Electric Power Generation & Transmission

Tag: Miniature Circuit Breaker

Circuit Breaker Industries (CBI), located near Johannesburg, is a major manufacturer of electrical distribution and protection components for low voltage electrical distribution systems.

The company is a leader in the design and manufacture of circuit breakers for equipment (hydraulic-magnetic), miniature circuit breakers (hydraulic-magnetic), residual current devices (RCD's), moulded case circuit breakers (thermal-magnetic) and metering products for electrical applications in supply authorities / utilities, mining, original equipment manufacturers, industrial sectors and millions of households. CBI are also the distributors of Mitsubishi Electric products which cater for a range of industrial applications.

The CBI Advantage
Engineering and Product Development
CBI is the only African manufacturer of circuit breakers and residual current devices. CBI has achieved international recognition for its competence and continues to represent the South African Bureau of Standards on the technical committees of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), thus being instrumental in the development of international electrical safety standards.

From the early 1960's CBI began to invest in its own product development, resulting in locally developed sensitive residual current devices, circuit breakers for equipment, miniature circuit breakers and, more recently, moulded case circuit breakers utilising the Hydraulic Magnetic operating principle.

CBI has a substantial design and development capability with approximately 4% of the staff being employed in the R&D department. They include highly skilled professional engineers, technologists and technicians, who have won many national design awards over the last two decades.

Manufacturing and Assembly
CBI is a fully vertically integrated company that manufactures most of the components, sub-assemblies and requisite tooling in-house. The resulting depth of manufacture has afforded CBI full control over the quality of its products. This includes the design and manufacture of specialised tooling for press parts and mouldings, as well as purpose-built automation equipment. All manufacturing facilities are maintained using state-of-the-art technology.

Testing Facilities
Today CBI boasts a testing facility - the only private testing facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere - comprising a control room and one 10 kA and one 65 kA fully computerised test bays. Circuit breakers up to 65 kA can be tested to local and international standards for overload, endurance, and vibration, thereby reducing the time required to develop a product from inception to completion.

Quality - a part of CBI culture
Internationally recognised quality standards ensure that products meet the most demanding requirements. All operations within the company are certified to ISO 9001 and EN 29001.