A/C Unit Breaker tripping

[jaado]

Recently I observed that my A/C Unit (downstairs) one keeps tripping once in a while. Especially when I use my clothes dryer or sprinkler system, its the A/C breaker is going off and i have to put it back.
It works fine after I put it back and after a while its breaking. Happening now a days mostly on weekends.

Any suggestions if I can troubleshoot it or need to call the A/C or electrical guy? confused.


My house is brand new 4 yeard old and so are the HVAC units..

thanks.

 

[mrb]

sounds like voltage drop from a bad connection somewhere. Get a licensed electrican out there to look at it.

 

[bazar01]

Recently I observed that my A/C Unit (downstairs) one keeps tripping once in a while. Especially when I use my clothes dryer or sprinkler system, its the A/C breaker is going off and i have to put it back.
It works fine after I put it back and after a while its breaking. Happening now a days mostly on weekends.

Any suggestions if I can troubleshoot it or need to call the A/C or electrical guy? confused.


My house is brand new 4 yeard old and so are the HVAC units..

thanks.

Is your A/C unit, and clothes dryer on the same circuit? The sprinkler system only consumes a very small power so that is out.
If you have a clamp type ampmeter, that is the only way to get the actual draw on the circuit and compare that to your circuit breaker rating.

 

[jaado]

Ok.. Looks like I have to call up the electrician to come and have a look at it..

Is there is any chance that is has to do with the A/C unit.. as only that is breaking. The upstairs A/C unit is fine though it may not be running all the time..

 

[MrMark]

Yes, absolutely. That is most likely.

 

[sams ron]

If the breaker trips right away after unit starts (like within seconds) it's probably the compressor which is a fairly costly fix.

If it runs for five minutes or so before it trips, it is most likely a run capacitor. Expect to pay about 32.00 plus service charge.

some units do have hard starts as mentioned by the previous answerer, that can do it also, but not all units have hard starts.

 

[jaado]

thanks to all for your useful replies..

The unit runs for sometime ranging from 1hr to weeks by itself and all of a sudden it keeps tripping every one 1-2 hrs when I am using my clothes dryer.

But last night the breaker went off by itself with no dryer being used.
Later today when I go home I will see if it breaks and will post it. Will call the electrician and ask him to check.. hopefully its a small fix.

 

[CGarcia]

It could be the breaker itself. They do go bad sometimes.

 

[rockchucker]

100% ^


Also make sure all of the Wires are very tight that go into the Breaker. My buddy decided to do his own panel at one point in time and called me out due to issues with his Pump tripping the Breaker...Needless to say he was lucky he did not have a fire. Most all of the connections were only barely finger tight. They MUST be very tight when dealing with heavy loads. Something to check for free anyways.

Of course turn off the Main while doing this blah...blah...blah...

 

[burleymike]

The sprinkler system only consumes a very small power so that is out.

My 2 Hp pump draws 11 amps that is not a small amount. Many parts of the country people use a pump to irrigate.

 

[jaado]

so the a/c tech came over and checked all the connections, capacitor etc and said everything was fine and it might be a bad breaker.
The breaker and the dryer ones are facing each other in the breaker box and he said sometimes it might be getting heated and replace that with a 30 amp one.
I went to lowes to get the 30 amp one and the dude over there scared me off saying that amp should not be increased only decreased as it may catch fire...
Well i returned back with a 20 amp one and the tech replaced it for me.. (luckily my home is nearby to lowes and he waited.. he didn't have that model with him)

hopefully this fixes it

 

[burleymike]

What size wire is the dryer on #10 can handle a 30 amp breaker. I am assuming we are talking about an electric dryer.

 

[jaado]

yes it is an electric dryer

 

[bonneyman]

What brand of breaker is it? I just learned (the hard $$$$$$ way) that FPE (Federal Pacific) style breakers stink and can cause fires. Have to have my main breaker panel replaced - old FPE's are a problem, according to the electrician.

 

[jaado]

not sure whats happening but my breaker went off again... looks like this will be a long fix...

 

[cowboyjosh]

Im betting on a loose connection or bad breaker if your AC guy checked the AC out and gave it a clean bill. Also on the outside disconnect to make sure all connections are secure there as well.

Another thing you might want to check is the wiring itself, is there any visible damage between the box to the outside disconnect? Is there any damage between the disconnect outside to the outside condenser unit? Have already seen where the insulation is nicked and grounds itself out when there is any vibration.

 

[MrMark]

You need another AC guy for a second opinion. I am guessing the dryer thing has been coincidental.

 

[jaado]

All connections were checked and he did leave something on the wires to check the amp for around 30-45 min..

thats what I am thinking, will take a second opinion from a different a/c guy most likely.

Lately my garage is very hot (its like 106 in dallas from last two weeks) and my main breaker unit door is kinda not properly closing. Does this have to do with the amount of heat in the garage by any chance?

thanks.

 

[MrMark]

I doubt it. I would make sure you have the correct size breaker and wiring for the unit. You may just be right up against the limit on the permissible load before the breaker trips. This unit is working hard and under heavy load in your climate. The breakers are thermal units and they have trip curves that are very interesting. Not what you would think. Google inverse time delay breakers and look at the current vs time for their trip curves.