Why does the air conditioner trip the breaker?

Question

We've been having problems with Air conditioners. We bought a used 220 window unit, plugged it in, ran it for a few minutes, then the fan died. We took it back to the guy we bought it from and he exchanged it for an older model. The fan on this one died, then the breaker flipped. When we turned the breaker back on, everything ran fine again for a few minutes, then the breaker flipped again. This time, the cord was hot.

The Air conditioner is a Sears Coldspot, Model 10669730, rated 230V, 15A, 3350W. The outlet is a dedicated 220V on a 15A switch. I measured the outlet with a multimeter and got 118V for each outlet to ground, and 237 connecting the outlets to each other.

What's wrong?

Answer 1

Don't listen to these people on here its not the breaker. If the outlet is 220/240v  and the breaker is 20 amps. Then it is a 40 amp circuit that's more than enough. And it sounds like its doing its job by tripping.

My advice would be to buy your next ac unit new, or from someone who actually knows how to fix them. It sounds like the new unit you purchased has problems too.

And without more information it would be hard to pinpoint exactly whats wrong with your unit. I'm sure it would cheaper to just buy a new one.

Answer 2

if the air conditioner is rated 15A and the switch breaker is the same ,it is to close .switch the 15A breaker to a 20A breaker .it is easy to do ,just turn off the MAIN breaker .pull the 15A breaker toward you and it will pop out ,then unhook the wires and push the new breaker in.

Answer 3

You can't run a 220volt A/C on a 110v circuit.  It will NEVER work.  The wire got hot because you overloaded the circuit.  You need an A/C that runs on 110v and does not draw 15 amps.  Don't burn your house down trying to keep cool.

Answer 4

Loose or bad connection cause an increase in current which will trip a circuit breaker. You could have a loose wire on your outlet or a worn out outlet.

Turn off the power to the outlet and remove it, if it looks old or worn replace it. Also tighten the wires to the breaker that feeds the outlet.

Remember to kill the power to the entire main panel before you mess with the breakers, test for voltage again before you touch any wires When you kill the main power also tighten all your wires on your breakers, I'll bet you will find most of your wires loose. DO NOT ... TOUCH THE WIRES FEEDING THE MAIN ... IT IS ALWAYS HOT......EVEN WHEN THE BREAKER IS OFF......