Clearing up the Confusion: Specifications and Standards

Electrical engineers do not want to see designs go up in smoke. Naturally, engineers protect their equipment with what they believe to be appropriate circuit protection. However, there is widespread misunderstanding of industry standards for circuit protection and the meaning of terms such as "circuit breakers," "supplementary protectors," "circuit breakers for equipment" and "branch circuit protection." In some cases, this confusion results in the specification of the wrong type of circuit protection and increases the risk of overheating, premature failure and catastrophic faults.