We recently had a brand new air conditioner installed and it is tripping the breaker. We called the service tech who installed it and they said that the problem was electrical. We hired an electrician and they said our electricity is fine, nothing wrong, that the problem is the air conditioning unit. The electrician believed the compressor was bad or that the service people overcharged the unit. We called the air conditioner company, they came out again, and they could not figure it out. Finally they said it was the motor in the fan. They fixed the motor and then two hours later it tripped again. Now what we need is help. We are asking for a new unit, but wondering what could be the problem? Is it possibly the compressor or overcharged and they just don't want to fix it.
Gregory, Paddock Lake, AL
Obviously, It is pretty difficult to determine the actual problem with your air conditioning unit and the breaker tripping without checking out the unit. Typically, if a breaker is tripping after some continual run time and not as soon as you put power to it or as soon as you turn it on, it is a problem that would not be obvious at the point of starting and running. The breaker trips due to heat. The heat relates to the load on the circuit and that relates to the current traveling through it. If the current builds as it runs longer, the voltage will drop and build more current (heat) and the breaker will trip. Anything in that circuit could be causing the issue because the breaker is there to protect the actual circuit (wiring) and not the load (condenser). Sources of the problem could be the wire size, weak breaker, outside disconnect or it might be a bad/loose connection anywhere in the circuit including in the condensing unit. As to the system being overcharged, that would cause problems also but what usually happens is in those cases the compressor trips off on thermal overload and then the outdoor fan runs continuously. However, if overcharged to the extreme it could cause high temperatures, high amp (current) draws and then, once it shuts off, could cause a breaker to trip when it tries to restart with the excessive heat built up in the compressor. I suggest you consider contacting the manufacturer to request assistance and/or call a professional HVAC contractor, like ARS/Rescue Rooter.