On Jun 28, 12:58*pm, mm wrote:
On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:13:34 -0700 (PDT), ransley





wrote:
On Jun 28, 8:50*am, mm wrote:
On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:22:42 -0700 (PDT), ransley

wrote:

Im no electrician or AC pro but I would use a clamp on amp meter at
the panel and if load isnt about what is stated on the unit I would

Don't I have to somehow separate the black and white wires to measure
current with a clamp-on? * So I can go around just one of them.
Woudln't that be a lot of work?

call a pro now, if the breaker was cutting out at a low load I would
put in a new breaker and hope its a bad breaker. I would not feel safe
running it until I knew the issue. Just last night the fire dept was
called to my neighbors house for the AC system smelling like smoke,
alot of components could be in question on a system, you shouldnt be
guessing.

Thanks for replying. *I turned off the outside breaker and the inside
one reset with no problem.

While I'm outside, the young wman next door has guys there replacing
her compressor. *They have to go to their next job and won't look at
my unit, but tell me it's the compressor. *

They're going to give me an estimate for a new AC and furnace.

My next door neibhor also has original AC and furance from 31 years
ago, and I believe all the families who lived there used their AC a
lot. Carrier, fwiw. *Though that's not the brand they're replacing it
with. * She's keeping her furnace.

On your circuit panel its the one wire that goes to each circuit
breaker, it shouldnt be a problem with the large spacing and extra
wire in there to get a meter on a wire.

Oh. *Okay. *Thanks.

As motors and the compressor
near failure they can draw alot more amps than rated. When the tech
comes out and checks my AC he checks for amp draw at the units to
check all components individualy, doing it at the circuit panel will
give you an idea as long as you read the units running load. At 27

Can't do that. *It trips immediately. * Once I held it closed for
about 3 seconds. *That was a mistake. *Might have damaged it. *It
doesn't seem so but I'll see when the new one is in.

I turned off the outside double breaker, turned the inside back on,
and turned it on again outside while watched the compressor fan. *It
ran for a second and stopped, and the inside double breaker wss
tripped again.

years Im sure it could use service, have you ever looked at the air
handler coil,

Everyone here uses the phrase air handler, but I don't know what it
means. * The condensor coil doesn't get very dirty, but I've cleaned
it a little and it's clean enough. *The A coil is not accessible. * I
cut a 3" x 5" hole to see why the condensate was going on my floor,
but never tried to make a bigger hole. *I haven't looked for 10 years.

I saw my neighbors that was so clogged he couldnt get
heat one winter, we pulled the coil for the winter, it was caked shut.

Well the AC was working fine the last time I used it, almost two years
ago, and pretty well for three days just now. *It was actually cool
enough in the house after 4 or maybe 6 hours but it never turned off,
because I had the thermostat too low (68, from the winter), * When I
set the thermostat to 72 or 3, the AC went off a little while later,
and didn't go back on. * I guess that's was either a coincidence, or I
still think maybe something about running for 3 days straight cause it
to fail.



Maybe a full service call would get you through the summer and save
alot in electricity- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That 3x5 hole might be bigh enough to see if the coil is dirty, I cut
in a 12x12 hole and made a cover. You really need a pro to go over
everything, your monkeying around wont address any of the many issues
you have from wear and a lack of regular proper maintenance, so pay
the 200 and get it checked out right, you might save 400 in operating
it this year.