Siemens QE250 GFEP Miniature Circuit Breaker

The QE250 is a Ground Fault Equipment Protection (GFEP) breaker with a 30mA trip sensitivity. It is designed to protect equipment from damaging line-to-ground faults rather than providing Class A personnel protection.

No. The QE250 is a GFEP breaker with a 30mA trip level intended strictly for equipment protection. For personnel protection in areas like bathrooms or kitchens, a Class A GFCI breaker with a 5mA trip level is required.

This plug-on breaker is designed for use in Siemens EQ, PL, ES, and Ultimate series load centers. It is not interchangeable with other brands and should only be installed in panels that list type QE breakers as acceptable.

The QE250 features a pigtail neutral connection. The coiled white pigtail wire must be connected directly to the panel's neutral bus bar to ensure the ground fault sensing circuitry functions correctly.

The breaker terminals accept 8 to 6 AWG copper wire or 8 to 4 AWG aluminum wire. Always verify the required torque specifications printed directly on the breaker label during installation.

The QE250 utilizes a thermal-magnetic trip unit with Long-Time, Instantaneous, and Ground-Fault (LIG) functions. This provides standard overload and short-circuit protection alongside the 30mA equipment ground fault sensing.

While both are 50A, 2-pole breakers that fit the same panels, the QE250 includes 30mA ground fault equipment protection (GFEP). It should only replace a standard Q250 if the specific circuit requires equipment-level ground fault protection, such as for heat trace cables or specific industrial equipment.