5 Advantages of Ductless Cooling and Heating Systems Chosen Just For You 5 Advantages of Ductless Cooling and Heating Systems How to Prepare Your Condenser for Winter When Reselling a Home, a Ductless Climate System is an Investment That Pays for Itself How a Ductless Heat Pump Can Save You Money Tackle Single Room Challenges With a Ductless-split System Split-ductless: A Well-Matched System for Passive Homes A Custom Fit For Your Home’s Cooling and Heating DilemmasStop Suffering and Finally Achieve Comfort With Home ZoningWe 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. This causes the AC to run longer to circulate enough cool air to achieve the temperature you want. This then causes the air conditioner to overheat. Change 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. central ac unit humming fan not turningIf that doesn’t work: Call a professional to repair the air conditioner.93 honda civic ac beltImagine you get home from a hard day of work, only to realize…your air conditioner isn’t working. car ac repair boynton beachYour home is hot and muggy, and you’re a sweaty mess already!This is a common scenario when summer hits and the air conditioner overheats. When it overheats, it will trip the circuit breaker—and continue to do so until you fix the problem.

Here are 3 common reasons why this happens, and what you can do about them.The air filter is the safety net that protects your air conditioner from dirt and pollutants. But when it’s covered in dirt, it goes from friend to foe.A dirty air filter blocks airflow in your home’s air ducts, forcing your air conditioner to run longer—and harder— to cool your home. This will continue until:You don’t want either, right?Solution: Change the air filter once a month. Out of air filters? Here’s our guide to choosing the right air conditioner air filter.Condenser coils are refrigerant filled tubes running through your air conditioner’s outside unit.  If these coils are dirty, then your air conditioner runs longer, causing the air conditioner to overheat.Here’s why: Your standard split A/C unit has 2 parts: the outside unit and the inside unit. The inside unit uses refrigerant to absorb the heat in your indoor air to cool it down. That hot liquid refrigerant flows to the outside unit where the refrigerant dumps the heat out into the world.

But if dirt covers the coils, the refrigerant can’t release the heat easily because dirt is an insulator. Basically, it’s like if you were wearing a sweater on a hot day. Your body would want to release the heat, but the wool would prevent the heat from leaving (talk about overheating!). So now the refrigerant can’t absorb more heat from your air, causing your air conditioner to blow out lukewarm air. Your air conditioner will keep running until it overheats because it can’t reach your thermostat temperature setting.Solution: Clean your outside unit using a special coil cleaning spray. Or call a professional to do it for you as part of a standard air conditioner maintenance visit.Similar to problem #2, not having enough refrigerant will also cause your air conditioner to constantly run, leading to it overheat.Solution: Look out for the signs of low refrigerant:If you’ve noticed these signs, then you’re low on refrigerant. If you’re low on refrigerant then you also have a refrigerant leak because refrigerant is never “used up” like gas in a car.