I have no noticeable problems with my house's electricity, but when my Air Conditioner kicks in (and here in Central Texas, it kicks in year round) my lights dim for a second or so and then run normally. It doesn't seem to have any bad effects, except that it's annoying and makes me worry that something might be wearing out from the load. How can I change things so that my lights stay even when the A/C turns on?
Electrical – How to stop the lights dimming when the Air Conditioning turns on
air-conditioningelectrical
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Best Answer
First I would check the electrical connections to the compressor and the breaker in the panel, see that they are tight and not corroded. Next I would measure the starting current of the compressor with a clamp on ammeter. I had a problem like this on a friends AC, only his problem was tripping the breaker at times. His compressor is about 10 years old, and is harder to start now. When I measured the starting current it measured 175 Amps! Which on this compressor is the locked rotor current! We replaced the starting capacitor and added a "Hard start kit". Now the starting current is a respectable 50 Amps.
Some tech info: The induction type motors used in these compressors have an extra motor winding. This is called a "start" winding and is used with the "start capacitor" it is there only to get the motor to initially turn and a mechanical switch disengages it at a low speed. What happens over time is that the motor load is increased due to wear, and the start capacitance becomes weaker. So why not just build a compressor with a large start up capacitance to begin with? Some higher end units do just that, but most don't to save $$$. Contrary to popular belief, the start capacitor size does not "Give a bigger jolt" to the motor, but delays the 60 cycle feed to the second winding fooling the motor to think it is driven by a poly phase feed. The larger the capacitor value, the bigger the delay - hence the lower the starting current. Without a start winding, the motor will sit there humming until it trips the breaker. Three phase motors (poly phase) do not have start windings because they have three windings.