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Posted: 7/29/2014 3:49:36 PM EDT
We have a portable AC unit in the basement. It's an LG, fairly large unit with a reset switch on the plug. Recently it's been tripping the breaker back at the electrical panel but the reset is fine. The compressor seems to cyle on and off fine but the breaker trips after about 30 or so minutes.  It's plugged directly into the receptacle, no extension cord.

Any thoughts.
Link Posted: 7/29/2014 4:01:33 PM EDT
[#1]
What else is plugged into that circuit?  I had one of those units and it pulled right at 14 Amps.  Plug anything else into that circuit at the same time and it would trip the breaker.  I rewired that branch with 12 ga wire so I could upgrade the breaker to 20 amps.  That circuit was the only one in the cabin with 14 ga wire (which should not have been used in my opinion).

Link Posted: 7/29/2014 4:07:05 PM EDT
[#2]
As has already been said, what is the size of the breaker and what's the load from the AC?

After a breaker has been thrown a few times, in my experience, it trips under lower load, so you might need to replace it as well...
Link Posted: 7/29/2014 4:35:51 PM EDT
[#3]
I'm  not sure how many amps the circuit it. The only other things on the circuit would be the TV and a computer printer.
Link Posted: 7/29/2014 4:37:54 PM EDT
[#4]
The breaker could also be defective.
Try the AC on an other circuit for a while and see what happens.
Link Posted: 7/29/2014 4:46:21 PM EDT
[#5]
Those AC units tend to pull a heavy load, so I'd look at the combined wattage between the TV, printer, and AC unit.  The stickers are going to give you an idea, but you'd really need a clamp multimeter to see what the true load is.

If you don't have a clean circuit to move the AC unit, try pulling the TV and the printer and then see if it trips again.

This might help, if you don't know the formulas:

Link Posted: 7/29/2014 5:30:21 PM EDT
[#6]

Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


I'm  not sure how many amps the circuit it. The only other things on the circuit would be the TV and a computer printer.
View Quote
What kind of TV? Most flatscreens draw a fair amount. Look for the manufacturers tag. It will tell you. The amp rating will be on the breaker. If the TV, printer and A/C add up to mote than 80% of the breaker value you have solved the mystery.



 
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