Bastrop AC Repair (888) 217-3739

An independent referral line for AC and heating calls in Bastrop County, TX. Not a contractor.

Bastrop County, TX

The breaker for the AC or the heat keeps tripping

A breaker that trips once on a hot afternoon may be a one-off. A breaker that trips again as soon as it is reset is reporting a fault: a shorted compressor, a failing motor, a heat strip drawing too much, or a loose connection heating up. Leave it off and call.

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The line is answered 24/7. Calls may be recorded.

Why not keep resetting it

A breaker trips to protect the wiring from too much current. Each reset sends that current back into whatever caused it. If the fault is a compressor winding shorting, repeated resets can finish it off. If it is a loose or burnt connection, each reset heats it again. Reset it once; if it trips again, leave it off.

Which breaker, which system

In most Bastrop County houses the AC or heat pump outdoor unit has its own double breaker, and the indoor air handler with electric heat strips has another, often larger one. Electricity is the main heating fuel in 72.9% of occupied homes in the county (Census ACS 2020–2024), so a winter trip is very often the heat strip circuit.

  • The outdoor unit's breaker, in summer: the compressor, the fan motor, the capacitor or the contactor.
  • The air handler's breaker, on a cold morning: a heat strip element shorting, or strips that all come on at once because a sequencer failed.
  • Both, or the main: a wiring fault, and a call for an electrician as well.

What a technician checks

The current each part draws against its rating, the compressor windings with a meter, the capacitor, the contactor, the strip elements one by one, and every connection in the disconnect and the unit for heat marks. A breaker that has tripped many times can itself be worn, and that is checked too.

What you can do

Note which breaker it is, when it trips (at start-up, after a few minutes, only on the coldest mornings), and whether there is any burning smell at the outdoor unit or the indoor unit. If there is a burning smell, leave the breaker off and say so on the call.

What to say when you call

  • Which breaker: outdoor unit, air handler, or both
  • When it trips, and how many times it has been reset
  • Cooling or heating season, and whether it is a heat pump
  • Any smell, noise or scorch marks
  • The install year and your ZIP code

Common questions

Could it just be the breaker? Sometimes, but a technician rules out the equipment first. Replacing a breaker that is correctly tripping hides the fault.

It only trips on the coldest mornings. That points at the heat strips on an electric furnace or a heat pump's backup heat. See furnace and heating repair.

Know the symptom and the install year? That is enough to start. Ask whether a contractor is taking calls in your ZIP code today.

(888) 217-3739

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The outdoor unit hums, but the fan on top is not turningThe outdoor AC unit hums, clicks or sits silent while the indoor fan runs in Bastrop, TX. Capacitors, contactors and when to switch it off.
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There is ice on the copper line or the indoor coilIce on the copper line at the outdoor unit or on the indoor coil in Bastrop, TX: why an AC freezes in summer, what to do first, and what a technician checks.

ZIP codes on this line

Bastrop 78602Cedar Creek 78612Elgin 78621Smithville 78957Paige 78659Red Rock 78662McDade 78650Rosanky 78953Giddings 78942

Updated

Call — (888) 217-3739

Calls may be recorded.