Master cabin air con breaker won’t reset

[Shayne]

My master stateroom has 2 air handlers and two separate 20 amp breakers. The top one won’t reset and the master cabin display has no power. I’m trying to figure out if I have a faulty breaker, bad display or compressor problem. The breaker fails the moment I try to reset it. Any suggestions ?

[JD5652]

You could start by replacing the breaker and see if that fixes the issue... likely the easiest and cheapest first step....

You could also put a clamp-on ammeter on the compressor power line and see if you have excessive current on start-up... remember that you will initially get a very quick (~1/10 of second) in-rush current when compressor starts that is somewhere on the magnitude of 5x-7x running current, but it should then settle down to normal running current. Depending upon the quality of the ammeter, you may not even see the in-rush current...

[Lmcruiser]

I had same problem. At first kept tripping breaker and had capacitor and relay replaced. Then new breaker. Worked for a little while but then breaker would not reset which was new. Before breaker would reset. The bad news was that the compressor locked up andhad to be replaced

[SKYCHENEY]

Will it reset with no power to the boat? Or does it just trip with power on?

[Shayne]

Ruled out the breaker. Time for an expert. I see that I will need to start replacing some of these old split systems. Already replaced one. I have a few questions. I’m wondering if I should consider a few all in one units for those staterooms closest to the ac discharge manifolds. I hesitate about running raw water lines throughout the boat. Or should I consider a chiller system?Any thoughts are appreciated.

[Fanfare]

I believe the old split AC systems were an attempt to maximize cooling despite not having much dockside shore power. Mine never cooled two spaces adequately. After rewiring, installed another compressor and un-split the system--much more satisfactory.