Roof air conditioner trips breaker, runs, trips breaker...

[ClassCKing]

time to pick your brain..100 degree heat and three days of tryn..short of a cuttn torch and a 3 pound sledge..iv decided to pick your brains..roof top a/c (frigiking)..weird huh...a/c turns on low/high just fine..turn the temp on cool begins to humm than blows out cold air.little bit into it cycles again still blows cold air..half hour or so trips the breaker..wait 5mins turns back on..half hour or so does it again...i have 30 amp power comn in..30 amp for the house etc..but the a/c has it own breaker of 20 amp...done some research some say its okay to replace the 20 with a 30 some say no...so ive decided to ask the experts..its work fine in the past no problems..chcked th roof for nests,hives etc..even tho i have screens on the cover you still have to check.....i have an idea where to go but id like a second opion..the wife says if i dont get a second opion and if i fry the a/c she dont wnat to here it....thanks classcking

[Stripe]

I saw another post where someone had created a shade for their AC unit.  Maybe that would help..

[ClassCKing]

that is a thought..might have to keep that in mind

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Could be run and start Capacitors are getting old and breaking down due to heat from both external and electrical heat.

Dave

[Stripe]

I know you said you checked for insect nests, but when was the last time a thorough cleaning outside AND inside was done?

[ClassCKing]

well Coachmanm...tommorrow will be the cleanin day..probly around 5:30 in the a.m..took Daves advise and checked the capacitors and found that the points of contact were dirty or had some corrosion on them..so a wire brush and a new seal around where the housing containing the capacitors are in order..called a couple of places around here to see on prices just in case but no luck...gonna do the online thing just in case...i apprciate the advise...got wrapped up in the big things over looked the little stuff....thanks again

[Stripe]

Anytime CCK, Hopefully you'll get away on the cheap..  If worse comes to worse, I'll find out if the used AC I have here is shippable..  If it is and you're willing to front the shipping, I'll send it off to you..

[ClassCKing]

thank ya coach..cleaned the contact points,checked for frayed wires other loose contacts..did the smoke test and the same thing happened..found a capacitor combination on amazon..read the reviews pros and cons..i feel good that it should work,also have the other capicitor if i need it..not to bad on cost $7.25+$5.99 shippn..should be here the 30th/2nd..its a SPP6 series PTC capacitor combination by SUPCO..they have a couple on there but this one i think will do the trick.the wife seems happy withn the idea....thanks again coach and dave...

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Your welcome.  I got more life out of mine last year by doing the capacitor replacement.

Dave

[ClassCKing]

installed the new start capacitor combo...very nice cold air..didnt even trip the breaker which is good.compresser turned on and off like its suppose to..sounded like it wanted to shake the roof apart a couple of times...figured id clean up the wires while im up there.thinkn about replacn the run capacitor sense the start is new.took the temp switch and checked the probe..the probe end had buld up and now it seems to work better..didnt notice before that it was in the fins??? Hm? oh well...the good thing is and surprising is that my generator is a champion 1500w peak/1200w running and when i turned on the genny the fan on the a/c worked and the compressure actually kicked on for a min or to...never did that with the old start.sense i did this today temp close to a 100 again..turned it on around 9am about 2or 3 is when nyou could tell that things were hot..so some improvement...

[ClassCKing]

new spp6 and old start capacitors.

[ClassCKing]

im going to add a couple of things  to this post..on top of the new start capacitor I bought a new run capacitor which is higher rated than the old one. old one was 370v the new is 450v..the turn on and off of the compressor and fan very smooth.smoother than before,but anyway an ealier post on here gave me an idea..instead of makn a cover for the a/c,i did some measurements and decided to insulate the inside of the a/c cover.to have the clearance that was  needed I used INSULFOAM..its comes in different thickness I chose 1/2"..easy to install work with and light..sealed the seams with aluminum tape ..painted the cover with a light aluminum barrier than again with gloss white reflective paint..looks good to..with the new electrical parts and doing that to the cover I can tell the different in cooling and how it runs..the a/c cycles better and still doesn't trip the breaker..