MoellerPKZM0,243-Pole Motor-Protective Circuit-Breaker / Manual Motor Starter, 0.16-0.24 A Adjustable, 690 V, DIN Rail

Product Description

What this part is

A Moeller PKZM0 motor-protective circuit-breaker — the device North American practice calls a manual motor starter or manual motor protector. It combines an adjustable thermal (bimetal) overload element with a fixed instantaneous magnetic release in one 45 mm three-pole housing, and switches the motor by hand with a turn button. This is the smallest setting band in the family: 0.16 to 0.24 A.

Decoding the designation

PKZM – Moeller motor-protective circuit-breaker0 – frame size 0, covering 0.16 A to 32 A across the family0,24 – top of the overload setting range in amps, using the European decimal comma; written PKZM0-0.24 in North America

What these specs mean in practice

At 0.16 to 0.24 A this protects very small three-phase motors — roughly 0.06 kW at 230 V, 0.09 kW at 400 V, 0.18 kW at 690 V — along with small pumps, fans and control transformers. The overload dial is set to the motor full-load current; the short-circuit release is not adjustable, and on PKZM0 basic devices trips at a fixed 15.5 x the uninterrupted current with a ±20% tolerance. Phase-failure sensitivity is built in, so a lost phase trips the device rather than cooking a running motor on two legs — which matters far more on a sub-quarter-amp motor than the headline current rating suggests. Note that the rated operational voltage published by Eaton today is 690 V; older Klöckner-Moeller cartons on this generation are commonly marked 660 V.

Published specifications

Poles: threeOverload release setting range: 0.16 to 0.24 A, adjustableTripping characteristic: overload trip class 10 AShort-circuit release: fixed, non-adjustable, 15.5 x Iu ±20% on PKZM0 basic devicesRated operational voltage (Ue): 690 V AC (older cartons marked 660 V)Rated frequency: 50 to 60 HzRated short-circuit breaking capacity Icu at 400 V AC: 150 kA (PKZM0 up to 12 A)Short-circuit current, DC: 60 kA up to 250 V DC, main conducting pathsRated impulse withstand voltage (Uimp): 6000 V ACActuator: turn buttonFeatures: phase-failure sensitive per IEC/EN 60947-4-1, VDE 0660 part 102; temperature compensated −25 to +55 °CMounting: snaps onto IEC/EN 60715 top-hat rail, 7.5 or 15 mm heightDegree of protection: IP20, terminals IP00; finger and back-of-hand proofOvervoltage category III, pollution degree 3Ambient operating temperature: −25 to +55 °C open, −25 to +40 °C enclosedMechanical life: 100,000 operations; electrical life 100,000 operations at 400 V AC-3Operating frequency: 40 operations/hShock resistance: 25 g, half-sinusoidal 10 ms per IEC/EN 60068-2-27Terminal capacity: 1 or 2 x 1 to 6 mm² flexible with ferrule, screw terminals; 18 to 14 AWG; 1.7 Nm main, 1 Nm controlDimensions: approx. 45 mm wide x 93 mm high x 76 mm deep, frame size 0Standards and approvals: IEC/EN 60947-4-1, UL 508, UL 60947-4-1, CSA C22.2 No. 14 and No. 60947-4-1, VDE 0660, CESuitable for motors of efficiency class IE3

Quantity and configuration

Sold as 1 piece — the breaker only. Auxiliary contact blocks, trip-indicating contacts, undervoltage and shunt releases, enclosures, rotary handles, busbar links and the BK25/3-PKZ0-E terminal kit used for UL/CSA type E self-protected duty are separate PKZ0 accessories and are not included.

Installation and setup notes

Set the dial to the motor nameplate full-load current, not to the top of the range. Where the device is used as branch-circuit protection under UL/CSA it must be applied either as a type E self-protected combination with the correct line-side terminal kit or within a listed group installation — the type E short-circuit current ratings depend on that terminal kit being fitted. When enclosed, derate the ambient to 40 °C. Keep in mind the panel builder owns the temperature-rise and short-circuit verification for the assembly; Eaton publishes only the device heat-dissipation figures.

Interchange guidance

The setting band is the part number: PKZM0-0,16 and PKZM0-0,4 are adjacent bands and will not protect a 0.24 A motor correctly. Suffixed versions differ in connection style rather than rating — a -SC suffix means spring-cage output terminals instead of screw, and a -T suffix marks the transformer-protective variant with a different magnetic release multiple. PKZM01 and PKZM4 are different frames with different accessory ranges. Eaton’s current equivalent for this band is the PKZM0-0,25 in the modern catalogue, and Eaton also uses catalogue numbers rather than type codes in ordering systems, so search on both.