ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area How long can a circcuit be?

Bob,

I agree the tasks may be equal, but the design of the breaker is to protect the branch circuit short circuits AND overloads. Supplementary breakers are designed to protect loads. The fact that some loads get to use the features of the branch breaker (i.e. overload for some appliances and short circuit for motors) is a function of the load design not that of the breaker.