SENTRON 3VA2 — 40 A line protection with ETU320 trip
The Siemens 3VA2040-8HL46-0AA0 is a SENTRON 3VA2 molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) rated for 40 A continuous current in a 4-pole configuration, designed for line protection duty. It carries the ETU320 electronic overcurrent release, which provides adjustable thermal-magnetic or electronic trip characteristics depending on the specific release variant — here configured for fixed line protection without communication or ground-fault monitoring. The breaker's insulation voltage is rated at 800 V, and its breaking capacity reaches 440 kA at 240 V, 330 kA at 415/440 V, 220 kA at 500 V, and 52.5 kA at 690 V, giving it substantial fault-interrupting headroom across common industrial voltage levels.
Breaking capacity and selectivity coordination
The 440 kA at 240 V rating places this MCCB in the high-interruption class — it safely clears faults up to that level without upstream cascading, which matters for transformer-secondaries or high-fault busways. At 415 V (common European industrial supply), the 330 kA rating still provides strong selectivity headroom against downstream breakers. The 52.5 kA at 690 V covers the higher-voltage installations found in mining or marine applications. For a 40 A frame, these are aggressive SCCR figures; the ETU320 release's adjustable trip settings let the engineer coordinate time-current curves with downstream devices rather than relying solely on the high instantaneous break.
Panel fit and mounting
The 3VA2040-8HL46-0AA0 measures 140 mm wide, 181 mm high, and 86 mm deep. It mounts on a DIN rail or can be screw-fixed to a backplate via the molded case's mounting slots. The IP40 front protection means it is suitable for enclosed panel installation where no water ingress is expected — standard for indoor switchgear. The 4-pole format (3 phases + neutral) fits European TN and TT systems where neutral switching is required; for a 3-pole-only panel, the 3VA2 family offers variants without the fourth pole.