Window air conditioner suddenly randomly tripping circuit breaker July 9, 2014   Subscribe We have a window A/C unit that is about three years old. Since we bought it, it has worked flawlessly to cool our bedroom for the few weeks a year that we need it... until now. We put it back in the window last Wednesday, and it worked fine until Monday evening. Now, seemingly without rhyme or reason, but usually (of course) in the middle of the night, it will trip the circuit breaker.We hear Phoenix-area homeowners ask, “Why does my air conditioner keep tripping the breaker at the control panel?” First off, if this keeps happening then don’t turn the circuit back on. The circuit breaker’s job is to keep your home and appliances safe by shutting off the flow of electricity when the current flow gets too high. If it keeps tripping, something needs to be fixed. If the air conditioner is the source of the tripping, it may be overheating. When an air conditioner overheats, it draws more amps (a measurement of electrical current) from the circuit.

That may be pushing the circuit past the number of amps it was meant to handle. So the breaker usually trips after the air conditioner has been running for awhile. So now we need to know what’s causing your air conditioner to overheat. 1) Dirty air filter: Dirt on the filter impedes air flow. car ac repair mariettaThis causes the AC to run longer to circulate enough cool air to achieve the temperature you want. replace freon window ac unitThis then causes the air conditioner to overheat. used hvac rooftop unitsChange the filter and see if that helps. 2) Dirty condenser coils: The condenser coils are in your air conditioner’s outside unit. Refrigerant runs through these coils. A fan blows over the coils to dissipate the heat that the refrigerant absorbed in your home.

This is done so the refrigerant can flow back into the inside air conditioning unit and absorb more heat from your home’s air. (See how an air conditioner works exactly.) But if the condenser coils are covered in dust, dirt and leaves, then the coils can’t properly dissipate the heat. So the air conditioner has to work harder and longer to cool your home and overheats as a result. In the Phoenix area, it’s easy for air conditioners to get covered in dust after haboobs (dust storms). Learn more about why you need to clean your condenser coils. You could wash the coils off, or you could have a contractor do it professionally as part of a pre-season air conditioner maintenance visit / A/C tune-up. Spring is the perfect time for one of those! 3) Not enough refrigerant: Without enough refrigerant, the air conditioner has to work longer to cool your home. The air conditioner overheats in the process. You’ll know if you don’t have enough refrigerant if the air your air conditioner puts out isn’t very cold.

A contractor will have to add more refrigerant and seal the refrigerant leak. 4) Condenser coil fan malfunction: This is the fan in the outside unit. If it stops working, it can’t cool down the condenser coils properly. Have a contractor repair the fan. These certainly aren’t all the reasons of what can cause the circuit to trip the breaker. But they are some common ones that you can see. Try changing the filter and cleaning the coils. If that doesn’t work: Call a professional to repair the air conditioner.Share a SolutionAsk a Question0 Electrical breakers are a safety device designed to keep your home and appliances safe in the event of electrical overloads. Air conditioning units are a common cause of a breaker tripping. This guide is about when an AC unit trips the breaker.All ArticlesQuestionsNewestOldestMost HelpfulLeast HelpfulMost AnswersFewest AnswersBest AnswersRelevanceQuestion: Flag0Recently I transferred a window AC from my aunt's room to my room.

Before I decided to put it in my room I decided to clean it with the jet water, then after drying it out, we placed it in my room. When switching it on, the whole house tripped. We suspect it didn't get dry enough so the next day we dried it outside, and after placing it in place the same problem occurred. My question is, if that window air conditioner still can be used or it's a piece of scrap metal now. Please help, thank you. By Azix Answer By mom-from-missouri Flag0What part did you get wet? If you got the inside or the electrical components wet, then yes, it is now unsafe to use. Reply By Dianne S. Flag0I had something like that happen too, I would just have the air conditioner on its own circuit and then you won't have any more trouble. Reply Question: Flag0I just got home from vacation. When I flipped the AC back on I noticed no cool air was circulating. I changed the battery to the control box and checked the condenser, it was not running. I found the breaker had tripped off. After flipping the breaker back on within 3 minutes it trips off again and continues to do so each time.

It's almost 90 in the house and I am melting. The AC is on it's own breaker and this has never happened before. By Deb Answer By xintexas Flag0I had to replaced a breaker that was labeled air conditoning just last month. Mine was worn out on one side of the wiring and only 120 entered the house instead of 220 volts and therefore my air came out hot. It cost me five dollars for a new breaker and soon as it was installed the air worked fine again. Don't know if that is your problem but you might want to check that out too. Breakers don't last forever they do need replacing when worn. Reply By Cricket Flag0Mine used to trip every so often too, especially on really hot days when it would be running almost constantly. When it tripped it also cut the TV, my Roomba vacuum, and a fan I use to help circulate the a/c air (my a/c is a window unit). I tried moving the TV, Roomba, and the fan all to sockets that weren't effected with that breaker so that the a/c is the only thing on that breaker. So far it ahs seemed to help.

It hasn't tripped since! Reply Question: Flag0I live in a 3 bedroom, 1985 single-wide trailer. I have a 15,000 (?) BTU window A/C in the living room and a smaller 5,000 BTU window A/C in the master bedroom. If I try to have them on at the same time it flips a breaker that seems to control the wall that the A/C is on in the living room and everything in my bedroom. Do I need to just move the window A/C across the living room to another wall or is there a way I can keep it where it is and not have the breaker flip when I want to have both A/Cs on. They both use standard plugs. I'm guessing that's a 110 plug? By Jorja C. Answer By Louise B. Flag0From your description, it seems to me that both of these units are on the same breaker. A simple fix will be to run an extension cord from some other plug in to one of the AC units. (I'd suggest the one in the living room, as there should be more available plug ins that are on different breakers.) Then they will be running on different breakers, and you should be able to have them both on at the same time.