What the 160 A rating means for your panel
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA1116-6EF32-0AC0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) rated 160 A at 40 °C ambient — that's the continuous current it carries without tripping in a typical enclosed panel. The thermal-magnetic trip unit (TM240) handles overload and short-circuit protection for feeder or branch circuits. Breaking capacity hits 220 kA at 240 V, which is high enough for most industrial service-entrance or distribution applications where fault current runs high. Insulation voltage is rated 800 V, so it's comfortable on 480 V or 600 V class systems. Derating starts above 40 °C: at 55 °C it's still good for 158 A, and at 70 °C it holds 150 A. That thermal curve matters if the breaker sits in a warm cabinet next to drives or transformers. Max power loss is 38 W — factor that into your enclosure ventilation calc.
Breaking capacity across voltages — selectivity planning
The 3VA1116-6EF32-0AC0 delivers 220 kA at 240 V, 154 kA at 415 V, 75.6 kA at 440 V, and 17 kA at 500 V and 690 V. That steep drop above 440 V is typical for an MCCB with this frame size — at 690 V the available fault current needs to stay under 17 kA for the breaker to clear safely. For selectivity studies, the 220 kA at 240 V gives plenty of headroom on the line side of a 208Y/120 V or 240 V delta panel.
Mounting and integration
Dimensions are 130 mm high, 76.2 mm wide, 70 mm deep — fits standard panel-mount cutouts for 3-pole MCCBs in this frame class. No undervoltage release, no ground-fault monitoring, no communication function on this variant. It ships with two HQ auxiliary switches built in (design of the auxiliary switch: 2 auxiliary switches HQ). The base switch order code is 3VA11166EF320AA0.