Window AC unit

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Dexie123

Senior Member
Hi all.

Friend of mine has an AC window unit 120volts. All the power in his house works fine except for this AC. It sounds like the compressor is trying to kick on but it won't do it. When it's doing this all the lights in house dim (not unusual).

It's a relatively new unit (Less than 5 years old). He lives far from me so I told him to check for the proper voltage on the socket. Was thinking if it wasnt' getting the proper voltage it wouldn't kick on. (He lives far away so can't check it myself)

Any thoughts on why this would happen? I'm more of a "it's got voltage there so it's not electrical" type guy!

Thanks
 
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megloff11x

Senior Member
Check your house Voltage. They say car mechanics have the rattiest cars and electricians the rattiest home wiring jobs.

These big AC window units can draw many amperes. In older homes, they don't have the service. A house built in the 1950's may have had a toaster, a vacuum cleaner, a radio, and a few lights. My parent's 1949 house had a 60A service. Not 200A, not 150A, just 60A.

My father, a journeyman, who also hot wired his ship after the japs torpedoed it, had 2-3 window air conditioners and all kinds of extra new loads. At one point the house pulled down to about 90V. He'd just add bigger fuses, and an extra fuse box. I think birds would burn their feet if they landed on the power lines to our house. After he passed away, my mother spent a small fortune getting the house upgraded to 200A (and to code) and added central air.

I seem to recall that when the 30A fuses he put on the 14AWG 15A outlets went, we usually lost 2-3 rooms at a time. Dad said that when he bought the house, part of the post war construction boom, ALL of the wiring in the house was tied in to one 15A fuse, and he had to split it up himself. As a result, which three rooms was random, and sometimes you lost partial room power.

The water from the AC units also rotted the wood on and under the window frames.

I find that if you open your windows at night when it's cool, and run fans, then button up the house during the day, you don't need AC. But then I don't live in Phoenix or Orlando either.

If you must, the newer efficient AC units will pay for themselves in a few years. A bad AC unit is like a bad refrigerator. It's a power hog and will give you nothing but grief.

Matt
 
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muskiedog

Senior Member
Location
Minnesota
May need to install a hard start kit on the ac compressor. Never done it for a window unit though. Sounds like its getting weak. Probably better to just get a new one.
 
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sc57ford

Member
Location
South Carolina
Having had an appliance repair business years ago, our most common problem with window units was the start capacitor for the fan and compressor. However, it could be a voltage problem, which in itself can cause a myriad of probelms.
 
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