United Electrical Services PTY LTD

Circuit Breaker - Safety Switch - Surge Diverter.  The Differences.

Circuit Breakers

Circuit breakers provide short circuit  protection and over current  protection.
Such as when a power point is overloaded with too many appliances on the
one circuit, or if an electrical cable has been damaged in a way that the copper
conductors touch each other and short out. The circuit breaker will cut off the
power to protect the home from fire. Circuit breakers are slowly replacing old
porcelain rewiring fuses, It is in the property owners best interest to consider at
some stage to upgrade the main switch board, to take  full advantage of circuit
breakers. For two reasons, firstly circuit breakers disconnect power far superior
to fuses, giving almost immediate protection and secondly it will detect any lose
cables that are connected to them directly at the switch board. When electrical
power cables become loose they create heat potentially a fire hazard, a circuit
breaker with its internal thermal-overload protection, will detect heat and
disconnect power before any serious damage can occur. Most importantly
who needs to replace fuse wire in the dark, if you can find it. In our experience
homes with old fuses are not protected properly , we are finding too often the
wrong fuse wire has been installed thus providing a false sense of security.
Circuit breakers do not act as a safety switch for personal protection against
electric shock.