On an Eaton Breaker the Trailing Letters Name the Protection, Not the Size
Most breaker catalogs make you read the number for amperage and poles. On this collection the more useful habit is reading the end of the part number, because that is where Eaton says what the device actually protects against. Half of what a modern panel needs is no longer a plain breaker, it is a ground fault, arc fault or dual function device, and the letters are how you tell them apart at a glance.
What the 65 devices cover
This is a small, protection-weighted collection rather than a broad breaker range. Every part also appears in circuit breakers, where you can compare it against the other manufacturers stocked here.
Standard thermal magnetic breakers make up 30 parts and handle ordinary branch and feeder overcurrent protection. Ground fault devices account for 13 and give shock protection where water is near the circuit, while eight arc fault devices protect against arcing in branch wiring. Five dual function parts combine both protections in one device.
Beyond those, three surge protective devices give panel-mounted transient protection in a breaker body, and two molded case breakers cover the larger frame range above branch work. Single parts cover a shunt trip breaker, which uses a coil to trip from a remote signal, and a tandem holding two single pole breakers in one slot.
Two listings are not breakers at all. One is a DIN rail adapter, which is mounting hardware, and one is a sub feed lug kit, a lug block for a BR loadcenter.
Reading the suffix
Three frame letters also carry meaning. An N or P in the frame means the device is plug-on neutral, which is to say it connects to the neutral through a clip on the loadcenter bar instead of a pigtail wire. Thirty eight parts here carry no suffix at all, and those are the plain breakers. On the other 27 the trailing letters are the specification, and they are the fastest filter when a panel schedule calls for a specific protection type.
Thirty eight parts carry no suffix, meaning a standard breaker with no added protection function. GF on nine parts means ground fault and is sold as GFCI on the listing, while AF on seven means arc fault, several of them combination type. DF on five means dual function, arc fault and ground fault together.
The rest are small. SURGE on three parts marks a surge protective device that occupies breaker spaces, EP on two marks the equipment protection version of the ground fault device, and ST on one marks a shunt trip for remote or interlocked tripping.
The DF parts deserve a note. A dual function device does the job of an arc fault and a ground fault breaker in one slot, which matters when a panel schedule has run out of spaces and the code calls for both. Confirm the trip threshold on any EP part before you substitute it for a standard ground fault device, since equipment protection and personnel protection are not the same setting.
Plug-on neutral, and what it changes on site
Twenty six parts here use a plug-on or plug-on neutral frame, the BRN, BRP, CHN, CHFN, CHP and CHFP groups. Eaton's published material describes the plug-on neutral platform as eliminating the pigtail connection between the breaker and the neutral bar, using a clip that rocks onto an in-board neutral. On a panel full of ground fault and arc fault circuits that removes a wire and a termination per device.
The catch is the loadcenter. A plug-on neutral breaker needs a loadcenter built with the in-board neutral, and it will not deliver that benefit in an older panel. Check the panel label before you specify the frame, and treat the label as the authority rather than the physical fit. Wider distribution equipment sits in power and distribution.
Four brand names, one catalog number
This collection is the clearest example in the catalog of a manufacturer's history showing up in product data. Only half the titles here say Eaton. The rest carry the names the same devices were sold under before, and the catalog number is the only thing that stays constant across them. Every figure below was counted from the live collections rather than taken from a catalog.
Thirty two titles here use the Eaton name and 22 use Cutler Hammer, against 17 and 182 respectively inside the legacy collection. Seven titles here say Westinghouse where only two do there, and a single title here uses Commander, which appears nowhere in the other collection.
The two collections hold 283 breakers between them and share no catalog number, so they are complementary rather than duplicated. Frames do straddle them though. BR appears nine times here and 26 times in the Cutler Hammer collection, CHF nine times here against two there, and BRH and QBGFEP split across both. If a search in one comes up empty, the other is the next place to look.
None of that makes two breakers interchangeable. Match the catalog number, then confirm the panel label lists that device. Where the panel is another manufacturer's entirely, such as the Square D range, assume the breakers do not cross unless the label says so in writing.
Frames stocked here that Cutler Hammer does not carry
Thirteen BRN parts sit only in this collection and they are the plug-on neutral ground fault, arc fault and dual function devices. So do the three surge protective devices and a single PDG frame breaker rated 600V. The CHFN group is split, three parts here and one in the legacy collection. If the job is a modern panel with heavy GFCI and AFCI requirements, this is the collection to start in rather than the legacy one.
Working the other way, BAB, GHB, QC, QBHW and the HMCP motor circuit protectors appear only in the legacy collection. Background on panel and overcurrent selection sits in the electrical guides.
What to confirm before ordering
These are the fields that decide whether a device is legal and safe in the panel rather than merely a physical fit. Overcurrent protection is inspected and the authority having jurisdiction decides, a boundary Lumera sets out in its installation and code disclaimer.
- Panel listing. The loadcenter label names the devices it accepts, and that label governs.
- Frame. BR, BRN, BRP, CH, CHF, CHFN and the rest are not interchangeable with one another.
- Plug-on neutral compatibility. The BRN, BRP, CHN, CHFN, CHP and CHFP frames need a loadcenter built for them.
- Protection type. Ground fault, arc fault, dual function or none. Read the suffix and then read the title.
- Interrupting rating. 10 kAIC on most of this collection, with a few at 18, 22 and 65 kAIC.
- Voltage. 120/240V on 43 parts, with smaller numbers at 240V, 120V, 277/480V and 600V.
- Amperage and poles. 10A to 200A on the breakers. The one 225A part is a lug kit rather than a breaker, so read the title as well as the number.
- Surge device spaces. The three surge units occupy breaker positions, so allow for them in the panel schedule.
Protection type, frame and panel questions on Eaton breakers
What does the GF, AF or DF at the end of the part number mean?
It names the protection function. GF is a ground fault device, AF is arc fault, and DF is dual function, meaning arc fault and ground fault protection in a single breaker. Nine parts here end in GF, seven in AF and five in DF. A part with no suffix is a standard breaker with neither function, which is why the suffix is the first thing to read when a schedule specifies protection.
What is a plug-on neutral breaker and do I need one?
It is a breaker that connects to the neutral through a clip on the loadcenter bar instead of a pigtail wire, which removes one termination per device. Eaton's material describes the clip rocking onto an in-board neutral. You need one when the loadcenter is built for it, and you cannot use one where it is not, so the panel decides rather than preference. Twenty six of the 65 parts here use a plug-on or plug-on neutral frame.
Why do some titles say Cutler Hammer or Westinghouse?
Because the same catalog numbers have been sold under several names over time and the product data reflects that. Of the 65 titles here, 32 say Eaton, 22 say Cutler Hammer, seven say Westinghouse and one says Commander. The catalog number is the reliable identifier. Treat the brand word in the title as historical labeling rather than as a different product.
Should I look in this collection or the Cutler Hammer one?
Search both, because the two share no catalog numbers and several frames are split between them. As a rough guide, the plug-on neutral ground fault, arc fault and dual function devices, the surge units and the 600V PDG frame breaker are here. The BAB, GHB, QC, QBHW and motor circuit protector frames are in the legacy collection. Searching the exact catalog number across the site is faster than guessing which one holds it.
Can a dual function breaker replace a separate GFCI and AFCI?
Functionally it provides both protections in one device, which is why it exists, and five parts here are built that way. Whether it satisfies your specific installation is a code and panel question rather than a product question. Confirm the loadcenter accepts the device and that the inspector accepts dual function protection for that circuit before ordering, particularly on a retrofit where the panel is older than the requirement.
Do the surge devices take up breaker spaces?
Yes. All three are built in a breaker body and plug into the bus like any other two pole device, so they consume two positions in the panel schedule. Count them when you are working out whether the loadcenter has room, because a full panel that needs surge protection added is a larger job than the device price suggests.
