What this MCCB carries — and what that means for the panel
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA1196-5EF36-0AH0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) rated for line protection, with a continuous current rating of 16 A that holds flat from 40 °C through 50 °C before derating begins — at 55 °C it's still good for 15.36 A, and at 70 °C it delivers 14.4 A. That thermal stability means the breaker doesn't force a panel derating exercise in a warm enclosure unless ambient climbs above 50 °C. The interrupting capacity is the headline: 187 kA at 240 V, 121 kA at 415 V, 75.6 kA at 440 V, and 17 kA at 690 V. Those numbers are high enough to handle most transformer-fed fault currents without cascading upstream — the 187 kA figure at 240 V covers the worst-case bolted fault on a large step-down transformer secondary. At 690 V the 17 kA rating still clears a stiff industrial bus. The overcurrent release is a TM240 thermal-magnetic type — fixed thermal, fixed magnetic, no electronic adjustment. That makes it a straightforward drop-in for a BOM that doesn't need selective coordination tuning. The auxiliary contact complement is 2 auxiliary switches plus 1 trip alarm switch (HQ type), which gives the PLC or DCS both a status and a fault-indication signal without adding a separate alarm module.
Panel fit and mounting
Dimensions are 130 mm height, 76.2 mm width, 70 mm depth — a compact 3-pole footprint that fits standard DIN-rail or screw-mount panel layouts. The front face carries an IP40 protection rating, adequate for a clean indoor panel; no washdown or outdoor sealing on the operator side. Rated insulation voltage is 800 V, so the breaker is suitable for 480 V and 600 V class systems with margin. Storage range is -40 °C to 80 °C; operating ambient is -25 °C to 70 °C. The latching endurance is rated at 15,000 operations — a mechanical life figure that covers frequent switching in a machine-tool or conveyor application.
What the TM240 release means for coordination
The TM240 designation indicates a thermal-magnetic trip unit with a fixed thermal pickup at 16 A (the rated continuous current) and a fixed magnetic instantaneous trip. There is no adjustable time delay (tr max. is 1 second per the spec), so this breaker coordinates as a standard instantaneous MCCB — it clears fast on short-circuit, which is fine for branch protection but not for selective coordination where you need a delayed trip downstream of a main breaker. If your coordination study calls for an electronic trip with adjustable I²t curves, this is not the variant; if you need a simple, reliable, non-adjustable branch breaker, it is.