[jee7s]

The slowing was an observation made by one of my fellow engineers/mentors during a motor test. Over repeated breaker trips in a short period the breaker slowed its trip time.

Our best guess is that it has something to do with deformation of the metal strip in the breaker. Heat may make it more malleable, which would reduce the "snap action" of the breaker. The difference is small, but could be significant.

JEE

EDIT: I got some clarification on this, and I misstated the concept. The slowing isn't in the tendency to trip, but in the reset. As was previously stated, the heat makes the trip more sensitive, but it also makes the reset time slower. This means that popping the breaker causes slower reset, disabling the motor for a period of time. AKA...bad idea. My mistake in interpretation.