MV & HV Switchgear Operations & Maintenance

Pre Test - Part 1

Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________

1. True or False. Circuit breakers are designed to interrupt circuits under both
normal load conditions and fault conditions.

2. True or False. Arcs must be extinguished quickly to prevent equipment damage

and possible injury to personnel.

3. Match each factor in Column A with the appropriate arc-extinguishing function in

Column B. Write the correct number in each blank.

Column A Column B
(1) Determines how well a medium
______ a. Speed can withstand voltage without
conducting electricity
______ b. Distance
______ c. Cooling (2) Enables a circuit breaker to take
advantage of momentary
______ d. Dielectric strength
absences of current flow.
______ e. Current zero
(3) Causes an arc to stretch in order
to maintain current flow and
sustain itself.

(4) Minimized the time available

for an arc to form.

(5) Takes heat away from an arc

4. List four dielectric mediums commonly used in circuit breakers

a. _______________________________________
b. _______________________________________
c. _______________________________________
d. _______________________________________
5. Match each air-magnetic breaker feature in Column A with the appropriate function
in Column B. Write the correct number in each blank.

Column A

______ a. Main contacts

______ b. Arcing contacts
______ c. Puffer
______ d. Arc runners
______ e. Blowout coils
______ f. Pole pieces
______g. Arc fins

6. Match each air-blast breaker feature in Column A with the appropriate function in
Column B. Write the correct number in each blank.

Column A Column B

______ a. Main contacts (1) Separate so that arcs form

______ b. Arcing contacts (2) Moves to uncover the arc chutes
______ c. Blast valve (3) Help carry the arc away from the arcing
______ d. Arc chutes contacts
______ e. Arcing probes, (4) Provide a path between the pressurized
arcing rings, and air in the breaker head and the air at
arcing electrodes atmospheric pressure outside the head
(5) Provide the main current path when
closed.
7. True or False. In an oil circuit breaker, the heat from an arc produces high-pressure
gas bubbles, which help to extinguish the arc.

8. For each circuit breaker feature listed below, place an “O” in the blank before it if it
is a feature in an oil breaker and a “V” if it is a feature in a vacuum breaker.

______ a. Interruptor grid

______ b. Main contacts and arcing contacts
______ c. Moving contact and stationary contact
______ d. Arc splitter
______ e. Condensing shield

9. True or False. In a vacuum breaker, metal vapor helps to extinguish the arc that
occurs when the breaker contacts separate.

10. A __________________________(gas-blast, gas-puffer) breaker contains high

pressure gas only for the brief moment that the breaker trips.

11. A __________________________(gas-blast, gas-puffer) breaker contains high

pressure gas in a reservoir until it is needed.

12. When the contacts in a __________________________(gas-blast, gas-puffer)

breaker open and an arc forms, a blast valve opens, allowing high pressure gas to
flow from a reservoir through a blast tube; it then flows through the arc and
through a hollow contact to, essentially, blow the arc out.

13. True or False. When an arc forms in a gas-puffer breaker, high pressure SF 6 gas
flows through the arc from a compression chamber to low pressure areas of the
interrupter.

14. List four general features common to circuit breaker operating mechanisms.

a. _______________________________________
b. _______________________________________
c. _______________________________________
d. _______________________________________
15. True or False. When a breaker is closed, its operating mechanisms are set up to
reopen the contacts when necessary.

16. The feature of a solenoid operating mechanism that provides the force to close the
breaker contacts is a _____________________________.

17. The features of a motor/spring operating mechanism that provide the force to
close the breaker contacts are a (a) _____________________ and a (b)
___________________.

18. ______________________________ operating mechanisms use compressed air

to provide the force to close the breaker contacts.

19. The arc extinguishing features in OCB's generally DOES NOT include:
a) Oil
b) Arcing fins
c) Interruptor grids
d) Arc splitters

20. Most breakers use _________________________________ to provide the force

to open the breaker contacts.