On Jun 5, 5:39 pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article . com, wrote:
I am running my window air conditioner on a 20 amp line run directly
to the breaker box. It runs fine for quite a while, through numerous
cycles, then trips the circuit when restarting itself. I am not very
knowlefdgeable in AC, but it seems to me the thermostat is shutting
off the compressor and trying to turn it back on too soon (about a
minute). Does this sound like a defective thermostat or is some other
circuitry involved?

Sounds to me more like the A/C has been loading the circuit too much for too
long, and causing the breaker to trip from overload.

What is the amperage rating on the nameplate of the A/C ?

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.


I agree. If the AC has only been off for a minute or two, there is
residual pressure that the compressor has to overcome. Even if the
nominal current draw for the AC is under 20 amps, the start surge is
likely higher, and that can cause a trip.

In addition, if you are plugging it in some distance away from the
circuit breaker, that may be related.
(I'm not sure why, exactly. I have a compressor I can run in my garage
on a 20 amp circuit with no problem. But if I plug it in to the
outside 20 amp circuit, it tries to start but is sluggish, and trips
in about 3 seconds. I dunno why. I didn't have anything else running
on the outside circuit.)