# sharp Portable AC tripping circuit



## DeanM (May 13, 2011)

Hi

My sharp portable ac dims the lights in the room and it trips the circuit breaker everytime the ac tries to switch from fan to cooling. I tried it on every outlet on the 2nd floor and it does the exact same thing. I did it with everything else plugged off. So I figured it can't be the circuit breakers.

I took it apart to see if it  is a capacitor. There is a 60 micro farad  cylindrical running capacitor and two square black capacitors for the inside and outside fans. All of them look fine. They don't look blown up on the top at all. Can you tell by just looking or do I need to check the micro farads to make sure?

Also, I tried to drain the water and nothing is draining out.

What else could be the problem with this ac? It's only 3 years old and was rarely used.

thanks for any input.


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## gatorfan (May 13, 2011)

A plate somewhere on it should list the peak amps.  What does it specify?

You should have a 20A circuit in each of your kitchen and laundry rooms.  See if it blows that breaker too.  I assume it used to work fine in your house, true?  

Matt


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## DeanM (May 14, 2011)

Hi

thanks for the reply.

I saw the back of the machine and it says 12.0 amps and 1350 watts. It does not say anything about peak amps. This is why I had it running on a 15 amp breaker. 

It does not trip the 20 amp breaker. Only the 15 amp trips. And yes it was perfectly fine last summer. It never tripped even once.

dean


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## nealtw (May 14, 2011)

Compressers often peak at 3 time the amps on start up. The breaker gives it time to get thru that start up peak. If this was an air compresser I would suggest that the compesser is trying to start with pressure in the head. I would not run this on a twenty amp breaker.


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## paul52446m (May 14, 2011)

DeanM said:


> Hi
> 
> thanks for the reply.
> 
> ...


  Its hard on these small units to not be used, they get tight, just like a car engine when not used for a long time.
 If it will run on the 20 amp  breaker then plug it in there, check the running amps. let it run for a couple of hrs. and see if you running amps come down. If the amps come down where it is suppose to be then put it back on the 15 amp. You are not suppose to run a breaker to more than 80 percent. So a 15 amp breaker would be just 12 amps. This means that your 15 amp breaker is getting maxed out. You really should run a 20 amp circuit for it . Also if you have a cool summer you need to run that unit a few hrs. per month even if you don't need it. Also check your power in your home to see if it is close to 120 volts, when voltage goes down then the amps go up. If you only have 105 volts then call your power co. and tell them to bump it up. You are paying for 120volts, and like i said, when the voltage drops then everything in your home will use more amps, and your electric bill will go up.   Paul


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## DeanM (May 14, 2011)

paul52446m said:


> Its hard on these small units to not be used, they get tight, just like a car engine when not used for a long time.
> If it will run on the 20 amp  breaker then plug it in there, check the running amps. let it run for a couple of hrs. and see if you running amps come down. If the amps come down where it is suppose to be then put it back on the 15 amp. You are not suppose to run a breaker to more than 80 percent. So a 15 amp breaker would be just 12 amps. This means that your 15 amp breaker is getting maxed out. You really should run a 20 amp circuit for it . Also if you have a cool summer you need to run that unit a few hrs. per month even if you don't need it. Also check your power in your home to see if it is close to 120 volts, when voltage goes down then the amps go up. If you only have 105 volts then call your power co. and tell them to bump it up. You are paying for 120volts, and like i said, when the voltage drops then everything in your home will use more amps, and your electric bill will go up.   Paul



How do I check the volts in the house? Maybe this is the problem because everything has been tripping lately. The microwave trips, the toaster trips and these are all on a separate circuit panel located in the basement. 

But I tried this ac everywhere on the 2nd floor. Even the 20 amp breaker. Everything trips. Thats why i opened it up and now its laying there on the floor with 30 screws laying around it. Before I close it up, I just want to know if there could be a possible short or if one of the capacitors really is bad and I am just not seeing it. If it's the compressor, then I'm done for this summer. I'm just gonna have to burn to hell...


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## paul52446m (May 14, 2011)

DeanM said:


> How do I check the volts in the house? Maybe this is the problem because everything has been tripping lately. The microwave trips, the toaster trips and these are all on a separate circuit panel located in the basement.
> 
> But I tried this ac everywhere on the 2nd floor. Even the 20 amp breaker. Everything trips. Thats why i opened it up and now its laying there on the floor with 30 screws laying around it. Before I close it up, I just want to know if there could be a possible short or if one of the capacitors really is bad and I am just not seeing it. If it's the compressor, then I'm done for this summer. I'm just gonna have to burn to hell...



You said in your early message that it ran on a 20 amp breaker. If the compressor is a little tight, the start amps might stay in there a little too long, and that would really trip a 15 amp breaker. You need to go to your main electric panel take the cover off so you can check the main wires to see if you are getting 120 volts on both legs. If you don't want to do that , just start checking the out lets in the house. or call a electrician to check out the house before you have a fire. You ether have low voltage. lose connections, or bad ground. Paul


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