Curious about ratings on circuit breakers etc

[liqfx]

I have a RCD with 25amp 30mA 3kA written on it. I have another RCD with 10kA written on it. I'm familiar with the first two ratings, but does anybody know what the kA rating actually reflects as 3000amp and 10000amps both seam like very large figures. Is this the lifetime rating of the device or something?

Any information will be greatly appreciated... i'm very curious!

Many thanks,

Dan.

[chrisp]

The third figure is the "Interrupt Rating" - how much current the device can safely break and remain intact.

[rat52]

thanks I often wondered about that myself

[liqfx]

many thanks chrisp... it all makes sense now!