Electrical – Portable AC Drawing 0.33 Amps Trips 15 Amp Circuit Breaker

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After about 5 min. my portable AC rated at 11.4 Amps trips the 15 Amp circuit breaker. I put a Kill-a-Watt meter on it and it was only drawing 0.33 Amps at time of the tripping.
Only other running elec. object tied in to the breaker is 'smoke alarm'.
Anyone have a fix or cause?

Best Answer

I agree with others .33a no way for even the smallest ac units. At 5 minutes I believe the circuit is being overloaded.

Most breakers for residential use are inverse time breakers. A 15 amp breaker loaded at 15.5 amps may not trip for a 1/2 hour push it to 16 amps and it will trip much quicker possibly 5 minutes.

I would check the load on that breaker with a clamp meter and would expect more than 15 amps. If the load is less than 15 the breaker is defective and needs to be replaced.