What it is and what it does
The Siemens 3VA1163-6EF36-0AE0 is a SENTRON molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) designed for line protection in distribution panels. It carries a continuous current rating of 63 A at 40 °C, holding that rating up through 50 °C before a mild thermal derating begins — at 70 °C it still delivers 58 A, which is useful for a warm enclosure without upsizing the frame. Breaking capacity is the headline here: 220 kA at 240 V, 154 kA at 415 V, and 121 kA at 440 V. That puts it squarely in high-fault-duty territory — think large transformer secondaries, busway feeds, or main breakers in industrial switchboards where the available fault current is well above what a standard 25 kA or 36 kA MCCB can handle. At 500 V and 690 V it still manages 17 kA, so it covers 480 V and 600 V class systems without a separate current-limiting fuse. The overcurrent release is a TM240 — thermal-magnetic, fixed at 240 A frame rating with the 63 A continuous pickup. No ground-fault monitoring, no undervoltage release, no communication module. It is a straightforward, hard-wired line protector: three poles, 800 V rated insulation voltage, 17.3 W maximum power loss at full load.
Mounting and panel fit
Dimensions are 130 mm high, 76.2 mm wide, 70 mm deep. That 70 mm depth is shallow enough to clear a standard 200 mm deep enclosure without crowding the gland plate or busbar shroud. Width at 76.2 mm is three modules on a 25 mm grid — typical for a 3-pole MCCB in a Siemens SENTRON panelboard or a third-party DIN-rail adapter tray. The auxiliary switch bay accepts up to four HQ-style switches. No trip indicator on the breaker face itself — if you need remote trip indication, one of those auxiliary slots should carry a signal contact wired back to the PLC or HMI.