Maxguard MCB families compared: MB63-1 (6kA) and F2 (10kA)

Maxguard sells two miniature circuit-breaker families side by side. The MB63-1 is the 6kA range, offered in B and C curves, and it’s the one with a published Malaysian price list. The F2 is the one Maxguard’s catalogue heads at 10kA, and its order tables add a D curve the MB63-1 doesn’t list. Both ranges run one to four poles and use almost the same catalogue number format, which is why it’s easy to order one when you meant the other.

The spans aren’t quite the same, though. In the catalogue tables, 1-pole and 2-pole devices run 1–63A in both families, but the 3-pole and 4-pole tables start at 6A. So the “1–63A” line on a summary only holds for the single- and two-pole sizes; if you need a small three-phase rating, neither range lists one.

The ranges are also physically the same size, one 18mm module per pole: 18mm for 1-pole, 36mm for 2-pole, 54mm for 3-pole and 72mm for 4-pole. Similar dimensions don’t by themselves mean one is a drop-in for the other — but the shared footprint is why these two get compared at all.

What 6kA and 10kA actually mean

The number in the family name is the rated breaking capacity, written Icn: the fault current the device is built to interrupt safely at the point it’s installed. It is not the current the breaker carries in normal use. A 16A breaker is a 16A breaker whether it’s rated 6kA or 10kA, so a higher Icn doesn’t make a 6kA device a worse product — it’s a different rating for installations where more fault current is available at that point.

Two families, one code layout

Both ranges write their catalogue numbers the same way:

M + poles + 2-digit current + curve + breaking capacity

The breaking capacity is its own final field, and it’s the quickest way to tell the families apart:

• M116C6 — 1-pole, 16A, C curve, 6kA (MB63-1)
• M116C10 — 1-pole, 16A, C curve, 10kA (F2)

The current field is always two digits, zero-padded below 10 amps, so 6A is M106… and 1A is M101…. If you’re matching a breaker already fitted in a board, read the whole code — pole count, amperage and curve — rather than going by the family name.

Where the two ranges differ

Curves. The MB63-1 catalogue prints B-curve and C-curve columns and nothing else, so M116B6 and M116C6 are both real. The F2 tables add a D-curve column, so M116B10, M116C10 and M116D10 all appear there.

The letter sets the instantaneous magnetic trip band — the current at which the breaker trips immediately on a short circuit — expressed as a multiple of its rated current. Schneider Electric explains the convention for its own breakers in a published FAQ: B, C and D sit in progressively higher multiples of rated current, so a higher band rides through more inrush before it reacts. Those figures are Schneider’s for its own devices, not Maxguard’s tested bands — Maxguard’s catalogue doesn’t print the multipliers. What the catalogue does settle is which curve columns exist: B and C on the MB63-1, B, C and D on the F2.

Breaking capacity. 6kA on the MB63-1 against a catalogue 10kA on the F2.

The F2 discrepancy worth knowing before you buy

Maxguard’s F2 product page is headed “F2 Series (10kA MCB)”, yet its technical data lists “Rated breaking capacity (Icn): 6kA” and gives the tripping curves as “B, C”, with no D. Maxguard’s catalogue (the March 2022 edition, which its website links as the current catalogue) heads the same family “F2 series (10kA MCB)”, states Icn 10kA, and its order tables run B, C and D-curve codes.

So the F2’s two published sources disagree on both the breaking capacity and the curve options, and the 6kA figure sits under a 10kA heading rather than belonging to a renamed family. Only the catalogue order tables show the D-curve codes; the website doesn’t agree they exist. If the higher breaking capacity is why you’re choosing the F2, check the rating and code stated on the unit you’re actually buying rather than relying on either page alone.

Buying them in Malaysia

For the MB63-1 the route is concrete. Quintex Electrical Engineering & Trading in Bukit Kemuning Industrial Park, Shah Alam lists 1-, 2- and 3-pole MB63-1 units on its own product pages, each with a dropdown of amperages priced separately — from RM4.20 for the 1-pole mid-ratings up to RM28.00 for the 3-pole 40A and 63A. Those are listed reference prices, not a live quote, and the MB63-1 family page has the full per-amperage breakdown. One thing to watch: the dropdowns offer discrete amperages and none of the options names a curve, so if the curve matters, order by the full catalogue number.

For an F2, Maxguard’s F2 page takes quotation requests, and that’s the practical route — give them the exact code, such as M116D10 for a 1-pole 16A D-curve. Maxguard is based in Shah Alam and its dealer list covers electrical traders across KL, Selangor and Johor, including Actgen Industry in Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru. That’s a distribution list rather than a stock list: it tells you who carries the brand, not who has your order code on a shelf.

If you’re weighing Maxguard against other manufacturers, the MCB category compares MCB families across brands.