Need Electrician to replace circuitbreaker

[DubiousDan]

I need an electrician to replace the circuit-breaker for my AC compressor. It's been tripping and the AC guy says the AC is OK but that the breaker may need replacing and they don't do that kind of work. It's on the outside panel.

I need a recommendation for someone that is reasonable and a TGT member if possible.

 

[Dawico]

No desire to do it yourself?

 

[DubiousDan]

No desire to do it yourself?

I don't know what is involved.

 

[Dawico]

Very simple. Probably good videos on YouTube. 10 minute job.

The big thing is finding the same brand and size. That may be a 220v breaker too.

And yes, electricity is involved so it is technically dangerous but not really.

 

[RACER X]

Avoid this sound

Bbzzzzzt

Kekeke

 

[robertc1024]

Where in SA are you?

 

[F350-6]

Very easy to do and no danger if you follow the steps.

Turn off the main breaker to kill power to the panel.
Remove panel cover.
Loosen the 2 screws clamping the wires since the AC is 220.
Snap out the breaker from the panel. (probably look at youtube)
Pull wires out of old breaker and dispose of old breaker.
Stick wires in new breaker or snap new breaker in place and then use needle nose pliers to put wires in new breaker.
Tighten screws down to clamp said wires.
Reinstall panel cover.
Flip back on new breaker and main breaker.

Enjoy AC in the summer time.

 

[DubiousDan]

Where in SA are you?

Near UTSA

 

[DubiousDan]

Very easy to do and no danger if you follow the steps.

Turn off the main breaker to kill power to the panel.
Remove panel cover.
Loosen the 2 screws clamping the wires since the AC is 220.
Snap out the breaker from the panel. (probably look at youtube)
Pull wires out of old breaker and dispose of old breaker.
Stick wires in new breaker or snap new breaker in place and then use needle nose pliers to put wires in new breaker.
Tighten screws down to clamp said wires.
Reinstall panel cover.
Flip back on new breaker and main breaker.

Enjoy AC in the summer time.

Saw some videos on it and a majority say to make sure to replace with the same brand. In other DIY tutorials it warned against certain brands of panels.

 

[F350-6]

Saw some videos on it and a majority say to make sure to replace with the same brand. In other DIY tutorials it warned against certain brands of panels.

There are different styles of breakers that lock into the panel different ways, so matching the snap in style is important. Not much to worry about though. Most snap in the same way. Look at the brand name in your existing panel. Odds are they have it in stock at Home Depot, so you can match the brand.

 

[DubiousDan]

There are different styles of breakers that lock into the panel different ways, so matching the snap in style is important. Not much to worry about though. Most snap in the same way. Look at the brand name in your existing panel. Odds are they have it in stock at Home Depot, so you can match the brand.

I'll look at it again in daylight.

 

[boomgoesthedynamite]

Get the same breaker. Don't sweat the "avoid this brand" panel stuff. It was ok before, so just get the same thing.

Swapping it out is pretty easy. F350 had it. The only thing I would question is if a regular breaker went bad. Gfci or afci, sure, but the regular ones don't fail too often.

Tripping breaker, if it is working, means current draw is too high. Arcing wire or maybe a bad motor. I also assume nothing else is plugged into the circuit. You didn't add a plug that you are running anything on, right?

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[DubiousDan]

Get the same breaker. Don't sweat the "avoid this brand" panel stuff. It was ok before, so just get the same thing.

Swapping it out is pretty easy. F350 had it. The only thing I would question is if a regular breaker went bad. Gfci or afci, sure, but the regular ones don't fail too often.

Tripping breaker, if it is working, means current draw is too high. Arcing wire or maybe a bad motor. I also assume nothing else is plugged into the circuit. You didn't add a plug that you are running anything on, right?

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We had solar panels hooked up on Monday. Could they have increased the load.

 

[jrbfishn]

Not unless they wired something completely wrong. If that is when the problem started, it may be the cause if they connected into that box. But they should have gone into the main, not the AC breaker. The only way I can see a problem with that is if they somehow tied in between the AC breaker and the AC unit. And that would be a dumbass thing.

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[Recoil45]

Caps in the AC going bad will cause the breaker to trip. Hopefully your AC guy knows his stuff.


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[Dawico]

Caps in the AC going bad will cause the breaker to trip. Hopefully your AC guy knows his stuff.


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That was my first thought honestly.

A popping AC breaker is usually a sign of AC issues, not breaker issues.

But really, a breaker is cheap enough to just replace (since you were told that) and if it fixes the problem consider yourself very lucky.

 

[karlac]

We had solar panels hooked up on Monday. Could they have increased the load.
View attachment 43140

Doubtful ... but,

This is a red flag for you doing it yourself unless you can positively insure the main service panel is not being fed from another source (the new solar system).

It should not be, but don't take anything to do with residential electrical systems for granted these days ... call a licensed electrician when in doubt

Just this week had a licensed electrician get bit by not asking the question whether there was another panel in the house ... in this case he was trouble shooting a dead branch circuit and assumed the only panel was the main service panel, when there was a hidden, fused panel above a top shelf in the 60 year old house, leaving three other branch circuits hot.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

You also want to make sure the entire area is cool as possible.
I recommend liberally spraying everything down with water beforehand.

 

[Charlie]

Spraying everything with water ..................... hmmm, that's going to be exciting when you turn the power back on.

 

[DubiousDan]

The breaker tripped a couple times during the night so I went to Home Depot this AM and got a new breaker and managed to to get it installed without any trouble. It was still pretty cool and shady outside so I didn't have to spray everything with the hose (a$$ wipe)


I hope that does the trick. I'll be really pissed if I have to call the AC guy again.