AC 20amp breaker trips mid day
Just came from Vegas 103 deg with no AC problems. At our new location which is also about 103 deg, the ac compressor would cycle and the fan would stay on with the thermostat on auto. Now it trips th...
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107 volts is getting very low. Low voltage causes an AC unit to draw more current. Anything below 105 volts can result in damage to the AC unit over time. Not what you want to hear, but you should probably stop running it. An autoformer would cure that problem.
If you have a voltmeter, you should be monitoring voltage over the day. It could very well drop even lower at times. Turning off everything you can inside may or may not help a bit. If the entire CG is low at 107 volts, you're kinda stuck tho.
If you can, sometimes moving to another site in a CG/RV park can help. Look for a remote panel or transformer on the ground and get as close as possible to it and voltage can be better due to lower voltage drop in CG wiring to sites.
Note that the 20 amp breaker in the panel may be adjacent to the 30 amp main. Breakers generate heat and more heat as the current they handle increases, due to the bi-metal element inside. Both breakers are also inside a confined space in the RV panel, which is different than the panel in a house. Not the greatest of solutions and as crazy as it sounds, I have heard of some running a fan directly at the panel to cool the breakers down.
Circuit breakers in a confined space aren't really designed to run non-stop for long periods of time, although according to a circuit breaker time-current graph, can operate indefinitely up to a max. temp of 30 degrees C. Heat is the issue.
Also note that an AC unit draws 50-60 amps on initial start-up and if the voltage is already low can cause an AC unit to struggle to start and as well, can also cause damage to the AC unit.
A PI EMS unit will shut you down at 104 volts if you had one.
If you have a voltmeter, you should be monitoring voltage over the day. It could very well drop even lower at times. Turning off everything you can inside may or may not help a bit. If the entire CG is low at 107 volts, you're kinda stuck tho.
If you can, sometimes moving to another site in a CG/RV park can help. Look for a remote panel or transformer on the ground and get as close as possible to it and voltage can be better due to lower voltage drop in CG wiring to sites.
Note that the 20 amp breaker in the panel may be adjacent to the 30 amp main. Breakers generate heat and more heat as the current they handle increases, due to the bi-metal element inside. Both breakers are also inside a confined space in the RV panel, which is different than the panel in a house. Not the greatest of solutions and as crazy as it sounds, I have heard of some running a fan directly at the panel to cool the breakers down.
Circuit breakers in a confined space aren't really designed to run non-stop for long periods of time, although according to a circuit breaker time-current graph, can operate indefinitely up to a max. temp of 30 degrees C. Heat is the issue.
Also note that an AC unit draws 50-60 amps on initial start-up and if the voltage is already low can cause an AC unit to struggle to start and as well, can also cause damage to the AC unit.
A PI EMS unit will shut you down at 104 volts if you had one.
