What the GV7RE80 brings to a motor branch circuit
The GV7RE80 is a 3-pole thermal-magnetic motor circuit breaker from the TeSys GV7 range, rated for 37 kW at 400 V AC in AC-3 duty. The thermal-magnetic trip gives you both overload protection (thermal, slow) and short-circuit protection (magnetic, instantaneous) in one device, so no separate overload relay is needed in the motor starter. It's built for continuous duty per IEC 60947-4-1, with a 50/60 Hz network frequency. Phase failure sensitivity is built in — if one phase drops, the breaker trips before the motor single-phases to failure. That's a standard requirement for motor protection under IEC 60947-4-1 § 7-2-1-5-2, and this unit has it. Mounting is flexible: screws or clips onto a panel or rail, with a vertical orientation specified.
Breaking capacity and coordination reality
The Icu values drop as voltage rises: 85 kA at 220/240 V, 36 kA at 380/415 V, 35 kA at 440 V, 25 kA at 500 V, and 8 kA at 660/690 V. At 400 V, the 36 kA is solid for most distribution panels. The breaker is also suitable for isolation per IEC 60947-1, so it doubles as a visible-break disconnect. Electrical durability is rated at 30,000 cycles at full-load AC-3 (440 V, In), and 50,000 cycles at half-load. Mechanical durability is 50,000 cycles. Maximum operating rate is 25 cycles per hour — that's fine for a motor start every couple of minutes, not for a high-speed indexing application. If you're cycling a compressor every 10 seconds, this isn't the part.
Dimensions: 111 mm deep, 105 mm wide, 161 mm high. Mounting supports include panel mounting, rail mounting, and flush mounting via a kit. The connection pitch is 35 mm without spreaders, 45 mm with — that matches standard busbar spacing for 3-pole breakers in a distribution block. Terminals accept bare cable or lugs from 1.5 to 95 mm². Tightening torque is 10 N·m for the M6 screw, 15 N·m for bare cable connectors. That's typical for this current class — a torque wrench is recommended, not optional. Power dissipation is 5 W per pole, so 15 W total for the 3-pole unit. The rocker lever control is manual on-off, with no auxiliary contacts in the base unit. If you need remote status or shunt trip, you'll add the GV7 auxiliary blocks separately. The fire resistance rating of 960 °C per IEC 60695-2-1 means the enclosure material won't propagate a flame — standard for switchgear in most industrial applications.