How to Know If it’s the Time to Replace the MCB Switch?

Swapnil Ramesh Jukunte
3 min readAug 10, 2020

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MCBs are an essential part of the home electricity supply system. The abbreviation of MCB is Miniature Circuit Breaker. In the home electricity supply system, the MCBs help to prevent any short circuit. These devices break the electricity supply on overload. This prevents sudden overload and short circuit.

Without the MCBs, it’s quite a dangerous situation. You are susceptible to the fire hazard and electrical shocks if the MCBs are not installed. But if you have the MCBs and are old, it’s the time to replace them. How would you know it’s the right time? In this post, we share the indicators, which will tell you when to replace the MCB switches. It would help if you did not ignore these indicators, as it’s quite essential to spot them and replace MCBs.

How to Identify Faulty MCBs?

MCBs, when used for a long time, tend to fail a lot. It’s critical to replace faulty MCBs with new and working ones. Here are a few tips that will help you identify and replace Faulty MCBs.

#1 — Tripping quickly

If any simple load causes the MCB to trip easily, it’s the indication of faulty MCB. There might be numerous reasons behind tripping. But, frequent tripping without any reason or normal load is the indication of faulty switches. You should immediately act and get the MCB replaced.

#2 — Overloaded Switch

Usually, the switches manage the electricity flow to the home supply. But, sometimes, the breakers are overloaded. This causes the sudden tripping or heating of the MCB. That’s not a good sign for any household. If the switch is not regulating the electricity supply, you are susceptible to overload and shortcircuit of home appliances. So, identify any overload switch and replace it immediately. If you ignore such switches, then they might start an electric fire in your house very soon.

#3 — Faulty Manufacturing

There is nothing in this world that is perfect. There are minor issues in all of the products in the world. So, it’s easy to assume that the MCBs might be faulty. Small problems in manufacturing will produce a faulty MCB. You might be so unlucky to receive a faulty MCB. It’s quite common to get the faulty MCBs that are not working correctly. But, if you get such MCBs, then it’s not a good thing. The faulty MCBs tend to heat a lot, may not work correctly, or even trip frequently. The symptoms may differ, but this will indicate a faulty MCB. It’s better to get a replacement unit from the manufacturer that works better.

Taking any risk related to electricity is dangerous. It would help if you did not do that unless you know what you are doing. Usually, people are unaware of the intricacies in the electrical distribution system. The MCBs are the necessary devices, but they help protect the home from electric hazards. If you are vigilant enough and spot MCBs acting weirdly, you should immediately get a replacement. I hope you’ve got to know how to spot a faulty MCB and replace the same quickly.

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