ENHANCED TRIPPING SOLENOID FOR A MINIATURE CIRCUIT BREAKER

A state of a tripping solenoid in a circuit breaker is determined by a primary coil and a secondary coil wound around a hollow body of a solenoid. The secondary coil is positioned within magnetic coupling distance from the primary coil and is configured to produce a sensing voltage based on the primary coil voltage. A ferromagnetic plunger positioned in the hollow body, is configured to slide axially to a tripped position to trip the circuit breaker when a trip voltage is applied to the primary coil. A plunger position detecting circuit connected to the secondary coil, is configured to detect the position of the plunger in the hollow body of the solenoid based on the sensing voltage. A reduction or absence of the sensing voltage indicates a faulty or broken connection in the primary coil.