I have this window unit air conditioner thats a few years old, but it hasnt been used much, mostly because it will only run for a few minutes before the afci on the cord will trip. Its done this since it was new. And it does this on any circuit its pugged into, in two different houses. This air conditioner was purchased to be used in our cabin, and it was a year before i installed it, so returning it is not an option. I need this air conditioner to work, so i added a afci breaker in my panel, and the air conditioner worked great for about a week, and the then afci in the cord started tripping again.

Is it safe for me to cut the afci off the cord and put a standard plug on the end as long as i have the other afci in the panel? The reason i ask is that i read online about this brand of air conditioner having faulty afci cords.

Thanks.

Yes, it's safe.





 

I wouldn't cut the cord. I would replace it with a new one the correct way. Also, it may NOT be a faulty cord. It may be an arc fault in the unit itself or somewhere in the wiring.

When i call china i get put on hold.
I've read about these afci on this brand being faulty, its a texas instuments afci made the first year it was patented. I've tried this on 5 different branches, in 2 different homes and have the same repeatable fault, so i dont think its the houses wiring, and I've had a square d afci in the panel for 2 weeks and it hasnt tripped once.

I just want to confirm, that with the breaker afci in the panel, the one on the cord would be redundant and it is no longer needed.

It is perfectly safe to put a normal cord end on it. Just cut it off right behind the afci, and strap a new grounded heavy duty cord end on it. No harm, no foul. How big is the A/C unit anyways?

Like around 10-12,000 btu, fairly small, 120v 15a.

first of all, it's not an arcfault on the cord, it's a ground fault.  Put a new plug on.  Replace the arfci breaker with a ground fault, or install a ground fault outlet, and you'll be safe.

It could be an AFCI or a GFCI on the cord. Only the OP knows for sure. Second, AFCI is required at least in bedrooms in most states, and everywhere for states following the latest NEC, so getting rid of the AFCI in the panel is not advisable.

It is an arc fault on the cord. And an arc fault in that panel that i added myself. I've cut the afci off the cord, and added a heavy duty plug end, its been running problem free all afternoon. All "window" ac units have been required to have arc faults since 2004ish.

Glad it all worked out for you.



Since 2002. Section 440.65 of NEC–2002 requires room air conditioners to incorporate AFCIs or LCDIs.