A/C tripping breaker

[camjam Jay]

I've been having a problem with my mach 15 air conditioer I purchased in Oct. 2021. If the A/C runs anywhere from a few minutes to an hour it trips the breaker. I have checked the following values
Capacitor #1 a 70 read 69.7
Capacitor #2 a 7.5 read 7.7
Total amp draw at the 20 amp breaker was 13.2
Compressor amp draw was 7.9
Fan amp draw was 2.8
Changed breaker and had the same issues.
Breaker was not hot after tripping.
Does anyone have any idea what the issue might be?
Thanks

 

[craigav]

With your other checks, what voltage were you seeing with the A/C running? ~CA

 

[camjam Jay]

With your other checks, what voltage were you seeing with the A/C running? ~CA

121 volts at the breaker

 

[Paul B-FRF]

Maybe a loose connection somewhere.
I'd start from the breaker to the a/c unit.
OK, I'm not an electrician, but that's what I'd try next.
Paulb12

 

[JimD]

By chance does your test meter have a record function where it will save the highest and lowest values? If so, monitor the voltage and see how low it swings when the breaker trips.

Do you have a generator? If so, does the breaker trip when the AC is powered by the generator?

 

[craigav]

I was thinking the same as the above comments. I am leaning on that the fact that the breaker wasn't hot (hot is subjective though) which would indicate that a bad connection or intermittent short could be the cause (magnetic trip vs a thermal trip of the breaker). I would definitely check all the connections. ~CA

 

[Learjet]

do you have a heat strip in that AC? Could be a bad controller in the unit turning on a heat strip.

 

[RPR]

Condenser coils clean ?

 

[camjam Jay]

Maybe a loose connection somewhere.
I'd start from the breaker to the a/c unit.
OK, I'm not an electrician, but that's what I'd try next.
Paulb12

Thanks, but that was one of the first things we tried.

 

[camjam Jay]

do you have a heat strip in that AC? Could be a bad controller in the unit turning on a heat strip.

Thanks, but no heat strip.

 

[camjam Jay]

Condenser coils clean ?

Not sure, will check today.

 

[camjam Jay]

By chance does your test meter have a record function where it will save the highest and lowest values? If so, monitor the voltage and see how low it swings when the breaker trips.

Do you have a generator? If so, does the breaker trip when the AC is powered by the generator?

No, my test meter does not have that function but I will see about getting a hold of one.
I will also run it on the generator today if it stops raining.
Thanks

 

[camjam Jay]

Well its been over 24 hrs and the breaker has not tripped again. Don't know that I did anything to fix it but I'm not complaining. Have ran it continuously and set it where it would come on and off. Thanks for all the help. You may not have heard the last from me on this problem.

 

[cpayne5]

Still working for you? I'm having the same issue with a Mach 15. Initial startup was always fine, but after running a few minutes (or during a restart), it would overload the generator. I added a soft start, which seemed to mask the issue (not occurring as frequently), but now it will either overload the generator or trip the breaker. Tripping the breaker more often than overloading the gen.

 

[travelingjw]

The one thing not mentioned above is to make sure the campground breaker is rated for your full amp capacity. Seems obvious but we have experienced campgrounds where we reserved a 30 amp campsite only to discover that they only had a 20 and a 50 amp set up. We knew carry a 50 to 30 amp dogbone.

 

[camjam Jay]

Still working for you? I'm having the same issue with a Mach 15. Initial startup was always fine, but after running a few minutes (or during a restart), it would overload the generator. I added a soft start, which seemed to mask the issue (not occurring as frequently), but now it will either overload the generator or trip the breaker. Tripping the breaker more often than overloading the gen.

Mine is still working fine after 2 or 3 days. The only thing I did that might of helped is I noticed some slight burning on one leg of the recepticle I was plugged into. I changed it and it has worked since. That recepticle is in my garage as we had moved the 5th wheel into the driveway to get ready for a trip. It tripped for 2 or 3 days. The funny thing is it was tripping being plugged into a different recepticle out on the pad with a different cord. Once it started tripping I turned it off and turned on my 2nd AC and it ran for days without tripping. Who knows. I will just have to keep an eye on it going forward. I will need both AC's since we will be camping in Florida.

 

[spark of insanity]

Doesn't matter what I am running on I seem to pop a breaker as well. But I know what not to run while I am staying cool. In this heat its ac over the microwave.

 

[ejuengling]

A/C breaker trip

Check the compressor terminals for burned or loose wires. REPLACE the compressor/fan motor run capacitor. If it has a real contactor check for burned contacts, loose burned wires. Use some contact cleaner, Spiders love getting in the smallest spaces, use a can of air and blow the control panel out, not an air compressor. Coils clean? Rinse condenser coil with water, not using anything stronger than Green Clean. You can see the evaporator coil, let it dry then vacuum, rinse with Green Clean if needed. GOOD LUCK!!

 

[End of the road]

I had that problem a few years ago. Ended up being a loose connection on the neutral bar (white wires) inside the breaker panel.

 

[cpayne5]

I just ran the A/C for two hours with two brand new Honda EU2200Is in parallel with a bonding plug in place and verified neutral-ground bond.

The inside temperature started at 100 degrees. The thermostat cut it off at 90. 10 minutes later, I slid the thermostat over to 70ish to kick everything back on. The generators revved up, I got an overload alert on my phone (bluetooth connectivity to the gens) and the 20 amp breaker for the A/C tripped.

I didn't have an amp clamp on the compressor to measure inrush, unfortunately. I was able to get it to start up a few minutes later and am going to hopefully get an amp clamp on it next start up.

This is what I've done...
* no loose wires in the panel
* installed soft start
* new breaker
* new capacitors
* new wago lever nuts in place of all twist nuts
* various generators (9500 non-inverter, 4500 inverter, 2x 2200w inverters in parallel)
* verified inrush and running amps are within spec

What could be causing the issue at restart?