At RS Breakers & Controls, advanced manufacturing is not a buzzword. It is a controlled, documented process that takes a circuit breaker apart, rebuilds it to original specification, and proves its performance on calibrated test equipment before it ever reaches a customer. Every molded case circuit breaker, low voltage air breaker and medium voltage vacuum breaker that leaves our Mississauga facility carries an ANSI-standard test report and a 2-year warranty, because we do not ship assumptions. We ship verified equipment.
A used breaker that has only been cleaned and cycled a few times is not a remanufactured breaker. Our advanced manufacturing process begins with full nameplate verification, logging each unit by frame size, trip rating, interrupting capacity and serial number against manufacturer documentation. The breaker is then completely disassembled. Contacts, arc chutes, springs, linkages, coils and operating mechanisms are inspected and measured against OEM tolerances, and any component showing wear, heat damage or fatigue is replaced with OEM or OEM-equivalent parts.
Air breakers receive complete mechanism service. Main and arcing contacts are dressed or replaced, arc chutes are inspected and cleaned, charging motors and closing coils are verified, and lubrication is renewed to manufacturer procedure. Vacuum breakers are evaluated for bottle integrity, contact erosion and mechanism timing. Molded case breakers are calibrated and load tested across their trip curve. The goal in every case is the same: a breaker that performs the way its original engineering intended.
Many of the breakers protecting Canadian facilities today were built decades ago, and their original electromechanical trip units are obsolete, drifting out of calibration, or simply unsupported. As part of our advanced manufacturing capability, we retrofit modern digital trip units such as the URC AC-PRO-II onto legacy air breakers from Federal Pioneer, Westinghouse, GE, Siemens, ITE and others. A retrofit gives a proven mechanical platform modern adjustable protection, event capture and communications at a fraction of the cost of replacing switchgear. It is one of the most effective life extension investments a facility can make.
Verification is where our advanced manufacturing process separates itself. Our test bay runs a Phenix Technologies HC Series high current test set capable of primary injection testing at thousands of amps, pushing real current through the breaker to prove its trip curve against published time-current characteristics. Insulation resistance is verified with a Megger MIT520/2 5kV insulation tester. Contact resistance is measured to the micro-ohm level with an AEMC 5600 micro-ohmmeter, catching the high-resistance joints that cause heating and nuisance failures in service. Electronic trip units are exercised through secondary injection to confirm every protection function.
The results of every test are recorded on an ANSI-standard test report that ships with the breaker. When your engineer, your insurer or your inspector asks how you know the breaker will trip, you hand them the documentation.
When a plant runs on breakers that have not been produced in twenty or thirty years, advanced manufacturing is often the only alternative to a six-figure switchgear replacement. RS Breakers & Controls stocks Canada's largest inventory of new, reconditioned, used-tested and obsolete electrical apparatus, with more than 100,000 breakers and components across every major manufacturer: Eaton Cutler Hammer, Westinghouse, Square D and Schneider, Siemens and ITE, Federal Pioneer and GE. Our remanufacturing capability turns that inventory into like-for-like replacements that install directly into your existing gear.
Breakers rarely fail on schedule. Our 24/7 emergency service supplies fully tested, ready-to-ship breakers for like-for-like replacement across Canada and the United States, supported from our warehouses in Mississauga, Calgary and Saskatoon. Whether you are planning a life extension program for a critical lineup or need one obsolete frame on a Sunday night, the advanced manufacturing team at RS Breakers & Controls is a phone call away at 1-866-980-7376.
