ABB S200 MCB: Full Range Review (System pro M compact)

What is the ABB S200 range? S200 is ABB's miniature circuit breaker family within the System pro M compact platform, built to IEC 60898-1 (with IEC 60947-2 ratings on several references) in three breaking-capacity tiers — S200 (6 kA), S200M (10 kA) and S200P (15 kA) — across curves B, C, D, K and Z. The tier a panel builder picks changes what happens on a real fault: a 6 kA device let through more energy on a stiff feeder than a 15 kA device rated for the same current, so the wrong tier means nuisance failures or, worse, a breaker that can't clear the fault it sees. This article covers breaking-capacity selection across the three tiers, curve availability, ratings and pole formats, the DS201 RCBO variant, and where S200 stops being the right choice and S800 takes over.

What Is the ABB S200 Range, and Where Does It Sit in System pro M Compact?

System pro M compact is ABB's low-voltage DIN-rail protection platform for final and distribution circuits. S200 is the MCB line inside it — not the whole platform, which also covers RCDs, RCBOs and auxiliary blocks that snap onto the same breaker body. S200 covers 0.5-63 A, which is wider at the low end than most competitors bother stocking; the 0.5-2 A steps exist for control transformers and instrument circuits where a standard 6 A device is already oversized.

Three suffixes carry the family: S200 (no suffix, 6 kA), S200M (10 kA) and S200P (15 kA, and the only one of the three that reaches K and Z curves). Same DIN-rail mount, same 18 mm module width per pole, same trip-curve marking convention — the difference is entirely in what happens when the fault current arrives.

S200 vs S200M vs S200P: Breaking Capacity and Curve Availability

Breaking capacity decides what a fault does to the breaker, not what it does to the load. A 6 kA-rated S200 asked to clear a 9 kA fault can fail to interrupt cleanly — contact welding, case damage, or a fault that persists downstream. This is why the tier choice is a fault-level question, not a current-rating question.

What we see in the field: boards fed directly off a small transformer, or close to the incoming supply, tend to get specified with S200M or S200P even when the connected load is modest — the fault level, not the load current, is the driver. A 16 A lighting circuit on a board two transformers deep in a campus network can still need a 10 kA or 15 kA breaker.

Tripping Curves Available Across the S200 Family

Curve B trips instantaneously at 3-5x In — appropriate for long cable runs and resistive or lighting loads with low inrush, and the most sensitive of the common curves. Curve C trips at 5-10x In and covers general and mixed loads, including small motors; it is the default curve across most S200 boards. Curve D trips at 10-20x In for high-inrush loads — transformers, motor starting current, welding equipment, capacitor banks. K curve (8-12x In per IEC 60947-2) sits between C and D and targets industrial inductive/motor loads with a tighter band than D. Z curve (2-3x In) is the most sensitive of the five, reserved for semiconductor and electronic-circuit protection.

K and Z are only available on S200P. This is the practical reason a spec that calls for Z-curve protection on a sensitive electronic load forces the 15 kA tier even if the fault level alone would have allowed S200 or S200M.

For the full multiple-of-In breakdown across all five curves with typical load examples, see MCB tripping curves B, C, D, K and Z explained.

Ratings, Poles and Mechanical Format

All three tiers share the same current range: 0.5-63 A, in the standard IEC preferred-number steps (0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 13, 16, 20, 25, 32, 40, 50, 63 A). Pole configurations run 1P, 2P, 3P, 4P and 1P+N — the last combining a protected phase pole with a switched (unprotected) neutral pole, used where local wiring rules call for neutral disconnection without a second protective device. Mounting is standard 35 mm DIN rail, 18 mm width per pole, so a 3P S200 occupies the same rail length as any other 3-pole MCB on the same rail system.

Above 63 A, S200 stops — that ceiling is one of the clearer lines between S200 and the S800 line covered below.

DS201: Adding Residual Current Protection (RCBO)

DS201 combines an S200-family MCB with a residual-current (earth-leakage) sensing module in one DIN-rail device — an RCBO rather than a separate MCB-plus-RCD pair. It inherits the breaking-capacity tier of its base MCB (DS201, DS201M, DS201P track S200, S200M, S200P respectively) and the same curve options within that tier.

For how RCBO differs from RCD, RCCB and a plain MCB in what each device actually detects and disconnects, see MCB vs RCBO vs RCD vs RCCB.

Choosing Between S200, S200M and S200P

Two questions decide the tier: what is the prospective fault current at this point in the installation, and does any circuit on this board need K or Z curve? Answer both before picking a rated current.

If Ipf comes back below 6 kA with margin, standard S200 covers it and there's no reason to pay for S200M or S200P. Between 6 and 10 kA, S200M. Above 10 and up to 15 kA — or anywhere K/Z curve is specified — S200P. Past 15 kA, S200 as a family is out of scope; that is S800 territory. This depends on the actual fault study for the board, not a rule of thumb: a short run from a large transformer can produce a higher Ipf than a long run from a small one, so the calculation has to be done per board, not assumed from feeder size alone.

For a full worked checklist covering current rating, curve, poles and breaking capacity together, see how to select the right MCB, and for curve selection specifically, how to choose the right MCB tripping curve.

Where S200 Sits vs S800: When to Step Up

S800 is ABB's higher-performance MCB line, rated up to 125 A and 25-50 kA+ breaking capacity, built for IEC 60947-2 industrial duty rather than the household/final-circuit scope of IEC 60898-1. S200 tops out at 63 A and 15 kA (S200P); once a feeder needs more current than that, or a fault level S200P can't clear, S800 is the next step up, not a bigger S200.

Some panel builders default to over-specifying S800 across a whole board "to be safe." This depends on cost and rail space as much as fault level — S800 devices are larger and priced for the duty they're rated for, and a final circuit with a genuinely low fault level gets no protection benefit from a device rated three times higher than it will ever see.

See the dedicated S200 vs S800 comparison for a side-by-side on current range, breaking capacity and typical application per line. All S200-family devices are stocked as miniature circuit breakers at Stoklink.

Conclusion

S200 is a fixed mechanical platform — 0.5-63 A, DIN rail, standard curve markings — carrying three distinct electrical tiers underneath it. S200 covers 6 kA, S200M covers 10 kA, S200P covers 15 kA and adds K and Z curves. The tier decision comes from the fault-current calculation at the installation point plus any curve requirement, not from the connected load current. Past 63 A or 15 kA, the family hands off to S800. Get the fault level and curve requirement right first; the breaking-capacity tier and any RCBO variant follow from that, not the other way round. Full technical background sits in the MCB engineering guide, including standards, sizing and coordination covered in IEC 60898-1 vs IEC 60947-2 and MCB breaking capacity: 3kA, 6kA and 10kA explained.