Air Conditioner Trips Breaker After Running For a While

The air conditioner in my 2001 Coleman/Fleetwood Tacoma trips the breaker after running for 5 to 10 minutes. Sometimes it trips the breaker in the converter and sometimes it trips the breaker in the house. I have connected the pup to outlets in the house that are connected to a 15 amp and 20 amp breaker. I get the same results every time. The converter is a 20 amp CS 1200 Taiwan YoungYear/Centurion. Also when I opened up the pup after being stored for several months there was evidence of mice activity. I am in a quandary about where to start. Is my problem attributed to mouse damage in the wiring, a short in the AC unit or a problem in the converter. Tearing the pup apart to inspect wiring is something I would like to avoid. I am by not means an electrical genius just a jack of all trades and an expert in none of them. All suggestions are appreciated.

Your A/C is more than likely too much for a 15 or 20 amp circuit.  I had a truck camper with an A/C parked at home and plugged into a household circuit.  It would trip the circuit breaker every time I tried to turn it on, it would run for a little while then turn off.  Does the A/C do this when you are camping and plugged into a 30 amp circuit?  And has it run before when you were hooked up to the household plug without shutting off?

Marsha~

I have run the AC, refrig and lights before on the same 15 amp breaker but not in summer when it's 98 degrees. The the ac worked fine the last time we used it at a campground. The mice in the camper had me thinking they could have caused damage to the wiring but the 2 may not be related. Thanks Marsha.

It may be the heat.. I have two A/C's in this Class A.. one is a 9 year old Carrier Air V which has been fixed to prevent early carrier A/C death (I fixed the workmanship issue that killed it's twin) the other is a 2 or 3 year old Advent Air 15,000, both are supposed to draw 13.5 running.

My Carrier does the same thign when it gets HOT, and I mean HOT.  Now with the carrier air V the A/C is computer controlled with a thermal sensor in the "Frill" next to the air intake, I suspect one of two conditions is happening.

Either A: The computer, after so many minutes of operation, shuts down the compressor so as to get a more accurate "Read" of room temp.. OR, enough "Cold" is being conducted through the metal of the Middle unit to cool the thermistor to the point where it THINKS cold enough, and shuts down.

Then when it restarts "CLICK" of darkness.

Option 2: As it gets hotter and hotter, pressures rise, and the compressor works harder and harder, finally drawing a bit more than the breaker can carry without tripping.

OPtion 3.. The breaker is also 9 years old.  It may need replacing.

Arguing for 1:

When it trips the breaker, I shut it off, reset the breaker, and bring it back up in what I call Meat Locker Mode... In this mode it runs, period, It ignores the temp sensor (Well the room temp one) and runs, constantly, until I shut it down or till it looses power whichever comes first.

So far it has done this twice,  (Wed afternoon/evening when I first pulled in to Cathead Creek and again last night while I was cooking dinner).both times using "Emergency Cool" (Their name for it), worked.

Replace the breaker a good way to tell if the breaker is bad is to pull it and lightly tap it on your hand if it trips its shot more than likely its the breaker i had the same issue on my camper. Also it is true the hotter it is outside the more amps the compressor will use and also will trip a breaker that is weak a lot easier.

Temperature determines, within limits, the head pressure in an air conditioner and therefore the amount of work (current required) to be done by the compresser.  Higher head pressure equals higher current.  Sometimes cleasing the condenser fins (on the roof) will help hold the pressure down and therefore reduce the the current required.  You might try that. You could also turn off/unplug the converter so it doesn't draw current at the same time as the air conditioner. That said, you're pushing it to try to run the air conditioner off a 15A breaker.

Ernie

FACT: One July 4 season at work our office A/C had a slow leak, so the technician overcharged it slightly.. Now, this turkey had an over pressure switch so when the mercury broke into the upper 90's. the pressure was so high.. SHUT OFF.

I would reset it and it ran for a while.. I was considering taking teh holiday off instead of drawing overtime but.. .Weather man said RAIN.. I figured (Correctly it turned out)... 1.5 hours into the shift, 90+ in the office, the rain hit the condenser outside my window,, I hiit the RESET and it held for the rest of the night.

The night before.. When I got off at 11pm.  Room so hot the computers were failing,,, My relief came in, A trooper (Who later became head of communications) She was so hot she had taken off her tie (A violation of uniform code) and unbuttoned as far as she legally could (Again violating uniform code but trust me nobody was complaining)  My civilian relief comes in and says to her "I hope you don't mine, I've got to have that door closed till it warms up some here, it is too cold".. I looked at her and said "BYE".

I have a 2004 Daybreak with a front and a rear Carrier Airv AC unit. The front operated fine. The breaker for the rear unit will not reset unless I remove power and then it will reset, but as soon as I restore power the breaker trips. The compressor and the Capacitor check good. I disconnect the compressor and I could run the fan. I tried to remove all AC and DC power and let it set for 30 minutes to see if anything would reset, but as so as I restored power the breaker immediately tripped. any suggestions?

Several suspects. Since the breaker (I am assuming it is a standard not a GFCI. no reason for GFCI on that circuit) will not reset (I assume it insta-trips) It sounds like a short circuit. THis can be anywhere from the breaker itself to the controls inside the A/C.. NOTE I have a spare control box.. Somewhere. (In case you are nearby  Upstate SC at the moment)

If blower and Compessor and the start caps all check out. that leaves a short in the controls.

FROM THE TITLE LINE.. I assumed it ran find for a few minutes then CLICK
That .. when it has happened to me.. is an indication the condenser needs cleaning.

If that is the case.. I can explain why.. but just open the condenser cover (a few screws) and inspect. You will see the need.. I had to remove the fan on mine to clean it (pain in the operating system it was).. Now I have an advent air back there with a Carrier fan. Air flows the other way. MCUH easier to clean.

The simple explanation is that as the freon gets hotter, it is harder to circulate through the system (head pressure goes up) until the compressor draws enough current to blow the breaker.

Ernie

Welcome to the forum.
I can't help you with your problem but just wanted to point out one thing that may help in the future. When you have an issue no matter what it is, start your own thread. It will save the members from reading an entire post before we get to your post and yours may have nothing to do with the original post. Don't be concerned if you post it in the wrong section. If one of the staff members feel that your post would get better exposure in a different area, they'll just move it.
Again, welcome.