Air conditioner turns itself off

[Katia]

Not sure if electrical, or a different issue (yes, I'm going to have maintenance out, but I'd like to have some idea of what it could be, too, and an idea to give them).

 

My air conditioners are the sort for each room, hidden inside a console (rather than the ceiling type).  For the past few months, I've had an issue with one of them; it will randomly turn itself off.  I don't mean just the compressor won't run, I mean the whole thing.  Normally they're all running on fan mode, with the compressor kicking in when it needs to.  When I say "turn off," I mean completely off: no fan, no display, nothing, as if I hit the power button and turned it off.  If I turn it back on, it works as if nothing happened.  This only happens maybe once every few weeks.  I don't think it's associated with power outages or anything, though I could be wrong as I don't know exactly when it turns off (it's happened overnight while I sleep, it's happened perhaps while I'm not home, etc.), but it's the one in my bedroom so I assume if anything major happened that would have woken me up the time it happened during the night.  It doesn't happen to the several others in my apartment.

 

I tried googling but when I search "air conditioner turns itself off," all of the results are for rapid cycling.  That's not the problem. 

 

Does it possibly overheat?  Short-circuit?  This last time I've left it off until I can get maintenance out in case it's something like that and could be unwise to keep running it that way.

[bankruatsteve]

Check your remote under timer options and make sure nothing set accidentally.  Do you have high or low voltage issues.  Some of the new equipment I've seen (TV') will turn itself off for that.

[wpcoe]

If you're in a condo/apartment, is it possible the signal from a neighbor's remote occasionally makes it through the wall and turns your unit off instead of theirs?

[Katia]

There are no remotes for ours-- just the wall display from which we adjust the units.  Should've pointed that out to begin with, sorry.   (This wall that it's on is an outside wall anyway; there are other units a neighbor's signal would reach before this one.)

 

I don't think I have any voltage issues otherwise-- I would probably notice the effects of that in other AC units and other appliances, right?

Edited July 22, 2017 by Katia

[Katia]

Replying again in case anything new might pop into someone's head for an explanation.

 

It has happened again last night, after having not had the problem for a while (if I recall before, I had maintenance out twice before I gave up, and then it stopped happening, until now).  Last year when I made this post in July, it had already happened several times, each usually a few weeks apart, so it perhaps started around the same time of year, but I really can't remember.  I don't remember when it ultimately stopped.  Maintenance never offered an explanation for why it was happening, just said it was fixed each time (language barrier plus the fact that they come while I'm at work contributes to us not really communicating about it), so I don't know if they looked it over and couldn't figure out what was wrong, or thought they knew and fixed it only that wasn't it, or if they did as I do and hit the power button and it turned back on so they deemed it repaired, or what.

 

I would think it could be due to hot season since it appears to have cropped up around the same time, except usually it shuts itself off during the night... not the hottest part of the day like I might expect if it were heat-related.  Just off, suddenly, as if I had walked over and turned it off, except I haven't touched it.  No strange sounds, smells, etc. before it happens.  It just turns off.  I can't think of any way in which it might be becoming overloaded to turn off It doesn't happen to any other air conditioning unit in my apartment, no other appliance or outlet experiences sudden failure/loss of power or function like that.  I push the power button on the wall display to turn it back on and it turns right back on with no issues, doesn't run funny, I can turn it back on immediately after it turning off; it's as if nothing happened, until the next time it happens.  None of my units have a remote control, and I assume neighbors' units are the same way, so it couldn't be someone else turning it off (and this is on an outside wall, far away from any common walls, so it's unlikely a signal from someone else's remote would get that far, or that the stray signal would affect only that unit).

 

It could be as simple as some type of short or fault in the display that it "thinks" the power button has been pressed to turn it off when it hasn't (that seems more likely than a fault in the unit itself?).  As I said in one of the earlier posts above, if it's due to some sort of overheating or short/power fault, I'm concerned it may not be safe to continue running it...

[stevkob]

It is difficult to troubleshoot an issue from an owners description without being there but I'd like to suggest a couple of things.

 

Possibility there may be power issues in your area, and not necessarily power outages but "brown outs" which are periods where the voltage drops,,,, some A/C units can self protect by sensing the voltage drop and shutting down the operation.

The controller whether it be a remote or a fixed wall type usually have the same functionality, ie in your case I would check to see if you have the sleep function "on" or an "on off" cycle running without your knowledge.

Modern A/C units have self diagnostics which from your point of view means if a fault occurs the unit will show some form of warning signal,,, such as a flashing light or an error code on the wall controller. You would need the owners manual to understand any of these codes etc so hopefully you have it filed away safely.

Hope this helps

[Wirejerker]

You may have a problem with the supply to the AC. The circuit breaker may have a loose connection the electrician may have missed the hole in the CB when he tightened it up and the wire only touching making the connection. Check the screw is tight, tug the wire see if it comes free. Do the same if you have a switch/isolator near the AC. Look for signs of ants/vermin in both and make certain they have a positive feel when they are switched. Compare with others the like. Check the connections in the AC itself.
Remember to Isolate everything before you start.
Isolate Isolate Isolate....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bankruatsteve]

Just to put it out there - again:  Almost all, in my experience here, mysterious electrical problems are the result of ants or geckos.  The main issue I have with my AC's is the relay (contactor, whatever) getting full of ants and needing a good cleaning or replacement.  While that usually keeps the compressor from starting (versus the OP's issue), whose know.

[HooHaa]

15 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

Just to put it out there - again:  Almost all, in my experience here, mysterious electrical problems are the result of ants or geckos.  The main issue I have with my AC's is the relay (contactor, whatever) getting full of ants and needing a good cleaning or replacement.  While that usually keeps the compressor from starting (versus the OP's issue), whose know.

I have had this issue in a condo i lived years ago. I had a pretty lush garden out there and i suspect that drew ants.

 

When the ac would die, i would have to take compressed air to the solenoid that kicked the compressor on as there would be such a thick coating of ants on the solenoid they would insulate the contact points when tripped.

 

Odd the way ants are drwan to elctrical amd magnetic feilds.

[Katia]

Ants.  I never thought of that.  Would they be in the inside unit or the outside?  But if that was the issue, the unit would continue to not work, right, until I removed the ants?  But when it turns off, I can walk over and turn it back on right away and it's fine.

 

 

On 4/13/2018 at 9:56 AM, stevkob said:

It is difficult to troubleshoot an issue from an owners description without being there but I'd like to suggest a couple of things.

 

Possibility there may be power issues in your area, and not necessarily power outages but "brown outs" which are periods where the voltage drops,,,, some A/C units can self protect by sensing the voltage drop and shutting down the operation.

The controller whether it be a remote or a fixed wall type usually have the same functionality, ie in your case I would check to see if you have the sleep function "on" or an "on off" cycle running without your knowledge.

Modern A/C units have self diagnostics which from your point of view means if a fault occurs the unit will show some form of warning signal,,, such as a flashing light or an error code on the wall controller. You would need the owners manual to understand any of these codes etc so hopefully you have it filed away safely.

Hope this helps

Thanks.  I doubt it's brownouts, because we've had those and a lot more tends to go than just one AC unit (and, we can always hear it blow).

 

Wouldn't this happen often if it was the case that there was some sort of sleep function?  And I assume it would also always happen at the same time, right?  Last time it was the middle of the night... then this morning around 08:00.  Unfortunately I am never looking at the wall controller when it happens, so if it flashes or has some kind of error code reflected, I never see it.  I wasn't given a manual for it and thought about looking online to see if I can find one, but wouldn't even be sure what to search for; the displays don't look really modern so such a thing might not even exist online for it anymore.  There are buttons for "timer" and "sleep" on the display, but neither is ever lit (which may not matter if the button has a faulty connection or the LED isn't working).

 

That's what has me most baffled... the lack of consistency.  It never happens at the exact same time, or when it gets to a certain temperature, or when I'm doing a certain thing... as I said, it inexplicably started doing it last year, then just as inexplicably stopped, until it inexplicably started again the other day.  Strange.

 

I'm not going to worry about it too much, I suppose... if maintenance can't figure it out, I'm not going to be able to.