Troubleshooting Your Heating And Air Conditioning Unit

There goes that click again. The circuit breaker for your air conditioning unit has just tripped – again. You have made several trips to the circuit breaker box. Let’s face it – the breaker is tripping for some reason. This is why it trips. Something is wrong and a tripped breaker protects the wiring and equipment as well as the entire house. Otherwise, instead of making a call to your HVAC Charlotte area professional, you’d be calling the fire department.

Situation May be Critical

You should not ignore the situation or keep re-setting the breaker. Yes, you may have a faulty breaker. Perhaps you are suffering from extended thunderstorm activity. But, keep in mind that your air conditioner deals with high voltage – and amperage – as well as possible high temperatures that may result in wires melting exposing you to a possible fire.

Common Cause for Breaker Tripping

Loose electrical connections are one common cause for breakers tripping. If your system employs large aluminum wires, these expand according to weather conditions and may just loosen through time. It may come down to tightening connections. However, you need to be extremely cautious dealing with high voltage electricity.

Wire Shorting Out

Another common cause for tripping a breaker is an electrical shorting in the equipment or wiring. This occurs causing the breaker to trip instantly when the unit attempts a start. If this is your situation, never attempt to reset the n=breaker. Immediately call for service.

Other causes for breaker tripping include:

• Locked-up compressor
• Under-sized breaker
• Under-sized wiring
• Faulty capacitor

Breaker Tripping on Outdoor Units

The breaker may trip on an outdoor unit because your compressor has a hard time starting. The compressor may be old. It may be weak. Using a hard-start kit may work in getting the unit running again. Also, a bad capacitor may be the culprit.

In almost any incident where your Charlotte heating and air conditioning unit trips the breaker, calling a professional should be your best response. You are dealing with some very dangerous situations that use electricity. So, unless you are specifically trained, let the pros do the job.