The Siemens 3RV2011-1EA40 is a SIRIUS motor protection circuit breaker designed to protect motors against overload and short-circuit. It carries a Trip Class 10 characteristic, meaning it will trip within 10 seconds at 7.2× the thermal setting — fast enough to protect standard induction motors during start-up without nuisance tripping on normal inrush. Rated breaking capacity hits 100 kA at 400 V AC, which is the figure that governs selectivity in a panel with high fault current — the breaker clears a bolted fault at that level without upstream devices needing to open. The same 100 kA holds at 240 V and 500 V; at 690 V it drops to 4 kA, so verify the available fault current if feeding from a 690 V transformer. Phase failure detection is built in — the breaker will trip on loss of any one phase, preventing single-phasing damage to a motor. That's a standard requirement for motor protection in most industrial installations and saves adding an external phase monitor relay.
Mounting and integration
Mounts via screw or snap-on onto 35 mm DIN rail per DIN EN 60715, in any position. The 45 mm width (one standard module) fits a typical motor starter row alongside a contactor of the same width. Clearance requirements: 50 mm above and below, 30 mm to the side, zero forward or backward — tight enough for dense panels if airflow is managed. Main circuit connection uses ring cable lugs with M3 screws. The control circuit is not separately terminated — this is a self-powered thermal-magnetic breaker, no auxiliary supply needed. Operating temperature range is -20 to +60 °C; storage and transport range is -50 to +80 °C.
Sizing and coordination
For motor sizing, the 3RV2011-1EA40 covers a specific hp window: 0.33 hp at 230 V, 0.75 hp at 220/230 V, 2 hp at 460/480 V, and 3 hp at 575/600 V. The thermal setting range is not listed explicitly in this record, but the hp ratings define the motor full-load current window it protects. Backup fuse requirements: gL/gG 32 A at 400 V and 500 V, dropping to 25 A at 690 V — the fuses protect the breaker's short-circuit capacity in high-energy faults. Maximum switching frequency is 15 operations per hour in AC-3 duty (motor starting), and the same 15 1/h for AC-3e (enhanced motor starting). That's adequate for most pump, fan, and conveyor cycles; high-repetition applications like rapid indexing may need a contactor rated for more starts per hour.