Electricians ?

[Andy]

Any electricians here. :-)

I have a customer who has some window units installed, but they keep blowing the breaker(s).

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I want to find out which breaker controls the outlets near the window units.

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He has two fuse boxes.

Outside has 6 breakers from 40 - 60 amp each.

He also has a breaker box inside with 15 -20 amp breakers.

But the inside has NO main cutoff breaker which seems strange to say the least.

Flipping the outer breakers off did NOT shut off power to those outlets.

I am writing down what each breaker goes to.

This may not be related, but two of the outside breakers are required for one of the outside AC units.

That makes no sense to me.

Any ideas appreciated. :-)

[trader_4]

It would seem if the AC units are tripping the breakers all the time, then someone would know which breakers they are. And if they don't, what's wrong with plugging in a light or radio and turning off breakers until you find the ones in question?

[rbowman]

Get a boom box, plug it in to the outlet and turn it up to 11. When the noise stops, you've found the right breaker.

[philoÂÂ]

The guy is a troll.

I used to see his posts elsewhere

[Andy]

Your reputation as a moron is legendary and known in many groups. :-)

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Really funny, one couldn't visualize tripped breaker or popped fuse, Sigh!?

[nestork]

Troll or not, he seems to be asking a legitimate question.

Andy: Window air conditioning units draw a lot of power when the compressor motor is starting. That initial power demand only lasts for a half a second or so while the motor is coming up to speed. Once at speed, the current draw quickly comes down, but often the fuse will blow before the compressor gets up to speed.

To prevent the fuse from blowing during the initial power surge, you need something called a "Slo-Blo" fuse or a "time delay" fuse. This kind of fuse will allow overcurrent in the wiring for a short time... enough time for the motor to come up to speed and the current draw to subside. The overcurrent for such a short time doesn't do any harm to the wiring at all.

Slo-Blo fuses are expensive, costing about $5 each. I expect there's the equivalent of a Slow Blow fuse when it comes to circuit breakers, but I'm just not familiar enough with circuit breakers to tell you what to buy.

Also, you ideally want the window air conditioner on it's own dedicated circuit so that there's nothing else on the circuit that's also drawing power. To do that, plug the air conditioner unit into the convenience outlet on the kitchen stove. The two power cables going to a kitchen stove will handle 50 amps each but the convenience outlets are fused down to 15 amps each. Unless you've got some other things drawing power from that same convenience receptacle, then it'll provide a full 15 amps (or more) to whatever you plug into it.

[philoÂÂ]

Possibly but I put him in my KF

[Andy]

You said that before.

Please tell me you did. ??

Your friendly troll.

[Andy]

Thanks nestork.

The 2 window units draw 7.1 amps each.

Safety is No. 1 for me.

I will not do ANY work that I would not do in my own home.

I worked in a labs and plants for 20+ years and saw a lot of preventable accidents that brought me to tears.

Take care, Andy

[nestork]

They draw 7.1 amps each when the compressor motor is running.

You can count on two to three times that when the compressor motor is starting, and that's what's causing your problem.