What this MCCB carries — and where it fits
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA2216-6JQ42-0AA0 is a 4-pole molded case circuit breaker rated for 160 A continuous current. Its interrupting capacity hits 242 kA at 240 V, 187 kA at 415 V and 440 V, then drops to 121 kA at 500 V and 4.5 kA at 690 V. That 242 kA figure at 240 V means it can safely clear a fault on a high-capacity transformer secondary without the arc flashing over — a real concern on large industrial services where available fault current exceeds 100 kA. The breaker is designed for line protection and includes a ground-fault monitoring version using summation current formation on the L + N conductor. That means it detects leakage by comparing the vector sum of phase and neutral currents — a common method for protecting against ground faults on solidly-grounded systems without needing a separate GFCI module. It carries a communication function onboard, so it can report status and trip events to a PLC or BMS over the plant network — useful for a maintenance team trying to figure out which breaker tripped at 2 AM without walking the panel.
Panel fit — dimensions and thermal derating
The breaker measures 181 mm high, 140 mm wide, and 86 mm deep. That 86 mm depth (3.39 in) is the dimension that matters for gland-plate clearance and enclosure depth — a shallow 200 mm deep panel might leave the breaker terminals kissing the back wall if you don't account for wiring space. Thermal derating is flat across the board: 160 A continuous from 40 °C all the way up to 70 °C ambient (through). No need to downrate for a warm panel — that's unusual for an MCCB and simplifies the panel builder's life. Operating temperature range is -25 °C to 70 °C; storage from -40 °C to 80 °C. Maximum power loss is 19.7 W.
What it does not carry
No undervoltage release, no voltage trip, no trip indicator. If your safety circuit requires an undervoltage coil to drop the breaker on loss of control power, this variant won't do it without an add-on accessory.