Notes

Difference Between Live and Dead Tank Circuit Breakers 

By on


Siemens Dead Tank Circuit BreakerA quick post in connection with an email question:

Live Tank -  the circuit breaker the switching unit is located in an insulator bushing which is live at line voltage (or some voltage above ground). Live Tank circuit breakers are cheaper than dead tank and require less space.

Dead Tank -  the switching unit is located within a metallic container which is kept a earth potential.  As the incoming/outgoing conductors are taken through insulated bushings, it is possible to place current transformers on these (with a Live Tank arrangement this is not possible and separate CTs are required). 

The terms Live and Dead Tank normally only apply to high voltage circuit breakers

, ,

More interesting Notes:
Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus

View 2 Comments (old system)

  1. tang's avatar tang says:
    8/23/2012 8:15 AM

    What is the ground clearance for dead tank CT?

    • Steven's avatar Steven says:
      8/26/2012 12:17 PM

      With a dead tank circuit breaker, the CT primary side is still isolated, so I'm not sure about why you are worried with ground clearance.

Comments are closed for this post:
  • have a question or need help, please use our Questions Section
  • spotted an error or have additional info that you think should be in this post, feel free to Contact Us
Star-Delta Motor Starting - Performance

Many questions sent in to the site are in connection with motor starting and in particular star-delta.  For all but the simplest application, there is...

Robotics - Home Innovations

We have a sister note to this (Robots - Interesting Video), in which I have posted some videos of interesting robots developed by commercial corporations...

9 power supply issues solved by using a UPS

Installation of a UPS can help in reducing problems due to issues with the power supply.  A lot of people relate this to nine key issues.  Depending on...

Fault Calculations - Typical Equipment Parameters

A frequent problem in fault calculations is the obtaining of equipment parameters.  While it is always preferable to use the actual parameters of the equipment...

Batteries

A battery consists of one or more cells, each of which use stored chemical energy to produce electrical energy, There are many types of cells and these...

How to Check a Circuit is Dead

If you want to check a circuit is dead (not live), you should always use the three point method. First check a known live circuit, then check the dead...

Battery Cars A to Z

Battery powered cars are a hot topic and widely debated. The pros, cons, issues and time frames can be talked about endlessly. An article by the Telegraph...

Post Authorship

In 2011, with the introduction of it’s Panda search ranking algorithms, Google introduced tools for determining the original author of posts.  The intention...

Autonomous Vehicle Challenge

Two driverless and solar power vans have departed from Italy on their way to China via the silk road. During the 13,000 kM trip the vans will drive themselves...

Tech Topics/Application Notes - Siemens

There are a lot of interesting two page type notes on various medium voltage topics – switchgear, circuit breakers, bus systems etc. It is on the Siemens...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note. 

Footer
(click here to extend)
Copyright (c) 2026 myElectrical