What the ratings mean for fit
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA1196-5EF36-0AF0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) rated at 16 A continuous, with the TM240 thermal-magnetic release tuned for line protection. The 16 A rating holds flat from 40 °C up to 55 °C — no derating needed in a warm panel — and only drops to 15 A at 60 °C through 70 °C, so it handles standard 16 A branch circuits without head-scratching over ambient temperature. Breaking capacity is the headline: 187 kA at 240 V, 121 kA at 415 V, 75.6 kA at 440 V, and 17 kA at both 500 V and 690 V. That 187 kA figure at 240 V is high enough for most transformer-secondaries and large UPS feeds — it clears a bolted fault without the upstream fuse having to intervene. At 690 V the 17 kA still covers typical industrial motor branch circuits. The insulation voltage is rated at 800 V, so the breaker's internal clearance supports 690 V line-to-line without derating the dielectric.
Panel integration and mounting
Dimensions are 130 mm high, 76.2 mm wide, 70 mm deep — a compact 3-pole footprint that fits standard Siemens SENTRON mounting bases and busbar systems. The 70 mm depth (2.76 in) means it clears most 200 mm-deep enclosures with room for wiring gutters. Power loss is 10.6 W maximum, so in a sealed panel with multiple breakers ganged together, factor that into the thermal budget. The breaker ships with a 1 auxiliary switch + 1 trip alarm switch HQ configuration, and includes a trip indicator. No undervoltage release, no ground-fault monitoring, no communication function — this is a pure line-protection MCCB, not a metering or remote-trip device.