1. Trips
WHY AN AIR CONDITIONER
A CIRCUiT BREAKER
Overheating from Dirty Filters
overheating from dirty coils
Fan fails
Leaking refrigerant
Your air conditioner may be drawing too much energy
because it is working too hard pulling air through a dirty air
filter. When the air conditioning unit can’t pull air through
the filter, it works harder, draws more electricity and then
trips the circuit. Make sure to frequently check your air
conditioner’s filter, and change it every 30 to 60 days.
Your air conditioner has condenser coils in the outside
condensing unit. Refrigerant runs through these coils,
while a fan blows air through the coils to get rid of the
heat that the refrigerant has absorbed. The refrigerant can
then flow back into the inside of your home and absorb
more heat from your home. When your condenser coils
are dirty, the refrigerant can’t cool down from the fan.
Wash the coils off with a weak stream of water, or get an
A/C tune-up.
Sometimes the fan that pulls cool air through the condenser
coils and compressor fails. If this fan isn’t working, the
refrigerant and compressor cannot cool down, causing the
air conditioner to work harder, pull more electricity and then
trip the circuit. If your air conditioner’s condenser fan fails,
call an HVAC specialist.
Refrigerant is a main component inside of your air
conditioner. When there isn’t enough in your unit, the
air conditioner heats up, and tries harder to cool the
refrigerant down, pulling more electricity and tripping
thecircuitbreaker. Airconditionersareclosedsystems.
So, if you don’t have enough refrigerant in your unit,
you have a leak. An HVAC contractor will be able to
repair the leak and top off your refrigerant.