Siemens 3VA1163-5EF42-0AC0 — 63 A SENTRON MCCB with TM240 Release
The Siemens 3VA1163-5EF42-0AC0 is a 4-pole molded case circuit breaker from the SENTRON series, rated 63 A at 40 °C and carrying a TM240 thermal-magnetic overcurrent release. The TM240 designation means the thermal element is fixed at 63 A and the magnetic pickup is adjustable up to 240 A — so it handles sustained overloads up to the frame rating but lets you dial in the short-circuit trip threshold to coordinate with downstream breakers or motor starters. Breaking capacity runs 187 kA at 240 V and 121 kA at 415 V, which puts it in the high-interrupting class for industrial distribution panels where fault currents are substantial.
What the Ratings Mean for Panel Fit
Rated insulation voltage is 800 V, so the breaker is suitable for 480/277 V and 600 V systems with margin. The 63 A continuous rating holds from 40 °C through 50 °C without derating; at 55 °C it drops to 62 A, at 65 °C to 60 A, and at 70 °C to 58 A — useful to know if the breaker lives in a hot enclosure or next to other heat sources. The 17.3 W maximum power loss matters for thermal calculations inside a sealed panel; if you're packing multiple breakers in a small cabinet, that heat adds up.
Integration and Auxiliary Switching
The breaker ships with two factory-fitted HQ auxiliary switches, giving you status feedback for PLC inputs or alarm annunciation without adding a separate accessory. The supplied basic switch is order code 3VA11635EF420AA0 — useful if you need to order the same internal mechanism as a spare. No undervoltage release, no shunt trip, no ground-fault monitoring on this variant, so if those functions are required they'd need to be added as external modules or a different suffix. Dimensions are 130 mm height, 101.6 mm width, 70 mm depth (–) — standard SENTRON 3VA footprint for 4-pole frames, so it drops into the same panel cutout as other 3VA breakers of this size.