Breakers are a safety device. It is designed to protect not only the equipment but the wiring and the house as well. So when it trips, there is a reason and it should be taken seriously. One very common cause for breakers to trip are loose electrical connections and can easily be corrected by tightening them. Try one time to reset it by turning it to the “off” position and then back to the “on” position. Do not just keep resetting it and try to ignore the situation. It is trying to tell you something. And while it may be just a weak breaker or the result of a thunderstorm, always remember that you are dealing with high voltage, high amperage and possibly high temperatures which can cause serious damage to life and property. Note that breakers should not feel hot to the touch. If it is hot, it indicates a problem and not to be ignored. For example, if when you reset it, it immediately trips, that is usually indicative of a direct short. Do not even try to reset the breaker again.

Sometimes the breaker for the outside unit trips because the compressor is having a hard time starting and will require a “hard start” kit to get it going again or it may be as simple as replacing a defective capacitor.lg mini split system ac heat pump Below is a list of possible causes and things to check. is my ac unit low on freon can be addressed or fixed by the homeowner. window ac units 30 000 btu usually require a service call. Low voltage to the house as in a brown-out Under-sized breaker or wire Locked up motor or compressor The company You Choose To Install and Service Your System Will Determine The Degree of Comfort and Satisfaction You Enjoy. Excerpts of the preceding information has been compiled by Hannabery HVAC, which has graciously permitted us to include them on this web site as a service for all homeowners.

These "Common HVAC Problems" are provided FREE and as a consequence Climatemakers does not assume any liability resulting from any information we provide. Are you a bit hot under the collar? If you had a power outage during one of Arizona’s monstrous monsoons, the central AC may not have come back on. So what do you do? Follow these 5 steps to restart your AC safely and get your comfort back. Go to your thermostat and set it to “off.”  This will stop your thermostat from calling your AC for cooling so you can reset the circuit breaker. Most likely, a power surge from the storm overloaded the AC’s circuit, causing the circuit breaker to “trip.”  So you’ll need to reset it. The circuit breaker box (a grey metalic box) is usually located in these areas: Open the circuit breaker box and find the circuit that has an air conditioner/HVAC label next to it. It’s OK if there’s no label. Just look for a switch that is “tripped,” meaning that’s it’s moved to the neutral position.

To reset the circuit breaker,  turn it to the “off” position (right), then the “on” position (left) Your AC needs some time to reset its internal circuit breaker. Drink a cold drink. Take a swim (probably not during the monsoon, though). Do whatever you need to do to stay cool. Head back to your thermostat, set it to cool and make sure the temperature setting is at least 5 degrees below the room temperature. The thermostat should call for cooling from the AC. Now celebrate, because you just got your comfort back!My circuit breaker tripped again!” If the breaker trips soon after you reset it, you have another issue you need to deal with first before attempting to reset the circuit breaker again. Read more in our article: “Why is My Air Conditioner Tripping the Circuit Breaker?” If you followed our instructions and the AC is still not working, there may be an electrical issue with the AC. (Psst, we have a coupon for $50 off any A/C or heating repair.)

Breaker tripping on A/C Condenser? Re: Breaker tripping on A/C Condenser? You can always chance the breaker to rule that out, they are cheap ( $12.50) but I would venture to say it is the unit that needs looking at by an HVAC Tech. NFPA 70 (NEC) Code Making Panel 5 and 17 Committee Member NEC Code Questions - Visit http://masterthenec.boards.net/ �Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.� -RIP Dad, Love You!. Disclaimer - All my posts on this forum are of my own personal opinion and represent Electrical Code Academy, Inc. Although repeated breaker trips on a condenser can be a number of things, my first guesses would be either supply voltage is low if it's been unusually hot in the area (utility company just cant keep up) or the compressor is starting to go bad. A bad breaker would most likely trip on startup before the unit even gets going, as that should normally be the highest current draw, and breakers don't fail very often (unless it's an FPE ... lol).

But a number of things should be checked out (including things like the current it's drawing, possible loose connections, low supply voltage, internal electronics, etc.) before ya send the condenser flowers ... A specialist should check the startup and running load against the nameplate RLA with a clamp on amp probe to see if it's drawing too much current before ya start swapping things out. They should also check that the breaker is sized about right per the manufacturer/nameplate (around twice the RLA). Just swapping the breaker out in-kind without checking things may appear to solve the problem for a short time if the unit is drawing about the breaker rating at startup and/or while running (although it shouldn't be that close) and the new breaker has a slightly higher actual trip load. JMO & WAG ... It is most likely due to heat. I am on Block Island, RI. and I know the weather over there in NJ. High heat = high refrigerant pressure = high amperage draw = high breaker heat.