[Question] KA Reading

[pes]

Hi guys

I came across an interesting complaint recently. The regs says a circuit breaker should be legible and of the correct rating. On the coc i signed of I agreed to this but now one year later the KA reading is gone(i found on some older cb's you can rub all the markings off with your finger).

The question is , should you have a KA reading on a main 2pole cb as i found that you can buy a few makes of MCB's that has the KA rating in the paper work but not on the actual breaker itself?

and secondly, is there then an alternative to replacing the mcb just because the marking is not there ?

[AndyD]

I would say that the minimum info that should be stated on an MCB should be the In and Icn ratings (plus IΔn for RCD or RCBO). To be honest if the info wasn't visible on the front but was written on the side of the body of the breaker I'd be tempted to let it slide but this is just my opinion and may not be strictly compliant. I also wouldn't see a problem if the marking had been reinstated using an indelible koki pen or a printed label for example or even an engraver for that matter. Possibly as another option you could clearly label the entire DB with a printed label saying 'All overload/isolation devices 3kA' or similar.

[pes]

Thanks, what you are saying makes sense but seeing that another electrician is involved I guess i will just change the MCB, but my main concern is still the new types of MCB that i saw at the electrical shop does not have this marking and from what i could find out on the net they seem to be endorsed by all the relevant parties e.g. IEC and SANS unless thats just typical off SA.

[ians]

The problem I am finding especially with CBI products, the current rating of the breaker on the front wears off for some reason, you would think it would be engraved on the breaker.

[ericlowry]

Quality of electrical equipment lately is poor, had problems with CBI and Crabtree.

[AndyD]

I've never had any specific reoccuring problems with CBI switchgear but I don't like their range of sockets and light switches. As for Crabtree I don't use their switchgear but their sockets and switches I've always found to be above average. We did have a problem a while ago with the Crabtree t-pole 60A isolators where we had over a dozen returns in a few months. As for the labelling wearing off I haven't noticed it as a problem. Maybe once or twice over the years but this was due to either the customer 'cleaning' the DB or once where they were using the MCB as the primary means of isolation so the daily use eventually took its toll.