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Long long story but I will try to cut to the chase:
We are renting. Central AC is out. Landlord has not repaired (which is another post for another forum).
Meanwhile, we were using two window unit ACs; one 5000 BTU new unit in a bedroom, and one 10,000 BTU unit in the living room (borrowed, not sure of age but it's not ancient). This is a 3 bedroom trailer and we were still unable to cool 2 rooms, so we added a third window unit (5000 BTU) a few days ago in a front bedroom. This one is borrowed and is pretty old.
It has been fine until yesterday when it caused the breaker to trip 3 times. Well, up until yesterday there was nothing added to that power load but my son set up his computer in there and a box fan, then it started happening.
So, today we tried leaving the computer and fan off and just running the AC. It tripped the breaker, but it took about 3 hours to do so.
My main question is; could this be due to the age of the AC, or is it definitely an electrical issue? The 10k btu AC and this 5k one seem to be on the same circuit since when the breaker trips, they both go off. Would it help at all to try a newer, more energy efficient AC?
I realize I need to get the landlord to fix this but in the meantime, we live in Texas, and aside from the entire family camping out in the living room I need to try and fix this short term while I fight with the a-hole I rented from.
What's the amperage of the breaker that's tripping? The 10K BTU plus the 5K BTU are probably pulling close to 15 amps. If you have the capability, try putting the A/C units on different breakers.
You need to split those two units on to separate circuits if possible. Move one to another room if you have to. I would not run more than one unit per circuit. Our AC went out last year (August) and I borrowed two portable units temporarily, and I had to put them on separate circuits, or they blew quite often. This is in our 15 yr old house with 20amp circuits for the wall plugs.
If it is a trailer, the wiring is probably the minimum required by law, and the sockets are cheap. Separate circuits, as tbrstang mentioned, are a must. You don't want an electrical fire in a trailer.
Thanks everyone. I'm trying to figure out what is on what as far as circuits go. I did discover the fact that the other window in the living room is near an outlet on a seperate circuit from the 2 ACs I mentioned (front room and living room), just trying to ascertain what else is on that circuit.
I don't know the amperage of the tripping one. I cannot read the switches at all, looks like paint overspray or something on it.
I'm super paranoid about fire, especially being in a trailer, so before I do anything foolish I'll just have people double up in sleeping quarters or whatever while I go after the landlord through legal means.
I do wonder if, overall, an older AC will draw more power than a newer one of the same BTUs? I am considering buying a new one even when I figure out the circuit thing for that reason but wasn't sure if it was worth the expense.
Many mobile homes have electrical outlets on the same circuit. Look for the breakers labeled outlets. Turn one off and test the outlets to see which have turned off. Mark them for the breaker number. Repeat until you have all the outlets labeled with the breaker number. You may have all your AC units plugged into the same circuit. It may be too much amperage for the breaker to handle. If possible, plug the units in to each a different circuit to try to evenly distribute the power. Another thing is to unplug things plugged into those circuits. Even if something is off, it may still be drawing electricity. The old unit may possibly be a problem. You should have a service tech take a look at it. If the capacitor is going bad, it's drawing a large amount of juice to get the unit started. A capacitor stores a large amount of energy for start up. Capacitors are fairly cheap. If you know what you're doing, you can change them yourself.
Aside from all the above ..... You don't want two A/C's on the same circuit period. Whether it's a 15 or 20 amp circuit. Later model window units are in most cases lower amperage than older ones. (Based mostly on the use of undersized fan motors)
If there's a bad capacitor involved in almost every case you'd know (in less than 30 minutes). Trailers are notoriously hard to cool and require more than a house (generally because of poor insulation) and being enclosed in metal like an oven. Some or all of the units may be undersized and incapable of reaching cycle temperature. Compressors overheat and an overload device kicks out and shuts down the compressor. When it cools it resets. The compressor starting draws many times the circuit amp rating for a second. (LRA) Constant shut downs and start ups can heat up the breaker and wire. Over a period of time the breaker trips. This can also be caused by short-cycling. The units could have clogged condensers causing them to run hot and draw more amps. Don't run them on extension cords if possible. If you must you can use a 14 gauge for a 5 or 10,000 BTU unit. Keep it short.
My only trailer/AC problem was due to the fact the park was at the end of the power grid and the voltage was low and would swing as people turned on their A/C units.
Could be any number of other problems from poor/faulty wiring connections, too much draw or even a bad breaker... ran into that once because it was just wore out... family told me they would reset it several times a day in the summer... all summer!
Had an A/C breaker problem at work this morning... put a load meter on it and found the condenser motor was going bad and was drawing way over spec causing the breaker to trip.
My only trailer/AC problem was due to the fact the park was at the end of the power grid and the voltage was low and would swing as people turned on their A/C units.
Could be any number of other problems from poor/faulty wiring connections, too much draw or even a bad breaker... ran into that once because it was just wore out... family told me they would reset it several times a day in the summer... all summer!
Had an A/C breaker problem at work this morning... put a load meter on it and found the condenser motor was going bad and was drawing way over spec causing the breaker to trip.
Now that could possibly be caused by a bad run capacitor.
Don't go mucking with capacitors. Three window shakers is too many for that trailer. You might have two compressors trying to start at the same time or something but three are too many.
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