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Rooftop AC problems, keeps shutting off blowing breakers. runs for 10 minutes or longer if first turned on then slows right down and blows breaker.Thoughts?


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Rooftop AC problems, keeps shutting off blowing breakers. runs for 10 minutes or longer if first turned on then slows right down and blows breaker.Thoughts?

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Are you sure that your A/C is getting 115vac?  What is the actual current draw of the A/C?  (This can most easily be determined with a clamp on ammeter.  They are available at Harbor Freight for about $30.)   If you are lucky, it could be that you have a bad breaker.  Yes, they do sometimes over time go bad and trip earlier than they did when new.  

 

If the answers to the above have been ruled out then this may help you get a handle on the problem:

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/rvp/rvp6789mech.pdf

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It is same wire I been using for last 3 years and it was plugged into the local park I go to. I tried 4 different plugs and it did same thing. It knocked off breaker. Last one it ran for 1.5 hours then just died out - breaker blown again.

Then I tried it at home tonight and same thing, When it starts to kick in for AC it kicks off breaker. So fan works but when I put the dial to cold it slows down and kicks the breaker at the house or wherver I plug in.

cord is 12 guage i think and 20 feet to the plug in.?

 

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Your AC unit is probably overheating so it blows the breaker. Number 1 cause of this in an AC unit on top of a motorhome is dirt. Someone needs to get on the roof and clean everything out. You need to take the top cover out to do this. I have heard of people finding birds nests inside the cover and all kinds of stuff. Don't keep letting it blow the breaker again and again. The delay in blowing it out is cause it's heating up. When it does that wires are getting hot too. If you do need to install a new one you at least want your existing wiring to be usable. If it's not dirty in there then it's just dead

Linda S

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11 hours ago, frontboat said:

It is same wire I been using for last 3 years and it was plugged into the local park I go to. I tried 4 different plugs and it did same thing. It knocked off breaker. Last one it ran for 1.5 hours then just died out - breaker blown again.

Then I tried it at home tonight and same thing, When it starts to kick in for AC it kicks off breaker. So fan works but when I put the dial to cold it slows down and kicks the breaker at the house or wherver I plug in.

cord is 12 guage i think and 20 feet to the plug in.?

 

That should work then, so many times I have seen under size wire and great lengths of it. Try Linda's suggestion it does sound like the compressor head pressure is high and a clogged up condenser can cause that.

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That looks like an overheat thermal switch so I'm going to say that probably is not your problem unless the connections were touching the metal.

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Well now I know what that is I guess so now I did find out where the capacitors are but there are three of them and I cannot find any model or serial number on this thing even though I have the manual so I'm not too sure I think it's probably 13,000 BTU but at any rate I'm just went out and plugged it in for fun and it came on and was running for so I got everything apart the inside panel whatever and yeah so I don't know what the hell's going on all I did was clean a bit of stuff I owed and open the top up there on the compressor to see what was under there. Thank you very much for tips.

Edited by frontboat
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Those are start capacitors for the compressor motor they could cause it not to start or start hard but once it running they really have no effect.

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Must be Hawthorne effect  but just getting up on roof and farting around and I tried it again and it ran fine for over 20 minutes.

I got cold and shut it off

but it was running off my Honda 3000 inverter generator this time and there was no cycling just pure cold air. 

Signed confused

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

 

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Ok that's 25 amps and a shorter #10 wire. If it starts and runs then quits it's not the start caps they have all ready done their job. Unplug open the breaker panel and look for heated wires on the 20 amp breaker. The insolation will look wrinkly near the breaker. Generally the 30 amp is a back feed the camper cord goes directly to the breaker not the panel that's another place to look. Beyond that your looking at compressor issues.It's been in the 90's here in Maine that's a demand on AC units a little bit goes a long way.

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Try running it again on house power. You really need a voltmeter to see what house voltage is under load.

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Hey Everyone, 

 

I kind of have the same problem. But mine turns off after a few minutes. I am plugging it to my house. I also just added a "Micro Air Easy Start." Also, I disconnected that little black capacitor because the micro air easy start requires it. Any thoughts? Does anyone know the exact model of this AC? Mine looks identical. Thanks.

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