What this MCCB carries — and what that means for your panel
The Siemens 3VA2040-8KQ36-0AA0 is a 3-pole SENTRON molded case circuit breaker rated for 40 A continuous current, with a trip-range adjustability from 60 A up to 480 A — so it fits a feeder or main that needs headroom above the 40 A nameplate, not just a fixed 40 A breaker. Breaking capacity is 440 kA at 240 V, 330 kA at 415 V and 440 V, 220 kA at 500 V, and 52.5 kA at 690 V — those numbers mean this breaker can interrupt fault currents at the distribution transformer secondary or a high-capacity bus without cascading upstream. Rated current holds flat at 40 A from 40 °C through 70 °C ambient — no derating needed inside a warm enclosure, which is rare for a compact MCCB and simplifies panel thermal calculations. Rated insulation voltage is 800 V, suitable for 480 V class systems. This is a line-protection design with communication function and ground-fault monitoring via summation current formation on the L-conductor — meaning it can report status and trip events to a PLC or BMS, and detect leakage without a separate GFCI module.
Footprint and panel fit
Dimensions: 105 mm wide, 181 mm tall, 86 mm deep — standard 3-pole MCCB footprint for DIN-rail or screw-mount backplate integration. No undervoltage release and no voltage trigger — the breaker is purely current-trip; external UVR or shunt-trip modules would need to be added separately if required by the safety circuit.