Inside an un-trippable circuit breaker

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Circuitmike

If the wire link isn't rated high enough I suggest wedging a nail in there, that normally sorts things out.

Mike Hanley

No test button for MCBs - the test instructions ( virtually never carried out by the homeowner here ) are for the RCD

RDM

I saw a promotional video, but you might have to hunt for it on Google. I've never seen one in real life.

Big Clive

As it has always been, so it shall ever be... Caveat emptor!!! Get used to the concept as there are a small percentage of worthless 5hite'bags out there and as the population increases so do the numbers of self centered bad operators.

Mustafa's Fleas

Probably from the same mould as the fake Merlin Gerin C45N circuit breakers of the late noughties, it looks similar.

Paul Ferguson

I'm interested in the device that can be used to test mcbs - has anyone used or have any links to such a device ?

Mark Chapman

These horrors!! As Clive so often mentions, the Chinese are good at stripping down electric stuff to the bare minimum. And beyond ;-) No test button though! I would probably have noticed the fake, because I've read the 'test once every 3 months' inscription on the circuit breakers (FI) in my flat. And, being a good German, I follow instructions. Especially if my life may depend on a working FI switch some day...

Mario2020

The symbols and text on the front imply it has sensing properties.

Big Clive

There is at least one company offering a routine test service where they will send round technicians to remove your MCBs one by one and test them with a low voltage, high current prover, and then refit them. My main concern there would be if they were using insta-trained labourers and the risk of bad reinstallation of the breakers.

Big Clive

Hope it's not anything serious.

Big Clive

Where can I order? I want to replace all my MCBs with these!

Gadgetman

Aren't you going to reverse engineer it and draw a schematic? :D

Tom Scott

I may be dim, but... where does it say it's a circuit breaker? Did it come in a box that claimed that?

Clear plugs are mandated in parts of Australia, I understand.

Mike Page

True. But you have to remember there is zero respect for (or understanding of) markings where you're talking about.

Mike Page

I heard about these some years ago. It's a nightmare for everyone as unlike RCDs there's no common test method for MCBs. I guess you could short out the supply for 100ms if you have a grunty enough IGBT or Triac. Mind you I've just pulled that figure out of my "elbow" without thinking about the PSCC or company fuse i2t rating.

Mike Page

Now that this is known, the next batch of fake ones will be weighted :p

Raven Luni

Welders be like: "great, where can I buy them?"

I'm having trouble to comment. I'm having an issue with my brain I think. I have contacted my doc. waiting to speak to her...if I can stop tripping over my words. Makes it difficult to comment I'm sorry and is a bit of a concern.

Michael Thompson

So many products need clear sides on them now to prove they are real. Hopefully that becomes a selling point sometime. But I guess then the companies could not cheat us themselves. When I purchase expensive stereo equipment I always weigh it. Even Sony have produced products then removed half the good stuff and kept the same model number.

Alex Taylor

Absence of the Arc Extinguisher is the least shocking part of this product. @CBDC you said certain supply chains got poisoned by dodgy components. That must be a right out nightmare for customer service, liability and insurance.

Frank

Wow a Type D++ MCB 😃 Truly mad, evil creation, and will be fitted by people who don’t fully realise what could happen. The most insidious thing I think is it looks like an appropriate protective device.

RDM

It's amazing that people will make such rubbish, knowing it will most likely start a fire somewhere. Made in ....

Hubert Hoefsloot

Kitchen fitter's dream

The Tinkering Shed

No. You're not going to mistake a nail for a fuse so you know you're taking a risk. These are labelled as circuit breakers. They provide the illusion of protection, which is worse than no protection at all.

Mike's electric stuff could also "trip" it with his destruct-o-tron.

Big Clive

Stuart: any little catch like that will wear out eventually. The "stay retracted" feature on my back door deadlock doesn't work any more and when I opened it up it's just a spring pushing down on a little bump on the catch mechanism. A much smaller bump than when the lock was new. When you're looking at a little bump on a plastic part it might wear down and stop sticking after only 10 or 20 cycles. But for $10...

Moz in Oz

The modern equivalent of a nail in the fuse holder?

Moz in Oz

Yeah I think they do, probably good for a certain number of cycles. I've had some become more "trippy" with age. Then when changed they haven't tripped. and I'm certain I haven't used the above "magic breakers"!!! - (Melbourne Australia here)

Is it made by the same people who make the unbreakable fuses in macbooks? XD (see Louis Rossmann videos)

Tim Albers

Now that's comedy! More of thems please!

Nani Isobel

Much my first wife...

Scott Miller

Do Circuit breakers wear out... I ask because here in Australia we have powerboards that have a CB built in. I have had one that has worked for many years but now trips out under moderate load. So I wonder if perhaps when they are operated under a reasonable load if perhaps they wear out...

Stuart Goggin

I've got one circuit beaker in my box that almost always trips when the power comes on.. (too much inrush current on the various loads I presume) but actually switching it off.. doesn't... it just stays live with the switch in the off position! I've got a replacement ready to go in, but need to find a time I can shut everything down safely without upsetting too many people!

Rob O'Donnell

I get that situation with my 5kVA tranny when it is stone cold, I find if you plug it in with the socket switch ON it works OK - Have no idea why?

It's bad enough that it's basically a switch, the caveman design makes it worse.

Eye

I bet if Photonicinduction was still around he could make it “trip”... 😂

Lostngone

Perfect. Looks good while doing nothing.

Where has this development been? Wow, first I learn about wireless grounds, now this. Mind blown, what's left of it

Michael Thompson

I need that for my isolation transformer! The fuse keeps tripping when I turn it on

Basti Elektronik

This makes me think of the notorious Federal Pacific Stab-Lok breakers and panels on this side of the pond. The failure rate of double pole breakers is astronomical. The trip mechanism tends to jam instead of tripping, and even worse, you can move the handles to the off position without turning off the power after it's jammed. If that wasn't bad enough, many of the panels are a "split" design where high-amperage circuits are fed directly from the meter, without a disconnect switch or main circuit breaker protecting the breakers. Worn out tooling on circuit breaker and panel production lines can lead to circuit breaker prongs and aluminum bus bars that don't make positive contact due to poor tolerances that lead to oxidation and fires in the panels. The manufacturer may have strategically bankrupted itself and changed hands to squash legal and regulatory action against it in the US.

They should brand it the WhiteSnake. During live stream some of your patrons shared the way people have “protected” their circuits from tripping. Now you can just install this?

Jim

I guess the technical name for that is a "switch" then!

Dr Andy Hill