I have always been told that one should wait (at least) 3 minutes after turning on an air-conditioner before turning it off, and wait 3 minutes after turning off an air-conditioner before turning it back on. I have also heard that not doing so breaks the air-conditioner. Does this have any truth to it? My first thought was that this was certainly a myth, but it seems like I was quite wrong - this appears to be true (or at the very least, it's corroborated/perpetuated by a lot of sources). From Frigidaire (page five): Please always wait 3 minutes when turning unit off then on again, and when changing from cool to fan and back to cool. This prevents compressor from overheating & possible circuit breaker tripping. From Amana (page 17): If you turn off the air conditioner, wait at least 3 minutes before turning it back on. This prevents the air conditioner from blowing a fuse or tripping a circuit breaker. If the air conditioner is off and then turned on while set to a COOL setting, or if it is turned from a fan setting to a COOL setting, it may take approximately 3 minutes for the compressor to start and cooling to begin.

If you turn off the air conditioner, wait at least three minutes before turning it back on. This helps to avoid the air conditioner blowing a fuse or tripping a circuit breaker. From Haier (page nine): Also when you shut off the air conditioner wait for 3 minutes before turning it on again. This is the compressor cycle time. And from Topline HVAC, an HVAC company out of Chicago (which has one of the more irritating websites I've come across in a while, do check it out, including the home page): When turning your air conditioner off, try to wait 3 to 5 minutes to allow the refrigerant pressure to equalize before turning your air conditioner back on. It gets very hard on your compressor, when it tries to start under high pressure, if you do not wait for your system pressures to equalize. There are also about a million other results from Google. It's entirely possible this is all a super-safety-precaution, like a warning that peanut butter contains peanuts, and you might never experience any problems at all.

But it's easy to be better safe than sorry here and let the compressor units stabilize.The compressor motor will stall if you switch it off and on too quickly, resulting in an overload which can trip the circuit breaker and possibly overheat and damage the motor. A technical explanation of why this happens can be found at Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange: Why do refrigeration compressors stall when switched off and on quickly? (disclosure: I asked this question) air handling unit requirementsTo quote "horta" there:your ac unit is not cooling The compressor compresses coolant on one side of a closed loop. solar power ac for carIf you shut off the compressor, you still have the load side of the closed loop full of pressurized coolant.

That pressurized coolant makes it much more difficult to start the motor. A motor starting at 0 RPMs will want to draw large amounts of current. With an added load to the motor (pressurized coolant) the motor will draw excessive current and won't turn over.Browse other questions tagged machines or ask your own question.WACO, Texas (KWTX) With temperatures on the rise you may find yourself reaching to turn your thermostat down and kicking the air conditioner into full gear, but this time of year, people start to realize their air conditioners may not work as well as they should. Wait times to get air conditioners repaired in Central Texas can take up to three days according to the local companies News Ten surveyed Monday afternoon. Homeowners said the longer the repairs take, the hotter the home gets while waiting on repairs. One Central Texan, who asked not to be identified, said she has been without air conditioning for more than a month after her landlord refused to properly fix the problem.

“The house is now always in the 90's, always in the 90's, and at night it may go down to the 80's,” she said. She tries to stay cool anyway she can. “I get a rag and put it in cold water and lay it on me and then I have my ceiling fan on,” she said. Depending on your problem, Adam Price with the Better Business Bureau said your repair appointment could be days away during the peak summer months. “The idea that you are going to immediately get a repair job done the same day is highly unlikely, especially in the middle of June, July, and August,” Price said. Jason Watkins with Air Care, an air conditioning and heating company, said the leading cause of air conditioning units breaking down this time of year is simple. “Heat is your main problem,” Watkins said. “With motors, whenever they break down, heat is usually the reason for it and we have so much heat it happens a lot here in Texas.” Watkins’ company makes numerous air condition repairs each day and the repair requests are not expected to slow down anytime soon.

“We try our best to make it out there as soon as you call, but right now we would like it to be maybe the next day or the day after that,” Watkins said. He said there are preventative measures residents can take to try to prevent problems all together. “Make sure the coils outside on your condenser are clean and always keep a new filter on the inside unit,” Watkins said. If you have to wait a few days for a service appointment and the heat becomes unbearable you can ask a local service company for an after-hours appointment. However, the Better Business Bureau says to be aware these appointment times often come with a large price tag because the technician will likely be paid time and a half for working overtime. Today I received my new refrigerator, and I've been told not to plug it in until a couple of hours have gone by. Some people told me a couple of hours was enough, but others have told me up to 12 hours. I understand the reasons as to why do this (although there's probably more to it than what I know).

How long should I really wait? Is there some science into this? electrical appliances refrigerator kitchens The short answer is to check with the manufacturer. That way you can be sure to stay within warranty guidelines. The longer answer is that it varies from model to model. When a refrigerator is placed in a non-standard position (for example on its side), compressor oil can run out of the compressor and up refrigerant lines. So if you don't stand it upright and wait, the compressor will pump without sufficient oil -- not good. Don't plug it in for a couple of hours because the frig may have been laid on its side while enroute to you. Its because the compressor lubrication oil could get into the cylinder of the compressor and if not given plenty of time to drain back into the oil sump at the bottom of the compressor, could cause major compressor valve damage on start up. 2 or more hours is a good rule to observe. See 10's answer above also. You only have to wait if the refrigerator has been laid on its side at some point during shipping.

When laid on its side, the oil in the compressor goes up into the refrigerant lines. If you start the compressor with insufficient oil, it can be damaged. So, the manufacturers recommend 2 hours JUST IN CASE. If you KNOW that the refrigerator has been transported horizontally, I'd leave it upright for 24 hours just to be 100% sure. Short answer straight away, this is a delivery driver trick. I used to deliver fridges we built or repaired. they don't want to wait while the fridge gets cold before accepting the delivery if it doesn't work, they don't want to have to cart it away after delivering it. We just bought a new Samsung French Door refrigerator. The manual recommends waiting 2 hours after installation before plugging it in but with no explanation for the wait. The user manual of an LG GR-151SSF, which I just bought today (second hand) says nothing about waiting before connecting the power supply. Also, the section "IF YOU MOVE" says nothing about waiting before plugging in.