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Article: Cycling Circuit Breakers Can Improve Safety.
- Article from:
- Air Safety Week
- Article date:
- August 23, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Access Intelligence, LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Operators are being encouraged to periodically cycle the circuit breakers on their aircraft. The initiative applies to thermally activated breakers, which function mechanically to protect a circuit from overheating and from arcing damage.
New arc fault circuit breakers (AFCBs) in development will be electronically rather than mechanically activated. The quicker reaction time of AFCBs provides an additional level of protection against overcurrent conditions. In the meantime, with traditional circuit breakers (CBs) installed, and aging in service, researchers have found that their proper functioning can be aided by periodically cycling the mechanism with the power ...