The Circuit Breaker Size for a 230 Volt Air Conditioner Kevin, according to the specs for the air conditioner the circuit that should be installed would be a 30 amp 230 volt circuit … Step 2. The obvious first thought is that the inverter air conditioning unit itself has a major problem such as a PCB or compressor fault. The protective device must protect against short circuit, overload, and earth fault conditions. Bummer. 6 Why Does My GFI Breaker Keep Tripping? The voltage range for this wire falls between 0 volts and 2,000 volts. A low-rating circuit breaker (MCB) is used. The wire run one way will be 15ft. Typically, 2.5mm2 cable is used for 16-20A circuits, while 4mm2 cable is used for 20-25A circuits. Size of Wire & Circuit Breaker for Electric Stove 3 How Many Watts Does a 5,000-BTU Air Conditioner Use? What size wire and circuit breaker do we need? [Solution] If Circuit Breaker (MCB Trip) activates during operations, please check the followings. Check whether the 16 Amp good Quality Top plug is used or not. That breaker would normally be too large for 12 gauge wire, it's only allowed in a case like this where the A/C unit is rated as such. This is a 2-ton air conditioner, as you can see from the model number. That said, for aesthetic reasons I'd hard wire it certainly. CaptDan In electronics terms a circuit breaker is a relatively slow device. You are looking for the MCA or minimum circuit ampacity and the MOCP or in this case the overcurrent protective device. In your case, the circuit breaker should be a 20 ampere HACR breaker. In the example below, it’s 60 amps. The electrical characteristics for my LG ductless mini split are as follows: MOP 35 amps MCA 23 amps Cooling rated amps 17.55 Heating rated amps 17.55 Compressor 17.3 amps Fan 0.25 amps Overload protection is built into the compressor itself. Your AC circuit breaker will trip if it is pulling in more amps than your circuit breaker is rated for. This means it is allowable to install this unit on a circuit breaker rated at 50 amps and a conductor rated at 28.6 amps, according to the NEC’s NFPA 70. Answer Save. I recently purchased a ductless mini split and am trying figure out the correct breaker and wire size. Hi all, Building a new home and the air con … 3. So you've determined that your AC is tripping the breaker, but you're clueless as to why. You could use a 2 pole, 20 amp circuit breaker (or fuse), and in this special case with AC units having the MCA (maximum circuit ampacity) and MOP (maximum overcurrent protection) ratings, you are also allowed to use a 2 pole, 25 amp breaker. If possible, ask your spark to run a new circuit from your switchboard. Cable size should be as per the Australian Standards (AS 3000 and AS 3008). COVID-19 Update: To see what we're doing to help keep everyone safe, please see COVID-19 and Home Inspections. Reset it once and only once, and see if your unit runs normally. The wire to a condensing unit must be large enough to allow the equipment to start. The vast majority of mini splits require 208/240 volts. Relevance. mlionel20. The breaker and wire size will largely depends on the power consumption (W) of the air-conditioner. Well, trust me. Actual current rating of circuit will depend on the method of installation,eg, unenclosed in air, or enclosed in conduit over 50% of its route length. Breaker size should be what is recommended in the AC manual. The reason for this is that the unit does not require as much power to display the settings, or even run the fan, as it does to turn on and run the compressor. This is the way I figure it when the nameplate rating is unknown... 1-ton equals 12,000 BTU's = 10 amps. What size circuit breakers and wire size do I need for the following air conditioner 5 tonn condesor unit with following data plate information... volts 208 - 230, volts range 197 - 253, max circuit breaker 50 amp. Subscribe for weekly inspiration. the air conditioning units work for 2 months then all of a sudden a issue arises where the supply blows. A 5 ton air conditioner will need a two pole 40 amp circuit breaker to supply 240 volts over a cable of #8 copper wires. This is good for 50 amp rated unit. For air conditioners and heat pumps, we size the wires and circuit breakers in accordance with the information printed on the label, not the simplified sizing charts that we typically rely on. The size of the circuit breaker is determined by the manufacturer, and should be listed on the nameplate. Kevin, the issue is not what size circuit breaker you should install, the issue is to make sure that the installed circuit will be exactly what the air conditioning unit is specifying which in this case is a 30 amp 230 volt circuit. Forum Regular reference: whrl.pl/ReE1JR. Speed of circuit breaker is much higher during operation of the air blast. It depends how far over the rating is, but the basic idea is the breaker (and the wiring it protects) can handle the inrush current from the air conditioner compressor coming on. While trying to justify a 40 amp circuit breaker for my 5hp, 3 phase, 240 V air compressor I came across a chart of unknown origin that called for 2x the FLAs of the motor, which is 13.9 according to the motor data plate. 4 How Does 2-Pole Circuit Breaker Work? 2. Air Conditioner Circuit Breaker Keeps Tripping – Reset Your Air Conditioner’s Circuit Breaker (ONCE, and ONLY once!). 2.5sqmm will carry 25A unenclosed.in air. The biggest problem with an underrated RCD breaker is that it can be a periodic issue, i.e. Circuit breaker for air conditioner. Water heater circuit breaker size. Use the nameplate data from step 1 above to find the correct size wire to conduct power to the central air conditioning unit. Here’s a picture of an air conditioner’s data tag that I took just today. 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