Does your home’s air conditioner keep shutting off and the circuit breaker keeps tripping? This could be a signal for you to pay more attention to the AC unit. Especially when the AC trips breaker after 5 minutes, and this happens like a cycle every time you turn on the AC. Let’s figure out the reason and solution to this condition.
Why AC Trips Breaker After 5 Minutes?
There are some possibilities for why your AC compressor keeps tripping the breaker. Before you search for the solution, you need to know every reason that caused this condition. Here are some probable causes of AC circuit breaker tripping:
Read also: Portable Air Conditioner Compressor Keeps Shutting Off
- Clogged air filter because of dirt or dust.
- Dirty condenser coil.
- Power surge.
- Electrical component failure.
- Frozen evaporator coil.
- Fan motor malfunction.
- Fault on the compressor.
- Refrigerant leakage.
Check on your AC unit and find out what’s the main reason. When you know the reason, it will be easier for you to pick the right solution.
If your AC trips the breaker due to a power surge or a clogged air filter, you might be able to resolve the issue without needing to call a technician.
You can handle it by yourself and make sure that the AC will perform well.
All of the reasons mentioned before will make the machine unable to perform normally. That’s why you always need to check the AC unit regularly. The technician can check all of the components and tell you if there’s something wrong that causes the AC trip breaker after 5 minutes.
What to Do When AC Breaker Switch Keeps Tripping
It would be better if you fixed the problem as fast as possible. Here are the steps by which you can make sure that the problem is not continuing. Please follow the rules below:
- Turn off the AC unit at the thermostatYouou can turn on the AC circuit breaker switch in the electrical panel.
- Please wait for 30 minutes when the air conditioner is off.
- Check the thermostat and make sure it’s off so your AC unit can reset the internal circuit breaker.
- 30 minutes later, you can set the AC to a cool stage.
If you’re lucky enough, these steps will fix your AC unit. The air conditioner will perform normally and won’t trip the circuit breaker again. But, sometimes people find their AC unit keeps tripping. If this happens, you can call the technician because they will give a permanent solution.
Allowing your AC unit to cool down for at least 5 minutes is crucial. This break is important before attempting any resets. This step is recommended before resetting any breakers. Also, it will increase the chances that the AC unit is totally fixed.
Portable AC Trips Breaker After 5 Minutes
What about portable AC? Nowadays, people like to use portable AC units because they seem easier to use and maintain. There is not much difference between the other AC units. You can follow the directions that were mentioned before to fix this problem.
Don’t forget to clean the air filter because the dirt or dust will increase the probability of circuit breaker tripping. Make sure you clean the filter and condenser carefully and remove all dust. It will help your AC perform better with a cooler temperature and make it stop tripping the circuit breaker.
The air conditioning unit kept tripping the circuit breaker, indicating a potential electrical short or other issues. You have to investigate it and if you found that the outdoor unit’s refrigerant lines were damaged and the air filters were extremely dirty, potentially causing short circuits.
A dirty air filter can cause the AC unit to overwork, leading to overheating. Regularly checking and cleaning the filter is a simple yet effective AC repair step. So you must quickly schedule maintenance for the AC system to prevent further damage and ensure that the electrical short was resolved.
If these steps don’t resolve the issue, it’s advisable to contact an AC technician. They can professionally clean the condenser coils and check if the compressor starts without tripping the breaker.
The technician will find the reason quickly and fix it professionally for you so the unit can perform well like before.
