My air conditioner is on it's own circuit breaker due to the length of time
we use it living in Texas. It had not "frozen up" before this happened, we
cleaned the excess hair (from pets) from it last evening. It had not been
on much today since the weather wasn't that bad for most of the day...just
short bursts if needed. We keep it set anywhere between 75 and 80 degrees
at all times during the summer. All of sudden, it stopped. It had not
been on for long, maybe a half an hour, and not it died. I looked and the
breaker had tripped. What would cause a breaker to trip? Would low freon
do it, or is it a more serious problem. Any help with this would be
appreciated. BTW all the other lights in the house are working.

Thanks
Dakota

Depending on the age of the house (breaker box), breakers do wear over time
and become more resistive. When you turn your AC on, it gets very hot and
that's what typically causes breakers to trip. The breakers trip when they
get hot due to overcurrent, or just old age.

Check the fan on the AC unit. If it is siezed or shorted that can trip the
breaker. IF it is open and not running that can also trip the breaker by
causing the compressor to draw to much current. After checking this
replace the breaker if you can DIY it.

I have also heard that this can happen if the wire to the breaker is
loosely connected. You may check to see if it is loose and or corroded and
then try to tighten and/or replace it. Please whatever you do, remember to
shut off all the power to the electrical box before you start tinkering
around with the breakers.

Hope this helps.

Mike

a power bump or brownout can also cause this....

my bet a breaker is going bad

Mike,
Thank you for your quick reply since we are melting...
Actually we did check the fan and all the inside workings of the air
conditioner and the water (condensation)from all the humid weather we
have, was overflowing the pan, hence hitting the wire and tripping the
breaker. We thought after cleaning out all of the gook that had
accumulated, all was fixed. It worked fine all evening,but tripped again
this morning. We are going to replace the breaker today since it seemed
loose, alot looser than all the others, plus the fact we are trying to dry
out all the insides of the unit with just running the fan for the time
being. So, it seems you were right on the money with your answer, all you
had said was correct. We have been having brown outs here in Fort Worth &
Dallas, it seems it is the electricity's company way of avoiding a total
blackout. They had been shutting down the electricity in different parts
of the city for about 15 minutes at a time, without warning I might add!
It has caused major problems with refrigerator condensors and such, I will
not even go into the computer problems it has caused for many businesses
and home users. But of course, they have a deaf ear to the little man's
problems and continue on their course of action, justifying it with it
being for the greater good of all concerned. Yeah right! I will let you
know if changing the breaker completes the process of the air staying on
all the time and not tripping anymore. Thank you both who had answered, it
did help alot and just knowing this forum is here for answers is a great
relief....this house is old, so, I will probably be here for
awhile...LOL.
Dakota

Dakota,
Glad to hear our advice helped you out. It sounds like replacing the
breaker will completely solve the problem just as long as water isn't
hitting a live wire anymore. Let us know how it works out when you do
the replacement and if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.
We're all here to help each other out.


Mike

Dakota wrote:
Mike,
Thank you for your quick reply since we are melting...
Actually we did check the fan and all the inside workings of the air
conditioner and the water (condensation)from all the humid weather we
have, was overflowing the pan, hence hitting the wire and tripping the
breaker. We thought after cleaning out all of the gook that had
accumulated, all was fixed. It worked fine all evening,but tripped again
this morning. We are going to replace the breaker today since it seemed
loose, alot looser than all the others, plus the fact we are trying to dry
out all the insides of the unit with just running the fan for the time
being. So, it seems you were right on the money with your answer, all you
had said was correct. We have been having brown outs here in Fort Worth &
Dallas, it seems it is the electricity's company way of avoiding a total
blackout. They had been shutting down the electricity in different parts
of the city for about 15 minutes at a time, without warning I might add!
It has caused major problems with refrigerator condensors and such, I will
not even go into the computer problems it has caused for many businesses
and home users. But of course, they have a deaf ear to the little man's
problems and continue on their course of action, justifying it with it
being for the greater good of all concerned. Yeah right! I will let you
know if changing the breaker completes the process of the air staying on
all the time and not tripping anymore. Thank you both who had answered, it
did help alot and just knowing this forum is here for answers is a great
relief....this house is old, so, I will probably be here for
awhile...LOL.
Dakota

Okay, I'll take the bait. Why in hell is the breaker- any breaker- in
range of water condensate at the evaporator? They should all be in
proper metal enclosure(s) protected from wetting by anything but area
flooding.

Sounds like some electrician was a real hack, and you should
investigate getting this rewired. Besides regular maintenance- drain
clearing/filter changing/etc.

J

I thought rolling blackouts were a California thing? Now Dallas, too?

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Dakota" wrote in message
news:894c93193331fcfed288aa65be1477e1@homerepairli ve.com...
Mike,
Thank you for your quick reply since we are melting...
Actually we did check the fan and all the inside workings of the air
conditioner and the water (condensation)from all the humid weather we
have, was overflowing the pan, hence hitting the wire and tripping the
breaker. We thought after cleaning out all of the gook that had
accumulated, all was fixed. It worked fine all evening,but tripped
again
this morning. We are going to replace the breaker today since it
seemed
loose, alot looser than all the others, plus the fact we are trying to
dry
out all the insides of the unit with just running the fan for the time
being. So, it seems you were right on the money with your answer, all
you
had said was correct. We have been having brown outs here in Fort
Worth &
Dallas, it seems it is the electricity's company way of avoiding a
total
blackout. They had been shutting down the electricity in different
parts
of the city for about 15 minutes at a time, without warning I might
add!
It has caused major problems with refrigerator condensors and such, I
will
not even go into the computer problems it has caused for many
businesses
and home users. But of course, they have a deaf ear to the little
man's
problems and continue on their course of action, justifying it with it
being for the greater good of all concerned. Yeah right! I will let
you
know if changing the breaker completes the process of the air staying
on
all the time and not tripping anymore. Thank you both who had
answered, it
did help alot and just knowing this forum is here for answers is a
great
relief....this house is old, so, I will probably be here for
awhile...LOL.
Dakota

TinyURL was created!

The following URL:

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dw...estnews/storie
s/wfaa060417_mo_blackouts.45dc451c.html

has a length of 99 characters and resulted in the following TinyURL
which has a length of 24 characters:

http://tinyurl.com/ol2dl

Yep, you're right. 15 minute power cuts.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Dakota" wrote in message
news:894c93193331fcfed288aa65be1477e1@homerepairli ve.com...
Mike,
Thank you for your quick reply since we are melting...
Actually we did check the fan and all the inside workings of the air
conditioner and the water (condensation)from all the humid weather we
have, was overflowing the pan, hence hitting the wire and tripping the
breaker. We thought after cleaning out all of the gook that had
accumulated, all was fixed. It worked fine all evening,but tripped
again
this morning. We are going to replace the breaker today since it
seemed
loose, alot looser than all the others, plus the fact we are trying to
dry
out all the insides of the unit with just running the fan for the time
being. So, it seems you were right on the money with your answer, all
you
had said was correct. We have been having brown outs here in Fort
Worth &
Dallas, it seems it is the electricity's company way of avoiding a
total
blackout. They had been shutting down the electricity in different
parts
of the city for about 15 minutes at a time, without warning I might
add!
It has caused major problems with refrigerator condensors and such, I
will
not even go into the computer problems it has caused for many
businesses
and home users. But of course, they have a deaf ear to the little
man's
problems and continue on their course of action, justifying it with it
being for the greater good of all concerned. Yeah right! I will let
you
know if changing the breaker completes the process of the air staying
on
all the time and not tripping anymore. Thank you both who had
answered, it
did help alot and just knowing this forum is here for answers is a
great
relief....this house is old, so, I will probably be here for
awhile...LOL.
Dakota

posted for all of us...
I don't top post - see either inline or at bottom.


Dakota wrote:
Mike,
Thank you for your quick reply since we are melting...
Actually we did check the fan and all the inside workings of the air
conditioner and the water (condensation)from all the humid weather we
have, was overflowing the pan, hence hitting the wire and tripping the
breaker. We thought after cleaning out all of the gook that had
accumulated, all was fixed. It worked fine all evening,but tripped again
this morning. We are going to replace the breaker today since it seemed
loose, alot looser than all the others, plus the fact we are trying to dry
out all the insides of the unit with just running the fan for the time
being. So, it seems you were right on the money with your answer, all you
had said was correct. We have been having brown outs here in Fort Worth &
Dallas, it seems it is the electricity's company way of avoiding a total
blackout. They had been shutting down the electricity in different parts
of the city for about 15 minutes at a time, without warning I might add!
It has caused major problems with refrigerator condensors and such, I will
not even go into the computer problems it has caused for many businesses
and home users. But of course, they have a deaf ear to the little man's
problems and continue on their course of action, justifying it with it
being for the greater good of all concerned. Yeah right! I will let you
know if changing the breaker completes the process of the air staying on
all the time and not tripping anymore. Thank you both who had answered, it
did help alot and just knowing this forum is here for answers is a great
relief....this house is old, so, I will probably be here for
awhile...LOL.
Dakota

Okay, I'll take the bait. Why in hell is the breaker- any breaker- in
range of water condensate at the evaporator? They should all be in
proper metal enclosure(s) protected from wetting by anything but area
flooding.

Sounds like some electrician was a real hack, and you should
investigate getting this rewired. Besides regular maintenance- drain
clearing/filter changing/etc.

J


Does make one wonder... Maybe hallerburton from another post was working on it
- he's a hack.
--
Tekkie

Actually I work safely, obviously you dont know power companues
routinely put dead shorts in lines being worked on so linemen dont get
killed.........