A Balanced Approach to Molded Case Circuit Breaker Maintenance

NFPA 70E mandates that “overcurrent devices shall be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions or industry consensus standards”. For national laboratories under the Department of Energy this mandate is law, because 10 CFR 851 requires adherence to NFPA 70 and 70E. This begs the question, exactly what are those manufacturer's instructions, and what do the industry consensus standards require? In particular with Molded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCB's), how does one meet these requirements and still apply a balanced approach in a maintenance program when the facilities range from brand new construction to over fifty years old, and where circuit breakers exist that have been made by virtually every major manufacturer? This paper examines the instructions given by the various manufacturers, and examines the standards that exist, along with major guides and white paper recommendations. Both the consistencies and the inconsistencies are examined, recommendations are compared, and a general consensus of recommendations emerges. The various maintenance particulars are examined, from cycling of breakers and thermography to inverse thermal and instantaneous primary injection trip testing. The results of an FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) was conducted at our facility; the results of that FMEA and the recommendations of that FMEA for maintenance of MCCB's are presented. In this paper, we have examined the recommendations of manufacturers, standards, and guides that provide the guidelines for maintenance of molded case circuit breakers. Although many conflicts exist, a consensus of nearly universal recommendations emerges. A balanced approach to maintenance that provides the maximum safety benefit within the bounds of economic feasibility can be developed. We provide a condensation of the existing literature with references, a visual summary of that literature and propose a recommended maintenance approach.