Data Center Journal

Volume 31 | April 2014

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THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 27 www.datacenterjournal.com 1. Equipment ultimately degrades and reaches the end of its useful life, no matter how much maintenance is performed. 2. Advances in technology – both in material sciences and microproces- sor based controls – facilitate the production of more modern circuit breakers with better performance, reduced maintenance requirements and on-board diagnostics, to name a few features. With the advance- ments in the design of the new circuit breakers, circuit breakers with older technology are no longer considered sustainable solutions. Power circuit breakers manufactured prior to 1980s employed dash-pot actuated trip units and their bearings, arc chutes, and contacts required regular maintenance. e introduction of solid state trip units and improved lubrication material pro- duced significant advancement in circuit breaker design. Modern composites, which combined the circuit breaker frame with the insulating material, provided further enhancement. Following these innovations, Schnei- der Electric's Masterpact M-series circuit breakers quickly became the workhorse of industry and appeared in large numbers in data centers, generating stations, indus- trial facilities and practically every other installation in the 1990s and early 2000s. (Note: is statement is intended to be informational, not commercial, as there is a large installed base of Masterpact M circuit breakers in data centers of this 'era'.) Fast forward to today, current technology circuit breakers feature en- hancements that were not available 15-20 years ago. A viable solution to consider is upgrading the existing equipment with the latest state of the art circuit breakers. Methods exist for adapting the latest tech- nology circuit breakers into a switchgear or switchboard cell that was originally de- signed for Masterpact M circuit breakers. ANSI standard C37.59 addresses this kind of upgrade and includes design and testing requirements for the adaptation. Improved functionalities* in current technology circuit breakers include: • Positive stops in the connected, test, and disconnected positions plus a visual position indicator • Ground contact is maintained be- tween the circuit breaker body and the draw-out cell when the cover is removed while the circuit breaker is in the connected, test, or discon- nected positions • Push-open crank interlock • Power metering, monitoring and communication to building manage- ment systems • Extended AIC rating when fault cur- rents increase • Power finger clusters are on the cir- cuit breaker instead of the cradle for the ANSI and UL versions, making them easier to maintain Direct replacement designs are available to upgrade existing circuit breakers to current technology.

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