Air Conditioning Circuit Breaker Trips Off
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Why does my air conditioner keep tripping the circuit breaker? Problem with a air conditioning unit. © By: Dave Rongey |
Problem with an Air Conditioning Circuit Breaker
[ad#block]Air Conditioning Question: Why does my air conditioner keep tripping the circuit breaker?
My central Air Conditioning unit was not cutting off even when the temp was reached. The compressor would shut off but not the unit in the basement, even when I switched it off at the thermostat. So I manually switched off the power switch on unit. I left it off for about 40 minutes, when I switched it back on, the unit came on, but now it keep tripping the breaker after about 20 seconds. I don’t know if burner on the furnace is trying to re-start and won’t so that whats tripping it. Can I lock out the burner, start the furnace again a run the air conditioning without the burner until I can get a service tech out?
Its an Oneida-Royal Furnace.
WGM
Background: WGM, a Homeowner from Connecticut.
Dave’s Reply:
Thanks for your electrical question WGM.
Central Air Conditioner
A Central Air Conditioning unit has several components, including:
The control thermostat, the motor and air circulation unit, the compressor unit and condenser coil fan.
Air Conditioner Tripping the Breaker
Typically, a tripping circuit breaker is caused by a problem with the compressor unit. The main problems are due to a condition within the compressor unit. This can include the compressor unit icing up, which may be caused by a dirty or blocked condenser coil unit, or a fault with the condenser fan, which could be a bad motor, or a bad motor capacitor. There are many variables and factors which are best identified by a qualified air conditioning service technician.
Safety First: Do not defeat any safety or limit switches.
It does sound like a limit switch has failed or a component in the control circuit. I would advise calling a qualified air conditioning technician to identify and repair the problem. In the mean time to avoid damage to the unit I would not run the unit if it is tripping the circuit breaker off.
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Hello how are you?
I am writing you today to ask you a question about my air conditioner.
I had a new air conditioner unit put in about 6 years ago. I live in FL and do not use the AC Heat that often, but everytime I put the heat on after about 3 min the circuit breaker trips. I put the circuit breaker back on a the ac heat starts working again and then the ac circuit breaker trips again.
I went into the circuit breaker box and took out the breaker for the AC and noticed one of the wires looks a little burnt.
My question today is if you can give me some reason(s) as to why this was happening, and a way to fix this problem.
Thanks – Garfield