I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with the
A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4 years
old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has gone bad.
If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the unit turned
on?
Any thoughts?

wrote in message
I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with the
A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4 years
old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has gone bad.
If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the unit turned
on?
Any thoughts?


While it could be either, I'd call the AC guy. The electrician will say
"yep, overloaded, pay me $75 and call the AC guy" but the AC guy can
determine why it is tripping the breaker and fix it.

wrote:
I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with
the A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4
years old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has
gone bad. If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the
unit turned on?
Any thoughts?

Was this a new or replacement A/C system?

If it was a replacement, I would tend to go with the idea that they may
have used the existing breaker and it may be rated marginally for that unit.
You need to check the recommended protection for that specific unit or it
may just be tired and need replacement. That one you can do yourself IF
you are reasonable competent and careful. But you will need to know what
the new system calls for and if it is larger, you might also need to replace
some wiring.

On the other hand if it was not a replacement, I would tend to suspect
the compressor.

The electrician is not going to be qualified to check the A/C, but the
HVAC contractor should be able to determine that the A/C is OK and that the
correctly rated breaker is in use.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

It is a replacement and they did use the same breaker. If it were a
marginally rated breaker wouldn't it have started giving trouble before
this? Thanks for your input.

At any rate, I have called the A/C company instead of an electrician
to come look at it.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
wrote:
I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with
the A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4
years old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has
gone bad. If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the
unit turned on?
Any thoughts?

Was this a new or replacement A/C system?

If it was a replacement, I would tend to go with the idea that they may
have used the existing breaker and it may be rated marginally for that unit.
You need to check the recommended protection for that specific unit or it
may just be tired and need replacement. That one you can do yourself IF
you are reasonable competent and careful. But you will need to know what
the new system calls for and if it is larger, you might also need to replace
some wiring.

On the other hand if it was not a replacement, I would tend to suspect
the compressor.

The electrician is not going to be qualified to check the A/C, but the
HVAC contractor should be able to determine that the A/C is OK and that the
correctly rated breaker is in use.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with the
A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4 years
old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has gone bad.
If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the unit turned
on?

Neighbors had a similar problem -- breaker for central A/C kept tripping. I
replaced the breaker with a brand new one of the same rating and the problem
went away.

New ac unit can be shall we say tight. have higher FLA (full load amps) to
start with then after some use.
an older breaker that has tripped a few times is the same way it trips at a
lower current than it did when brand new, were talking 10ths of an amp if
that. loose wires on the breaker will also cause tripping, seen that on our
AC unit, check the wires make sure they are very good and tight. Ours would
work fine for a while then when system had to work harder due to outside
temp, and longer running cycle would trip out, was only loose wires.

wrote in message
ups.com...
It is a replacement and they did use the same breaker. If it were a
marginally rated breaker wouldn't it have started giving trouble before
this? Thanks for your input.

At any rate, I have called the A/C company instead of an electrician
to come look at it.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
wrote:
I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with
the A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4
years old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has
gone bad. If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the
unit turned on?
Any thoughts?

Was this a new or replacement A/C system?

If it was a replacement, I would tend to go with the idea that they
may
have used the existing breaker and it may be rated marginally for that
unit.
You need to check the recommended protection for that specific unit or it
may just be tired and need replacement. That one you can do yourself IF
you are reasonable competent and careful. But you will need to know
what
the new system calls for and if it is larger, you might also need to
replace
some wiring.

On the other hand if it was not a replacement, I would tend to
suspect
the compressor.

The electrician is not going to be qualified to check the A/C, but
the
HVAC contractor should be able to determine that the A/C is OK and that
the
correctly rated breaker is in use.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

wrote in message
ups.com...

Yeah, that's what I was going to do too, but two electricians told me
that it was more likely to be an A/C problem

Why not do that first? If it doesn't work, you're out $10 and the 10
minutes it takes to replace a circuit breaker.

If it does work, you've saved a pile of money and the aggrevation of waiting
around all day for a service person.

On 28 Jul 2006 08:21:13 -0700, wrote:

It is a replacement and they did use the same breaker. If it were a
marginally rated breaker wouldn't it have started giving trouble before
this?

When I fixed tv's, customers would ask me, Why did it break now?

I asked them, When would you have it break?

If you think it should give trouble before now, how much before now?
A year? 2 years? Why not before then?


Thanks for your input.

At any rate, I have called the A/C company instead of an electrician
to come look at it.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
wrote:
I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with
the A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4
years old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has
gone bad. If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the
unit turned on?
Any thoughts?

Was this a new or replacement A/C system?

If it was a replacement, I would tend to go with the idea that they may
have used the existing breaker and it may be rated marginally for that unit.
You need to check the recommended protection for that specific unit or it
may just be tired and need replacement. That one you can do yourself IF
you are reasonable competent and careful. But you will need to know what
the new system calls for and if it is larger, you might also need to replace
some wiring.

On the other hand if it was not a replacement, I would tend to suspect
the compressor.

The electrician is not going to be qualified to check the A/C, but the
HVAC contractor should be able to determine that the A/C is OK and that the
correctly rated breaker is in use.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 14:43:34 -0500, "Howard Beale"
wrote:


wrote in message
oups.com...

Yeah, that's what I was going to do too, but two electricians told me
that it was more likely to be an A/C problem

Why not do that first? If it doesn't work, you're out $10 and the 10
minutes it takes to replace a circuit breaker.

If it does work, you've saved a pile of money and the aggrevation of waiting
around all day for a service person.

Got to agree with all you say. I had a GFI breaker that kept
tripping. Of course I suspected I had a ground fault in something,
but when I couldn't find anything plugged in all the time, I replaced
the breaker and that solved the problem. The house was 7 years old.
New one has lasted 20 years so far.

try replacing breaker FIRST its low cost and proves the problem is in
the AC unit.

if your afraid to tackle this ask around friends, its actually easy but
turn main off before opening cabinet

On 30 Jul 2006 09:19:07 -0700, "
wrote:

try replacing breaker FIRST its low cost and proves the problem is in
the AC unit.

if your afraid to tackle this ask around friends, its actually easy but
turn main off before opening cabinet


Agreed. I did it and I'm definitely no electrician. Not really that
hard to do. Just make sure you get a comparable circuit breaker, then
just pay attention to how you remove the old breaker and how it was
wired. Actually I'm making it sound harder than it is. The hardest
part is just getting the comparable circuit breaker.

// doug //
website: MyHomeRebate.com
"Buy New Homes for Less in Texas"

wrote in message oups.com...
I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with the
A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4 years
old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has gone bad.
If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the unit turned
on?
Any thoughts?



Your A/C works harder and draws more energy (RLA) when the
outside temperature is warmer.

Short cycling (on-off-on) is a common cause of those symptoms in
warm weather.

A 30 amp circuit breaker that has been tripped a few times should
really be replaced.

GL
Dan

Pull the breaker from the panel and check it. Sometimes the breakers will
"burn" at the buss and not be noticable right away. While the air condenser
/ air conditioner is running, it will overheat the breaker [bad connection
on the buss] and trip while there might be nothing wrong with the air
conditioner itself.

--
Zyp
wrote in message
ups.com...
It is a replacement and they did use the same breaker. If it were a
marginally rated breaker wouldn't it have started giving trouble before
this? Thanks for your input.

At any rate, I have called the A/C company instead of an electrician
to come look at it.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
wrote:
I have a 4 year old Lennox central air conditioner. It has run fine
until this summer.
Now after it has been running for about 15 minutes the circuit breaker
trips and the outside condensor fan stops. When running it does blow
cool air.

I have heard that it could be the compressor or something else with
the A/C unit or it could be a bad breaker. Since the unit is only 4
years old I am thinking that it is unlikely that the compressor has
gone bad. If it were a bad breaker wouldn't it trip as soon as the
unit turned on?
Any thoughts?

Was this a new or replacement A/C system?

If it was a replacement, I would tend to go with the idea that they
may
have used the existing breaker and it may be rated marginally for that
unit.
You need to check the recommended protection for that specific unit or
it
may just be tired and need replacement. That one you can do yourself
IF
you are reasonable competent and careful. But you will need to know
what
the new system calls for and if it is larger, you might also need to
replace
some wiring.

On the other hand if it was not a replacement, I would tend to
suspect
the compressor.

The electrician is not going to be qualified to check the A/C, but
the
HVAC contractor should be able to determine that the A/C is OK and that
the
correctly rated breaker is in use.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit