What the ratings mean for your panel
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA2340-5KP32-0KA0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker rated for 400 A continuous current at 40 °C, which is its full-load ampacity in a typical 40 °C panel environment. That 400 A holds steady through 50 °C — at 55 °C you derate to 375 A, at 60 °C to 350 A, at 65 °C to 325 A, and at 70 °C to 300 A. So if your enclosure runs hot, the real-world ampacity drops; size your load accordingly. Interrupting capacity is the headline number that decides whether this breaker survives a fault without welding its contacts or rupturing. At 240 V it clears 187 kA — that's a very high figure, sized for large transformer secondaries or heavy industrial service entrances. At 415 V and 440 V it still handles 121 kA, at 500 V it's 75.6 kA, and at 690 V it drops to 7.5 kA. The 690 V figure is the weak link: if your system runs 690 V line-to-line, this breaker's interrupting capacity is modest, and you'll need to verify the available fault current at that voltage against the 7.5 kA rating. Physically, the breaker measures 248 mm tall, 138 mm wide, and 110 mm deep — a standard three-pole MCCB footprint that fits most Siemens SENTRON panelboards and switchboards. It's designed for line protection (feeder duty), not motor protection, so don't spec it for direct motor starting unless you add a separate overload relay.
Built-in trip unit and accessories
This variant ships with a shunt trip release (STL) as the auxiliary release, meaning you can remotely trip the breaker via a control signal — useful for emergency-stop circuits or supervisory shutdowns. There's no undervoltage release, no ground-fault monitoring, and no auxiliary switch fitted on this order code. The breaker does include a communication function, so it can report status and accept remote commands over a fieldbus or network, which saves running separate control wires for the shunt trip. The supplied basic switch inside is order code 3VA2340-5KP32-0AA0 — that's the internal switching mechanism. Power loss is listed at a maximum of 96 W, which is the heat the breaker dumps into the enclosure at full rated current; factor that into your panel's thermal budget. Operating temperature range is -25 °C to 70 °C, storage range is -40 °C to 80 °C. That covers most indoor industrial environments, including unheated warehouses in cold climates.