Siemens SENTRON 3VA1196-6EF32-0AF0 — 16 A MCCB with TM240 Release
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA1196-6EF32-0AF0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) rated for line protection, carrying a rated continuous current Iu of 16 A and a rated insulation voltage Ui of 800 V. Its interrupting capacity hits 220 kA at 240 V, 154 kA at 415 V, and 121 kA at 440 V — numbers that tell you it's built for high-fault panels where a standard MCCB would weld its contacts shut. The TM240 overcurrent release is fixed, not adjustable for long-time pickup, so the 16 A rating is a hard ceiling — no dialing it up for a temporary overload.
Thermal Derating and Ambient Reality
The 16 A rating holds flat from 40 °C through 50 °C, then starts a gentle slide: 15.36 A at 55 °C, 15.04 A at 60 °C, 14.72 A at 65 °C, and 14.4 A at 70 °C. If your panel runs hot — say a crowded enclosure near a drive — that 14.4 A at 70 °C is the real trip threshold, not the nameplate 16 A. Plan your load accordingly.
Mounting and Integration
The breaker measures 76.2 mm wide, 130 mm tall, and 70 mm deep — a standard 3-pole MCCB footprint that drops into a SENTRON panelboard or a DIN-rail adapter without surprises. Front face is IP40 rated, so it's fine inside a closed panel but not for washdown zones. It ships with one auxiliary switch and one trip alarm switch (HQ type) — useful for feeding a status signal back to a PLC or annunciator without adding a separate contact block.