Overcurrent protection

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 Questions
Question 1
What hazards might be posed by a circuit with excessive current going through its conductors (excessive
as defined by the conductors’ ampacity)? In other words, what would be bad about a wire carrying too
much current?
Also determine which type of component fault, an open or a short, would most likely be the cause of
excessive current in a circuit.
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Question 2
Explain the construction and purpose of an electrical fuse.
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Question 3
What is the difference between a fuse and a circuit breaker?
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Question 4
Show the proper placement of the fuse in this circuit, where an electric motor will be powered by utility
(120 volt AC) power:

Power plug Fuse

Motor

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Question 5
Are fuses and circuit breakers located at a power distribution panel rated to protect the wiring from
overcurrent, or to protect the load devices from overcurrent? Explain your answer.
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Question 6
In an effort to obtain greater overcurrent ratings than a single fuse can provide, an engineer decides to
wire two 100 amp fuses in parallel, for a combined rating of 200 amps:

Ammeter +
A
-
100 A 100 A

To load

However, after a few years of operation, the system begins blowing fuses even when the ammeter registers
less than 200 amps of load current. Upon investigation, it is found that one of the fuse holders had developed
corrosion on a terminal lug where one of the wire connects:

Corrosion accumulation
underneath lug
100 A

100 A

Explain how a small accumulation of corrosion led to this condition of fuses blowing when there was no
overcurrent condition (load current less than 200 amps), and also why connecting fuses in parallel like this
is generally not a good idea.
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Question 7
Two 150-amp circuit breakers are connected in parallel to obtain a total ampacity of 300 amperes for
an electric motor service. The system works just fine for several years, but then both breakers begin to
spuriously trip:

150 A

150 A
Electric
240 VAC Mtr motor

An electrician measures motor current using a clamp-on ammeter, and discovers the motor’s current is
no more than 228 amperes at full mechanical load. Describe what might possibly be wrong that is causing
both circuit breakers to trip.
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Question 8
A large industrial electric motor is supplied power through a pair of fuses:

Fuse

120 VAC

240 VAC Mtr

120 VAC

Fuse

One day the motor suddenly stops running, even though the switch is still in the ”on” position. An
electrician is summoned to troubleshoot the failed motor, and this person decides to perform some voltage
measurements to determine whether or not one of the fuses has ”blown” open before doing anything else.
The measurements taken by the electrician are as such (with the switch in the ”on” position):

A Fuse C

VΩ

A COM
Mtr

B Fuse D

• Between A and ground = 120 volts AC

• Between B and ground = 120 volts AC
• Between C and ground = 120 volts AC
• Between D and ground = 120 volts AC
Based on these measurements, the electrician decides that both fuses are still in good condition, and
that the problem lies elsewhere in the circuit. Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?
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Question 9
Explain the meaning of this fuse curve:

4 Fuse curve
Time
(seconds) 3

0
0 100 200
Percent rated current

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Question 10
Magnetic circuit breakers trip by the action of an electromagnet coil, through which all the load current
passes. When the attractive force of the magnetic field is strong enough, a mechanism triggers to snap the
breaker contacts open, thus interrupting the circuit current.
What would the time-current curve for such a circuit breaker look like?

Time

0 100 200
Percent rated current

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Question 11
Shown here is the time-current curve for a dual-element fuse. Thermal-magnetic circuit breakers exhibit
similar time-current curves:

Time-current
curve

Time

Current

Based on this curve, what do you think the purpose of a ”dual-element” fuse or ”thermal-magnetic”
circuit breaker is? Why would this style of overcurrent protection device be chosen over a ”normal” fuse or
circuit breaker?
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Question 12
In addition to possessing a primary current rating, fuses and circuit breakers also possess an interruption
current rating, usually far in excess of their primary ratings. For example, a typical 15 amp circuit breaker
for 120 volt residential use may have an interruption rating of 10,000 amps (10 kA)! Under what conditions
could such a circuit ever bear so much current, and why is this rating different than the breaker’s primary
current rating of 15 amps?
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Question 13
Find one or two real fuses and bring them with you to class for discussion. Identify as much information
as you can about your fuses prior to discussion:
• Current rating
• Voltage rating
• Interruption rating
• Fuse curve (opening characteristics: fast-acting, slow-blow, etc.)
• Status of fuse (blown or not)
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 Answers
Answer 1
Overloaded wiring gets hot – perhaps enough to start a fire.
A shorted component could cause excessive current in a circuit, but an open fault will result in less (or
no) current.

Answer 2
A fuse is a thin piece of metal designed to melt into two pieces in an overcurrent condition.

Answer 3
A fuse is for one-time use, while a circuit breaker may be re-set and used repeatedly.

Answer 4

Power plug Fuse

Motor

Answer 5
Generally speaking, distribution panel overcurrent protection devices are rated in such a way as to
protect the wiring, not the load devices.

Follow-up question: suppose a computer with a 300 watt power supply is plugged into a receptacle,
which is serviced by a circuit breaker rated at 15 amps. Where in the circuit would it be best to install an
overcurrent protection device for protecting the computer from burning itself up in the event of an internal
failure?

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Answer 6
Here is an electrical calculation to help explain the fuse-blowing problem. Calculate the current through
each resistor in this circuit:

Ammeter +
(registers 150 amps) A
-

200 µΩ 600 µΩ

Answer 7
One of the circuit breakers has probably developed more resistance in its parallel branch than the other
(contact resistance, resistance at the wire connection points, etc.). I will let you explain why this causes
false trips.

Answer 8
So long as the switch is still in the ”on” position when these measurements were taken, one of the fuses
could still be blown!

Follow-up question: what voltage measurement(s) would conclusively test the condition of both fuses?

Answer 9
I’ll let you figure out what this graph means!

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Answer 10

Time-current
curve
Time

0 100 200
Percent rated current

Answer 11
Such overcurrent protection devices combine the properties of ”time-overcurrent” and ”instantaneous
overcurrent” protection in a single device, for protection against different types of damage resulting from
different types of overcurrent conditions.

Answer 12
Short-circuit conditions in electrical power systems may create ”transient” currents of extraordinary
magnitude. Overcurrent protection devices will, of course, either ”blow” or ”trip” under such conditions,
but their interruption ratings have nothing to do with the current at which they open. Rather, a device with
an interruption rating of 10,000 amps is certified to be able to stop a fault current of that magnitude once
having opened.

Answer 13
If possible, find a manufacturer’s datasheet for your components (or at least a datasheet for a similar
component) to discuss with your classmates.
Be prepared to prove the status of your fuse in class, using your multimeter!

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 Notes
Notes 1
Even if an overloaded wire does not get hot enough to ignite nearby combustible material, there are other
ill effects of conductor overloading. Challenge your students to think of some other, negative consequences
which may result from conductor overloading.
One of the goals of this question is for students to be able to distinguish between open and short
component faults.

Notes 2
Fuses come in many different styles and sizes. It would be good to have an array of fuses available for
your students to see and hold during discussion time.

Notes 3
There used to be a time when overcurrent protection for household circuits was primarily provided by
fuses. In modern times, however, fuses are obsolete for household wiring – circuit breakers have completely
taken their place. Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two overcurrent protection
technologies.

Notes 4
You can redirect this question into one more general: should fuses be connected in series with the load,
or in parallel with the load? Have your students explain their choices, based on their knowledge of series
and parallel circuits.

Notes 5
This lesson is very important for students to learn: that panel-mounted overcurrent protection devices
are rated to protect the wiring they supply power to, and nothing else. Of course, there are exceptions to
this rule in large industrial power systems.

Notes 6
Ask your students to explain what happens to current in a circuit when it branches from one path
into two or more parallel paths. Discuss how the proportionality of the current ”split” between those paths
depends on the relative resistances of those two paths.
Even if your students have not yet studied current divider circuits, this question provides an excellent
opportunity to explore the concept.
Incidentally, it is now common for some manufacturers of residential power distribution equipment to
”gang” circuit breakers together in parallel for added overcurrent capacity. This engineering practice is
questionable for the exact same reason it is questionable with the fuses in this scenario: any amount of
corrosion or other infiltration of electrical resistance into one of the parallel ”legs” offsets the split of current
between the paralleled overcurrent protection devices, forcing one of them to handle a disproportionately
large share of the total current (and therefore trip sooner).

Notes 7
This is a very practical problem, directly dealing with parallel resistances. Unfortunately, I have seen
residential circuit breaker panels new from the manufacturer, equipped with paralleled breakers! Bad idea .
. . baaaaaad idea.
Something worthwhile to note as a possible cause of the tripping is a spurious motor problem. Perhaps
the circuit breakers are sharing current equally after all, but the motor is occasionally drawing more than
300 amps of current! Just because an electrician measured less than 300 amps at full load does not mean
the motor never draws more than 300 amps. There may be another problem after all. Discuss this with
your students, asking them how they would identify such a problem after having determined the two circuit
breakers were doing their job correctly.

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Notes 8
I have actually seen an experienced electrician make this mistake on the job! Ask your students to
explain how full voltage could be measured at points C and D, with respect to ground, even with one of the
fuses blown.

Notes 9
There is far more to the behavior of a fuse than a single current rating, as this ”fuse curve” graph
illustrates. Discuss with your students the significance of such a curve, and under what conditions a fuse
can sustain a current greater than its rating.

Notes 10
Magnetic-trip circuit breakers are very common in industry, but they are not appropriate for all
applications. Discuss this with your students, and try to think of applications where such an overcurrent
protection device would not be appropriate.

Notes 11
Obviously, not all overcurrent conditions are the same. Ask your students to describe circuit faults that
would cause slight overcurrent, versus faults that would cause extreme overcurrent in a circuit, and discuss
the destructive consequences of each type of condition.

Notes 12
Students will naturally wonder how a blown fuse or a tripped circuit breaker could not stop a fault
current, since there is no longer a condition of electrical continuity between its terminals once it has opened.
Or is there? Discuss with your students how an electric current of enormous magnitude could possibly
continue to conduct through a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker.

Notes 13
The purpose of this question is to get students to kinesthetically interact with the subject matter. It
may seem silly to have students engage in a ”show and tell” exercise, but I have found that activities such
as this greatly help some students. For those learners who are kinesthetic in nature, it is a great help to
actually touch real components while they’re learning about their function. Of course, this question also
provides an excellent opportunity for them to practice interpreting component markings, use a multimeter,
access datasheets, etc.

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