160 A, 4-pole MCCB with TM220 release — what the ratings mean for fit
The 3VA1116-5GE46-0AA0 is a SENTRON molded case circuit breaker rated at 160 A continuous, 4-pole, with a TM220 thermal-magnetic trip unit. That 160 A holds from 40 °C up through 50 °C without derating — at 55 °C it's still 158 A, at 70 °C it's 150 A. So if your panel ambient runs warm, this breaker doesn't force a downsized cable or a bumped frame size until you're well past 50 °C. Breaking capacity is the number that matters when you're coordinating with upstream gear. At 240 V it clears 187 kA; at 415 V it's 121 kA; at 440 V it drops to 75.6 kA; at 500 V and 690 V it holds at 17 kA. That 187 kA at 240 V is high enough for most secondary distribution panels fed from a large transformer — you won't need a current-limiting fuse ahead of it unless your available fault current exceeds that. The TM220 release is a thermal-magnetic design — thermal for overload protection, magnetic for short-circuit. No undervoltage release, no ground-fault monitoring, no communication function on this variant. It's a straight line-protection breaker: feed it, protect the cable, trip on fault. The 38 W maximum power loss at rated current matters for enclosure heat buildup — if you're packing several breakers in a small panel, that heat adds up.
Panel fit — footprint and integration
Footprint is 101.6 mm wide by 130 mm tall by 70 mm deep. That's a 4-inch wide body, which is standard for a 4-pole 160 A frame in the SENTRON range. It mounts on a DIN rail or directly to a backplate; the IP40 front face keeps dust out of the mechanism in a clean panel environment. Operating temperature range is -25 °C to 70 °C, storage from -40 °C to 80 °C.