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Concept
Earth-leakage circuit breaker
Summary
An earth-leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) is a safety device used in electrical installations with high Earth impedance to prevent shock. It detects small stray voltages on the metal enclosures of electrical equipment, and interrupts the circuit if a dangerous voltage is detected. Once widely used, more recent installations instead use residual-current devices (RCDs, RCCBs or GFCIs) which instead detect leakage current directly.
The main purpose of Earth leakage protectors is to prevent injury to humans and animals due to electric shock.
This is a category of devices, which are used to protect instruments, circuits and operators, while Earth leakage. Early ELCBs were voltage operated devices (VO-ELCB), detecting a voltage rise between installation metalwork, and an external electrode. These have now been replaced by current sensing devices (RCD/RCCB). In modern literature voltage sensing devices are called ELCB or VOELCB and current sensing devices are called RCCB or RCD.
Voltage sensing ELCBs were first introduced about sixty years ago. Current sensing ELCBs were first introduced about forty years ago. For many years, the voltage operated ELCB and the differential current operated ELCB were both referred to as ELCBs because it was a simpler name to remember. But the use of a common name for two different devices gave rise to considerable confusion in the electrical industry.
If the wrong type was used on an installation, the level of protection given could be substantially less than that intended, in particular the voltage operated type can only protect against faults or shocks to metalwork connected to the circuit ground, connected to the VOELCB, it cannot detect current leaving a live wire and running to ground by another path, such as via a person standing on the earth.
To eliminate this confusion, the IEC decided to apply the term residual current device (RCD) to differential-current-operated ELCBs. Residual current refers to any residue when comparing current in the outbound and return currents in the circuit.
Official source
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