A.C. burns out fuses?
Question:My home A.C. has been burning out fuses connected to it. We have an old fuse box(with the screw in fuses) and it has blown at least 3 boxes worth(about 12). Is it the unit itself or the wiring in the apartment. We just recently cleaned it out and it's still burning out fuses. Any suggestions? Tired of having to buy fuses
Answers:
Do not put a penny in the panel as one writer advises, it could cause a fire. Do not put in a larger fuse to handle the load, it could cause a fire. If possible death is not deterrent enough, your land lord or insurance company could hold you financially responsible for any and all damages resulting from tampering with the fuse box.
That said, as one writer said, check the a/c unit for the maximum load requirement. When the unit first comes on it draws the maximum, then settles in at a lower draw. Your fuse box will probably have several size fuses in it. Try to locate the highest rated fuse and plug your a/c unit in a circuit that has the highest rating. If you are lucky, the fuse box is marked as to what fuse goes to where in the house. Determine the location and put your a/c unit in that area of the house, if the fuse will handle it. You may have to shut off the TV in that room until the a/c gets up to temperature, then turn the TV back on. If the kitchen is where the highest rated fuse is, you may not be able to have the lights on and the microwave on, and the a/c on all at once. Good Luck
Older wiring sometimes can't handle the load pulled by modern appliances. You can use a stronger fuse, but there is a slight chance of causing a fire that way, so I wouldn't try it unless your desperate. Basicly, the only way to fix this problem is to run new wiring, and install a good circuit breaker system.
You won't like my answer. Turn off the AC it is drawing more amps than your circuit is able to safely provide. Buy a fan and open the widow and put it in where the AC unit used to be. Inadequate wiring is one of the major causes of home/apartment fires.
Look at the nameplate on the A/C. It should indicate what the amperage draw of the compressor motor is both at start up and run. If it is higher than your fuse rating, that's why you are replacing fuses.
use bussman spring loaded time delay plug fuse. probably it will be 4 times more expensive but it runs cooler and can take care of a/c inrush current.
the way you blown too many fuses, you have reached to a point of unsafe condition. the fuse box could have thermal runaway condition that may lead to most of electrical fire that commonly occurs in an old house. to prevent fire hazard you should either use bussman fuses (clean the contact with sand paper first) or use circuit breakers.
try a larger fuse& take a penny stick in then screw in the fuse
So far it seem rating of the fuse,as your AC draws more
amps of current.Replace it with suitable MCB coveniently
available in the market.Also get checked cabble connecting
you AC whether it capable to carry the needed power supply
amps.
the problem is ,that the ac is pulling more current than the wire was made to handle,find the nameplate on the ac and look for its rated amperage,when an ac starts up it usually pulls about 35 amps for a second, if the wiring does not meet this standard the fuse will blow,try using a ac extension chord and hook it up to another outlet,if that does not work you might have to run a separate outlet to it,also you might have other electrical appliances hooked up to the same circuit on that outlet.
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