Window Air Conditioners

Self ^ | 11/24/2024 | Self

[scrabblehack]

Hi,

Do window air conditioners draw more current when they get old? I had one in the bathroom. Toward the end of the summer, it was tripping the GFCI quite a bit. It had not done that in past summers. I got tired of resetting the GFCI.

The air conditioner is heavy; I got around to taking it down just now. I've had a space heater in the bathroom plugged into the GFCI for a few weeks. It has not been tripping -- I'm thinking the space heater draws less current than the air conditioner even in the best of times.

I thought about replacing the GFCI (they can go bad after a few years too). But if the air conditioner would only trip the new GFCI too, maybe it's not worth it, and I should get rid of the air conditioner.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Breakers and GFCI breakers go out after a while too.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Moisture has gotten somewhere it shouldn’t have, or a loose wire, or bad insulation and is probably creating a return path for the current that is NOT the neutral (the ground wire). Not a safe condition. Only 5 mA difference in current between the hot and neutral lines can trip a GFCI. Unless you want to rewire the unit and hope that does the trick, it’s probably not worth the cost and effort.

[ansel12]

I’ve been in master bath showers that were 4 times the size of my entire bathroom.

[Dennis M.]

If the GFI trips when the compressor kicks in there most likely is a ground fault in the air conditioner motor or its associated wiring.

[blackdog]

Ground fault outlets tend to have limited lifespan, particularly in high Amp use. Anything at 120 volts above ten amps will fail a lot.

[Ponyexpress9790]

We had window units for our camper, the camp ground and surrounding area would have brown outs and power drags in the summertime. You could see the lights dim and the air conditioner would drag and slow down, then speed up to normal again. This was terrible on the condenser/compressor causing circuit breaker to start tripping at about 3 years old.

[Mariner]

Clean it thoroughly

[lgjhn23]

“..If the condenser is dirty it will raise pressures in the unit and cause it to pull more amps...”

^THIS^
That’s why we clean ours every spring before the hotter weather.
But, generally speaking, a GFCI will get weak with time, and with the combination of a heavier load, they’ve been known to trip well below the rated amperage rather than on an actual ground fault. The older ones are notorious.
FWIW, on a recent issue I ran into, there was another outlet downstream of the GFCI that I wasn’t aware of. Even after replacing the GFCI, it would still trip when the cleaned-up A/C unit was turned on. Come to find out, the homeowner had a Dewalt battery charger plugged into that other outlet for his battery-powered drill. Once I unplugged it, all was good with the AC unit.....until that charger was plugged back in. Dunno what it was with that thing because the charger worked just fine plugged in by itself, but as soon as any other load on the circuit, regardless of amperage size, was plugged in, it would trip the GFCI...crazy.

[Blood of Tyrants]

GFCI is not a circuit breaker for excessive current. It senses a current difference between the hot and neutral i.e. some current is going where it isn’t supposed to. It is a safety feature.

[Cold Heart]

Does the breaker trip when the air conditioner first comes on?

A space heater rated at 1500 watts may be the same rating as your air conditioner. However, start up load on the air unit can be much higher, thus tripping a weakened breaker.

[mabarker1]

FYI- A Friend of mine told Me about these units. Nifty idea IMO.

Saddle Bag A/C Window Units.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It’s more likely your GFCI has failed. They do fail and don’t have a long life. I’ve had to change one of our that was tripping our Christmas lights all the time. That’s a far cheaper fix to try than anything else.

[Bobbyvotes]

If the A/C is more than 6 years old, replace it. Newer A/C are more efficient.

I have central A/C heat pump which jacks up my electric bills.
I spend most time in living room & kitchen & at dining table. All are located one large area with open concept design. I installed a window A/C and my electric bills are reasonable again. This also saves wear and tear on the central Air unit and I do not need to service it every year.

I opted for a window A/C rated high for quiet operation. That was a good move. The A/C is very quiet.

[plain talk]

“An air conditioner.
In the bathroom.”

I was pondering that as well.

[Bobbyvotes]

Yes, and it is do it yourself job. Make sure to turn main power switch off.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"even imperceptible amounts of dust cause major strains on equipment."

That is true. AC heat exchangers can become dirty with the huge amount of air flowing through them. We've got a whole-house AC system and the fins can get bent, corroded and dirty over the years leading to reduced heat transfer efficiency which lowers AC efficiency.

I've used a commercial cleaner on our AC. You just spray it on and wash it off. You can get a "comb" to straighten any bent fins, too. I'm not sure how you would do this on a window unit, though.

Home Depot Purafilter 2000 coil cleaner.

[Alas Babylon!]

If the Left really wanted to piss off Hitler, they’d call him Trump.

[libh8er]

An aging AC compressor will become less efficient and draw more power but it won’t cause a circuit breaker to trip. There is likely a short somewhere. Could be the capacitor that drives the compressor motor. May need to replace that.

[gundog]

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The capacitor is used to start the motor, but it isn't used during operation. If the compressor won't start, it's often the capacitor. You can usually tell if a capacitor has failed because the can will be bulged at the top where the terminals are. Ours failed a couple summers ago on the hottest day of the year. All the repair companies were booked, but I fortunately got through to one guy who made one last stop at the end of his day and he had the capacitor on his truck. Since then, I've kept a spare cap in my supplies. It's a fast fix (at least on central air units).