Jay see 1997 GU build up

[Ben-e-boy]

I am sure they will trip at a point well before the insulation is compromised is perhaps the message. They are a cheap generic design and I have them in use and they certainly have worked for me when i have replicated the short circuit fault.

No, the message is get the breaker to trip instantly in the event of a fault, dont give it a chance to wait around and trip whenever, hoping it doesn't damage other stuff. That just increases the chance of it not working and damaging other stuff.
General overloading on the other hand needs a bit of room to move.

How did you replicate the short circuit fault?