What this MCCB brings to the panel
The Siemens 3VA1196-4EF36-0HH0 is a 3-pole SENTRON molded case circuit breaker rated for line protection at 16 A continuous current (Iu). The interrupting capacity hits 121 kA at 240 V AC — that's serious fault-clearing for high-available-fault panels, dropping to 75.6 kA at 415 V and 52.5 kA at 440 V. At 690 V it still holds 11.9 kA, so it handles mixed-voltage distribution without cascading upstream breakers. It carries a TM240 thermal-magnetic overcurrent release — fixed thermal curve, magnetic trip factory-set. No phase-failure detection, no communication module, no ground-fault monitoring. This is a straight-ahead line-protection MCCB for standard feeder or branch circuits where you don't need the electronics package. The auxiliary contact block ships as 2 auxiliary switches plus 1 trip alarm switch (HQ type). A shunt trip (STL) release is integrated — part number 3VA9688-0BL30 for the release assembly itself. No undervoltage release on this variant.
Thermal derating — where the 16 A holds and where it doesn't
Rated 16 A from 40 °C through 50 °C ambient. At 55 °C it derates to 15.36 A, at 60 °C to 15.04 A, at 65 °C to 14.72 A, and at 70 °C to 14.4 A. If the panel ambient runs hot — say a sealed enclosure near a furnace line — size the load accordingly. The breaker itself operates from -25 °C to 70 °C ambient; storage range is -40 °C to 80 °C.
Footprint and panel fit
Dimensions: 130 mm high, 76.2 mm wide, 70 mm deep. That's a standard 3-pole MCCB footprint — fits existing SENTRON 3VA mounting bases and busbar systems without re-drilling. IP40 on the front, so it's fine for general-purpose indoor panels; not rated for washdown.