AC question

[GerryB]

My customer called late summer that at times a breaker would trip and the ac would go off .At the time I checked it quick and saw the pump was wired off the attic circuit j-box with other cables. It didn't trip all the time so today I went to investigate more. She has a 230v attic air handler. This breaker does not trip. The condensate pump was 120v so they had tapped an existing circuit for that outlet. The pump had the low voltage switch leads on it, these went thru a water alarm that was on the drip pan. So I'm thinking since only the 110 circuit trips and not all the time that there is something wrong with the pump or the alarm. I got rid of the 110v, changed the outlet to 240 and bought a new pump and plugged it in. Also it had the leads for the alarm. My question is when I got home I tested the old pump and it seems to work fine. It worked with the switch leads open or closed (should that happen?) So know I don't know what tripped her breaker.

 

[ActionDave]

Did you pump any water through it?

 

[GoldDigger]

Are the alarm switch and control wires set up to only turn the pump on when there is water in the drip pan?
If the 240 breaker tripped with the pump on a separate 120V circuit, I would say that the pump had nothing to do with the trip.
More likely the starting surge of the motor is causing the trip intermittently.
Is the air handler fan on the same breaker as the A/C compressor.

 

[GerryB]

To clarify the 240 air handler breaker never tripped. According to the HO "a breaker" tripped, the ac stopped working and the closet light and attic fan stopped working. That breaker was a 15 amp 110 volt in the attic that was also doing the 110volt condensate pump. So I am assuming if the pump is unlpugged or not working the alarm wires don't let the air handler run. The condensor is outside on a different breaker. I expected there to be something wrong with the old pump but I put water in it and it pumped strong. It didn't matter if the low voltage switch leads were twisted together or not. The switch leads are supposed to be wired in series with the alarm and t-stat to shut the unit down, and it looks like they are. Bottom line I guess is now the air handler and the condensate pump are on the same circuit, if the 240 circuit trips, something wrong with the unit, if the 110 circuit trips then it's not related to the AC. BTW I told her to call the HVAC guy they like to pass the buck if they could I've noticed. I've had a few times they said "bad breaker" and it wasn't. I forgot this HO also had said it seemed like on the really hot days the ac had trouble or took a long time to cool down. That was when I told her to call the hvac guy.