What this MCCB carries and where it fits
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA2340-7HL32-0CC0 is a 3-pole molded case circuit breaker rated 400 A continuous, with an adjustable trip range from 600 A up to 4,000 A — meaning you can dial the long-time pickup to match the load without swapping the breaker frame. Its interrupting capacity runs 330 kA at 240 V, 242 kA at 415 V and 440 V, 187 kA at 500 V, and 7.5 kA at 690 V — the steep drop at 690 V tells you this is a 600 V class frame, not a 690 V design. For a 480 V distribution board the 242 kA at 440 V is the relevant figure; it gives you headroom over a typical 65 kA or 100 kA available fault current. Thermal derating is published per degree: full 400 A up to 50 °C, then 385 A at 55 °C, 370 A at 60 °C, 355 A at 65 °C, and 340 A at 70 °C. If your panel ambient runs 55 °C, you are derating 15 A off the nameplate — plan the tap accordingly. The breaker ships fitted with an undervoltage release (UVR) and two HQ auxiliary switches — the UVR drops the breaker when control voltage falls, which is standard for emergency-stop or undervoltage protection schemes on motor control centers. Designed for line protection, not feeder or generator protection. The basic switch inside is order code 3VA2340-7HL32-0AA0, so if you are swapping just the trip unit or the mechanism, that is the core subassembly.
Panel fit and dimensions
Mounts in a standard MCCB cutout: 248 mm tall, 138 mm wide, 110 mm deep — the 138 mm width is a 3-pole frame, so it occupies roughly 5.43 inches of panel width per pole. Verify the mounting base footprint against your existing bus or backplate before ordering. Power loss at rated current is 98.5 W maximum — that is the heat you have to vent inside the enclosure. In a sealed NEMA 12 panel with multiple breakers ganged, that heat adds up; factor it into your thermal budget. Operating temperature range is -25 °C to 70 °C, storage from -40 °C to 80 °C. The storage range is wider because it is not carrying current — that is a handling and warehousing limit, not a running condition.
What it does not have
No trip indicator, no voltage-trigger trip, no communication function, no ground-fault monitoring, and no other measurement function. This is a plain line-protection breaker with undervoltage release and auxiliary contacts — no electronic trip unit, no Modbus, no earth-leakage module built in.