Air conditioning error message

[Half Fast Rusty]

OK it's hot and the last thing you need is air conditioning issues. I've seen this before and thought I knew what to do. Got the dreaded E7 message on my AC controller. Last time this happened, I was on a 30 amp service and it had just popped a breaker. I'm on a 50 amp service so I'm concerned. I looked at my power supply surge protector and it shows 29 amps on one side and 5 amps on the other. Oh oh. Sounds like I have a new problem. My question is where to I look first to see where the electrical problem is? One side of the 50 amp service is apparently faulty. Could it be the shore power cord? If so, how do you check that? Or worse, is it inside the unit somewhere. A little advise would be helpful. By the way, it takes a while for the breaker to pop and I can run one AC unit and avoid the problem, but as I said, its hot and I would really like to use both units.

Thanks,

Rusty

[rohrmann]

When one air conditioner is running, it's not unusual to have high amps on one leg and only a few on the other. One thing to check would be looking to see where the two air conditioner breakers are located in your breaker panel. They should be on opposite sides of the 50 amp main breaker, so the loads are split on both legs. If not, you are loading one leg with both, and then with other loads, you could be having voltage issues when both units are running. You also need to make sure the connections at the breakers are tight. You may still have an issue with the one air conditioner, but this would be a good start.

[DQDick]

If one AC is freezing up and the freeze sensor isn't catching it you could be kicking a breaker on overload.

[Half Fast Rusty]

Thanks Bob, I'll look. It appears that they are on the same side. HW heater and microwave on the other. Haven't had any problems before when on a 50 amp service so something has changed. They both run fine for a while. Then (usually while I'm gone) something happens and the main one will kick off and give me the error message. I think that something is the hot water heater. I'm experimenting with turning the electric HW heater off and using propane for a bit to see if the AC is affected. So the readings on the meter are normal?

Thanks,

Rusty