OCP (Overcurrent Protection Device)

Category: infrastructure

A safety component, such as a fuse or circuit breaker, designed to automatically break an electrical path when current limits are exceeded.

OCP devices protect circuits from thermal overloads and short circuits. If a wire rated for 20 amps carries 30 amps due to excessive tool links, the internal bimetallic strip inside the breaker heats up and trips, breaking the loop before the wire structural copper core can overheat and spark a fire.

Common Examples

• The underwriter verified that every independent branch circuit incorporated an inline OCP device sized to match the conductor gauge.
• Upgrading the old facility required swapping out the obsolete fuse block panel for a modern square-D circuit breaker OCP array.