Electrical problems-AC-breakers-money savings

unregistered5595 · #1 08/02/10, 04:45 PM

If someone could help us troubleshoot this, it would really help.
We just started having all kinds of electrical problems.

1. AC room air conditioner started blowing the breaker many times. When it blew we reset it, turned everything else off, it blew again. Put an extension cord on it and it blew breakers for other rooms.
The electrical plug w/ground was very warm. Is this?
a. AC is broken beyond repair?
b. we should rewire another electrical cord with ground to it?
c. too much trouble time or money to investigate?

2. Moved a microwave outside (covered) and it blew the breaker for outside and the powder room. We can't figure out the breaker it blew and both sets of outlets are currently (ha ha) not working. The microwave works fine on an extension cord to another breaker.
a. Do we investigate wiring between the breaker, the powder room, the outside outlets?
b. Do we replace the breaker, if we can figure out which one is not working?
c. what boat are we missing?

3. If we want to cut back on electrical costs do we:
a. we must unplug all appliances not currently being used--tvs, vcrs, dvd players, computers, toaster, water heater(you can give me advice here).
b. we can buy power strips and shut the power off from those power strips and get the same electrical cost savings doing it that way (more easily accessible than going behind appliances and unplugging them)?

Your advice is appreciated, thank you.

sammyd · #2 08/02/10, 04:52 PM

have the AC unit serviced by a trained repairman or replace.

you say the nuker blew a breaker but you don't know which one....
If the unit doesn't work on a certain receptacle but will on another one and there are no tripped breakers then you need to start with the outlet and trace back to the service panel until you find the open circuit.

wrongwayrick · #3 08/02/10, 05:53 PM

For the microwave problem it sounds like you may have a GFI outlet that needs to be reset

Rick

agmantoo · #4 08/02/10, 06:01 PM

Is this a 120 volt AC unit? If so, look on the unit and get the amp or wattage stated and post here. Is there a ground fault interrupter on one of the circuits that is blown? If so, reset it. If you want to control the consumption of electricity on the 120 volt items you need to get a Kill A Watt load monitor ($18.99 w/ free shipping) from Newegg and determine which item(s) is a power hog.

**Ross** · #5 08/02/10, 06:06 PM

Your window AC likely has a capacertor that is fried. 5-20 bux but you need to know what you're doing inside. I agree there is likely a GFI ciruit protector tripped for the microwve problem.

Harry Chickpea · #6 08/02/10, 06:50 PM

1. air conditioner blowing the breaker.
a. Capacitor or compressor winding. The first is repairable, second is not worth it.
b. Outlets are better grounded, especially for something that sits in a window. It won't fix the problem, just keep you safer.
c. Repairs take time and skill. Worth depends on how much you have of each.

2. microwave blew the breaker
a. Look on the outlet for a little reset button to push. It could be on any outlet on that circuit.
b. Breaker itself is likely fine or just needs reset.
c. what boat are we missing? Titanic already sailed, you are in luck.

3. If we want to cut back on electrical costs do we:
a & b. Leave the water heater ON. Max savings is about $20 per YEAR on any recent electric water heater. Power strips will work for what you want. Just power off or unplug anything that has warmth when not being used. If the cell phone charger stays warm, power it off. If the tv stays warm, power it off. A cable box or satellite receiver use a bit of power. ALL used power eventually degrades into heat. The warmer the appliance, the more power being used.

unregistered5595 · #7 08/03/10, 05:15 PM

Thank you to all of you for your advice, especially the very comprehensive reply from Harry Chickpea.

YES, on #2, the breaker did not blow, and it now appears the powder room, the downstairs outside outlets are connected to the upstairs bathroom and it DOES have a GFI which I reset and now they are working. Thank you!

HC, I appreciate your input on #3, on how we can save money, we'll be buying surge protector outlets to turn off the warm appliances. It ill be easier to figure out when the weather is not too warm and we can figure out which appliances are using the most energy and dissapating the most heat.

On #1, I haven't pulled open the panel yet to see what the problem is. More detail: the AC worked for hours at a time before blowing out, sometimes a few minutes and sometimes an hour. The only symptom is the very warm cord and plug at the outlet, it worked for the entire time it was running.

I did look up capacitors and compressors to try to understand the problem and I have more work to do to figure it out. Thank you and I'll keep working on things here.

You all rock! then again, you all knew that, didn't you? Feather, thank you

Allen W · #8 08/03/10, 07:32 PM

On #1, I haven't pulled open the panel yet to see what the problem is. More detail: the AC worked for hours at a time before blowing out, sometimes a few minutes and sometimes an hour. The only symptom is the very warm cord and plug at the outlet, it worked for the entire time it was running.

Sounds like the circuit doesn't have enough capacity to run the AC. Is there possibly something else on the circuit coming on to cause it to overload? Breakers will become weaker if they are continually being tripped by a heavy load.

oneokie · #9 08/03/10, 08:26 PM

On #1, pull the plug out of the receptical and look for discoloration/pitting on the blades.
If either is present, the compressor may be going out. Pulling too many amps.

John Carter · #10 08/03/10, 11:16 PM

Dude, I just saw your up NW OK, You guys been hit with some brutal heat the last couple...............
Lots a luck there, sounds like you need a good local electrician. Way to many problems for this ole jack leg to talk ya through on the net...............

Get it done right, those breakers blowing are a precursor to something bad happening................