What this MCCB carries — and where it fits
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA1180-4EF32-0CH0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker rated 80 A at 40 °C, sized for line-protection duty in distribution panels and motor control centers where the interrupting requirement climbs to 121 kA at 240 V. That 121 kA at 240 V is the headline SCCR — it clears a 121 kA prospective fault at 240 V without welding or rupturing. At 415 V the rating drops to 75.6 kA, at 440 V to 52.5 kA, and at 500 V or 690 V it holds at 11.9 kA. For a panel engineer coordinating downstream breakers, the 121 kA figure governs the upstream fault level the MCCB can handle; the lower values at higher voltages tell you where the arc extinction physics saturates. Thermal derating is well-characterized: the breaker holds 80 A flat from 40 °C through 50 °C, then drops to 78 A at 55 °C, 77 A at 60 °C, 75 A at 65 °C, and 74 A at 70 °C. If the panel ambient runs above 50 °C, the continuous load must be trimmed accordingly. The auxiliary switch complement is 2 auxiliary switches plus 1 trip alarm switch (HQ), and it carries an undervoltage release (UVR) — the UVR is factory-installed, so verify the trip threshold matches your undervoltage protection scheme before committing the BOM line.
Panel fit and footprint
Occupies 76.2 mm width, 130 mm height, and 70 mm depth — a 3-inch wide footprint. Rated insulation voltage is 800 V, so the breaker is electrically rated for 690 V line-to-line systems with margin. The -25 °C to 70 °C operating range covers most indoor panel environments; storage tolerance from -40 °C to 80 °C means it can sit in an unheated warehouse without damage. Maximum power loss is 21.7 W — a meaningful number for enclosure thermal calculations when several breakers are ganged in a sealed cabinet. The trip indicator gives a visual flag on the breaker face, useful during fault tracing without breaking seals.
Compliance and approvals posture
800 V rated insulation voltage and interrupting ratings across the voltage range are consistent with IEC/UL standards.