160 A MCCB with ETU320 — what the ratings mean for your panel
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA2116-5HL32-0KL0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker rated for 160 A continuous current at 40 °C, with an ETU320 electronic trip unit providing adjustable overload and short-circuit protection. Its interrupting capacity reaches 187 kA at 240 V AC and 121 kA at 415 V, which means it can safely clear high-fault currents on large distribution transformers or busway feeds without cascading failure upstream. The breaker carries 160 A all the way to 50 °C; above that, derate to 154 A at 55 °C and 136 A at 70 °C — a curve to check if your enclosure runs hot. This is a line-protection variant (no ground-fault module, no communication, no undervoltage release), built for straightforward feeder or main-breaker duty in a distribution panel. The auxiliary contact block ships as 2 auxiliary switches + 1 trip alarm + 1 electrical alarm (HQ type), so you get status feedback without adding a separate module. A shunt trip (STL) is integrated for remote tripping — useful for emergency-stop or fire-safety interlocks.
Panel fit and footprint
The 3VA2116 frame measures 105 mm wide × 181 mm tall × 86 mm deep — a standard SENTRON 3VA2 footprint that drops into the same mounting cutout as other 160 A MCCBs in the family. If your panel was laid out for the 3VA2116-5HL32-0AK0 (the same breaker without the shunt trip), the 3VA2116-5HL32-0KL0 shares the identical mechanical envelope and bus-bar connection pattern; the only difference is the integrated STL coil, which adds a pair of control wires. No rewiring of the main power path is needed.