An Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) is a safety device used in electrical installations with high earth impedance to prevent

shock.

Purpose
Many electrical installations have a relatively high earth impedance. This may be due to the use of a local earth rod (TT systems), or to dry local ground conditions. These installations are dangerous and a safety risk if a live to earth fault current flows. Because earth impedance is high, . not enough current e!ists to trip a fuse or circuit breaker, so the condition persists uncleared indefinitely ". the high impedance earth cannot keep the voltage of all e!posed metal to a safe voltage, all such metalwork may rise to close to live conductor voltage. These dangers can be drastically reduced by the use of an #$%B or &esidual'current device (&%(). The #$%B makes such installations much safer by cutting the power if these dangerous conditions occur. This approach to electrical safety is called ##BA(. )n Britain ##BA( domestic installations became standard in the *+,s. )n non'technical terms if a person touches something, typically a metal part on faulty electrical e-uipment, which is at a significant voltage relative to the earth, electrical current will flow through him.her to the earth. The current that flows is too small to trip an electrical fuse which could disconnect the electricity supply, but can be enough to kill. An #$%B detects even a small current to earth (#arth $eakage) and disconnects the e-uipment (%ircuit Breaker).

History
#$%Bs were mainly used on TT earthing systems. /owadays, #$%Bs have been mostly replaced by &esidual'current devices (&%(s). 0owever many #$%Bs are still in use. #arly #$%Bs responded to sinewave fault currents, but not to rectified fault current. 1ver time, filtering against nuisance trips has also improved. #arly #$%Bs thus offer a little less safety and higher risk of nuisance trip. The ability to distinguish between a fault condition and non'risk conditions is called discrimination.

#$%B manufacturers include2 $egrand, ABB, 3iemens A4, Areva T5(, T#$#M#%A/)67#, 1rion )talia, %rabtree, M#M.

Types
There are two types of #$%B2

voltage operated and, current operated.

8oltage'operated #$%Bs were introduced in the early ",th century, and provided a ma9or advance in safety for mains electrical supplies with inade-uate earth impedance. v'#$%Bs have been in widespread use since then, and many are still in operation. %urrent'operated #$%Bs are generally known today as &%(s (residual current device). These also protect against earth leakage, though the details and method of operation are different. :hen the term #$%B is used it usually means a voltage'operated device. 3imilar devices that are current operated are called &esidual'current devices.

Connection
The earth circuit is modified when an #$%B is used; the connection to the earth rod is passed through the #$%B by connecting to its two earth terminals. 1ne terminal goes to the installation earth %<% (circuit protective conductor, aka earth wire), and the other to the earth rod (or sometimes other type of earth connection). Thus the earth circuit passes through the #$%B=s sense coil.

Operation
An #$%B is a specialised type of latching relay that has a building=s incoming mains power connected through its switching contacts so that the #$%B disconnects the power in an earth leakage (unsafe) condition. The #$%B detects fault currents from live (hot) to the earth (ground) wire within the installation it protects. )f sufficient voltage appears across the #$%B=s sense coil, it will switch off the power, and remain off until manually reset. An #$%B however, does not sense fault currents from live to any other earthed body.

Advantages
#$%Bs have one advantage over &%(s2 they are less sensitive to fault conditions, and therefore have fewer nuisance trips. (This does not mean they always do, as practical performance depends on installation details and the discrimination enhancing filtering in the #$%B.) Therefore by electrically separating cable armour from cable %<%, an #$%B can be arranged to protect against cable damage only, and not trip on faults in downline installations.

Disadvantages
#$%Bs have some disadvantages2

They do not detect faults that don=t pass current through the %<% to the earth rod.

They do not allow a single building system to be easily split into multiple sections with independent fault protection, because earthing systems are usually bonded to pipework. They may be tripped by e!ternal voltages from something connected to the earthing system such as metal pipes, a T/'3 earth or a T/'%'3 combined neutral and earth. As with &%(s, electrically leaky appliances such as some water heaters, washing machines and cookers may cause the #$%B to trip. #$%Bs introduce additional resistance and an additional point of failure into the earthing system.

Earth bypassing
)t is not unusual for #$%B protected installation to have a second unintentional connection to earth somewhere, one that does not pass through the #$%B sense coil. This can occur via metal pipework in contact with the ground, metal structural framework, outdoor appliances in contact with soil, and so on. :hen this occurs, fault current may pass to earth without being sensed by the #$%B. (espite this, perhaps counterintuitively, the operation of the #$%B is not compromised. The purpose of the #$%B is to prevent earthed metalwork rising to a dangerous voltage during fault conditions, and the #$%B continues to do this 9ust the same, the #$%B will still cut the power at the same %<% voltage level. (The difference is that higher fault current is then needed to reach this voltage.)

Nuisance trips
:hile voltage and current on the earth line is usually fault current from a live wire, this is not always the case, thus there are situations in which an #$%B can nuisance trip. :hen an installation has two connections to earth, a nearby high current lightning strike will cause a voltage gradient in the soil, presenting the #$%B sense coil with enough voltage to cause it to trip. )f the installation=s earth rod is placed close to the earth rod of a neighbouring building, a high earth leakage current in the other building can raise the local ground potential and cause a voltage difference across the two earths, again tripping the #$%B. %lose earth rods are unsuitable for #$%B use for this reason, but in real life such installations are sometimes encountered. Both &%(s and #$%Bs are prone to nuisance trips from normal harmless earth leakage to some degree. 1n one hand #$%Bs are on average older, and hence tend to have less well developed filtering against nuisance trips, and on the other hand #$%Bs are inherently immune to some of the causes of false trips &%(s suffer, and are generally less sensitive than &%(s. )n practice &%( nuisance trips are much more common. Another cause of nuisance tripping is due to accumulated or burden currents caused by items with lowered insulation resistance. This may occur due to older e-uipment, or e-uipment with heating elements, or even wiring in buildings in the tropics where prolonged damp and rain conditions can cause the insulation resistance to lower due to moisture tracking. )f there is a >, mA protective device in use and there is a ,mA burden from various sources then the unit will trip at ", mA. The individual items may each be electrically safe but a large number of small burden currents accumulates and reduces the tripping level. This was more a problem in past installations where multiple circuits were protected by a single #$%B. 0eating elements of the tubular form are filled with a very fine powder that can absorb moisture if the element has not be used for some time. )n the tropics, this may occur, for e!ample if a clothes drier has not been used for a year or a large water boiler used for coffee etc has been in storage. )n

such cases, if the unit is allowed to power up without &%( protection then it will normally dry out and successfully pass inspection. This type of problem can be seen even with brand new e-uipment. earth leakage circuit breaker An earlier circuit breaker that tripped when a difference in voltage was detected between the inhouse ground (water pipes, etc.) and a ground rod or the ground line from the electric company. #arth leakage circuit breakers (#$%Bs) were replaced by ?residual current devices? (see residual current device). residual current device A circuit breaker that trips when there is a difference between the amount of current in the hot side and the neutral side. Also called a ?ground fault circuit interrupter? (4@%)) and an ?appliance leakage current interrupter? (A$%)), the current imbalance implies a leakage to ground or another circuit. &esidual current devices (&%(s) are typically built into a wall outlet and are re-uired for wet areas, such as bathrooms and kitchens, where electrical appliances can come in contact with water.