers using alternative technologies, thermal-magnetic and electronic magnetic, are not likely to be affected in a similar fashion.

 

The technology employed is not usually indicated on the body of the circuit breaker so that at any time there is the consideration to mount the circuit breaker away from the industry norm of vertical the manufacturer should be contacted to confirm if the proposed mounting has any effect.

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What is the average life of your circuit breakers?

Answer

The life of a circuit breaker is determined by a number of factors.

For example:

The number of normal switches ON/OFF

Whether an electrical load current is present at the time of tripping

Tripping on a short circuit and the level or intensity of that short circuit

 

Lastly, the actual site conditions can also have a major effect on service life. Excessive contaminating dusts / fumes moisture etc

 

Remember, just because the circuit breaker is ON and the power is being supplied is no guarantee it will stay like that and even more importantly whether it will effectively trip when required to do.

Always make sure you purchase the best quality you can afford from a supplier you can trust.

They are certainly not expensive if one gets good life from them and you can have confidence they will trip when needed!

Product Reference: 

What is the Mid Trip feature?

Answer

Mid Trip

The handle of the circuit breaker is able to visually indicate whether it was tripped by an electrical fault. The handle stops in an intermediate position, between on and off when it was tripped by an electrical fault.

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The difference between an auxiliary switch and an alarm switch?

Answer

An auxiliary switch generates a signal that indicates whether the circuit breaker is on or off, but cannot distinguish between whether it has been manually switched off or tripped by an electrical fault. An alarm switch generates a signal that indicates whether the circuit breaker was tripped by an electrical fault, but not whether the breaker is off or turned on manually.

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Is the breaker always tripped at the stated rated current?

Answer

Yes, as the mechanism is temperature-independent, high or low ambient temperature is not a factor. But, for example at -40 degrees the action of the breaker will be somewhat more sluggish and at +85 degrees it will be more rapid. But it will always keep to the stated rated current.

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Earth Leakage

On 3 phase earth leakage devices is the 30 mA protection per phase or accumulative?

Answer

The earth leakage will sense over the 3 phases as a combined Leakage sensitivity.

More information: Earth Leakage Products

Product Reference: 

Why does CBI earth leakage devices (RCDs) trip at 21 mA and not at 30 mA?

Answer

The wiring standard indicates that earth leakage units should trip strictly between 15 - 30 mA. As a quality manufacturer, CBI maintains a stringent safety margin from these limits i.e. it will be a few milliamps less than 30 mA.  Under normal circumstances, a leakage current is already present in most systems. Therefore when testing an installation and it trips well below 30 mA on your tester, that indicates that there could already be some leakage in the system.

More information: Earth Leakage Products

Product Reference: 

Switch Disconnector

What is the difference between a switch disconnector and isolator?

Answer

An isolator and a switch disconnnector is exactly the same thing and has the same functionality, this is simply a case of two different names for the same product.

Product Reference: 

Isolator

What is the difference between a switch disconnector and isolator?

Answer

An isolator and a switch disconnnector is exactly the same thing and has the same functionality, this is simply a case of two different names for the same product.

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Cascading System

Can any 6 kA breaker be used downstream in a cascaded system?

Answer

Only tested and approved 6 kA circuit breakers can be used.

Product Reference: 

What does tested combination in a cascading system mean?

Answer

It is vital to ensure that the system you are using has been tested with the products been used.  As soon as a product is changed in the system it is no longer cascaded, and should not be used.  When cascading always refer back to the Manufacturer to ensure that the system you use is allowed.

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Can I use 3 kA circuit breakers in a cascaded system?

Answer

3 kA products have not been tested in any current cascade systems, so no it can not be used.

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Surge Protection

How would I know when to use a 1 pole SPD or 2 pole SPD?

Answer

It is always advisable to use a 2-pole unit, as surges can come through both Live And Neutral lines.

More information: Surge Protection

Product Reference: 

Is surge protection devices only for lightning protection?

Answer

No, surge protection devices are used for surges in the system as well due to load shedding.  Factories that cause spikes in voltage, can also cause damaging surges in the system, which can cause damage to electronic equipment.

More information: Surge Protection

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Curves

Why would Curve 1 circuit breakers trip before Curve 2 circuit breakers?

Answer

Curve 1 should always trip last in a discriminated system as it has a slower tripping curve than a curve 2.  Curve 1 is the orange toggle breaker that is a slow tripping circuit breaker, has a 10-20x inrush current, whereas Curve 2 has a 5-10x inrush current rating.

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Astute Smart Controller (ASC)

Can I add other devices to the CBI Home App?

Answer

You can add many CBI Astute devices.  The CBI Home App is also compatible with Smart Life or Tuya Smart Devices.

More information: Astute Range

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Connecting Issues

Answer

When trying to pair your Astute device and the blue LED goes off and then solid blue, but does not show up on your phone, this is caused by a router issue.  Follow the steps on the Router Issue Assistance manual.

More information: Astute Range

Download: 

PDF icon Router issue assistance manual

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Astute LED indications

Answer

Astute Smart LED Indications
What do the different coloured LED indications indicate?

Refer to the table attached for the meanings of the different combinations, but in simple terms, the RED indicates power and BLUE indicates Wi-Fi.

 

More information: Astute Range

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What is the maximum range for the device?

Answer

A typical Wi-Fi connection needs to be within 20 meters of the Wi-Fi router.  Thick walls and other obstacles might affect the range.  Wi-Fi range extenders are commonly available from computer stores to extend your router's coverage.

More information:  Astute Range

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How to do "going-away" schedules?

Answer

Simply disable all ON schedules and the device will remain OFF until manually switched on or until the ON schedules are re-enabled.

More information: Astute Range

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