My Air Conditioner Restarts After Power Failure

Power

• When you experience a power outage in your home, all electricity turns off. When the electricity turns back on, the electronic items that plug into the outlets of the home turn back on. An air conditioner unit is a hit or miss in regards to power outages as the unit has a half chance of failing to power back on. Should it restart after the power comes back on, the settings don't necessarily change, especially if the power outage was quick. If the unit turns back on with the cooling element and fan running, you can turn it off with the remote control or manually.

Compressor

• The internal compressor sometimes will shut down after a power outage, even if the power is reinstated, to protect the compressor from possible overload and damage. As a safety measure, the internal compressor protective time delay mechanism prevents electricity from entering the unit for three minutes after the unit turns off. If the unit fails to turn on after the electricity is on, allow three minutes to pass before turning the appliance back on. If you attempt to turn the air conditioner on before three minutes has passed, you'll trip the internal compressor overload.

Plug

• A power failure and reinstatement might have tripped the power surge protector within the plug of the AC unit, causing the unit not to respond to the "On/Off" button. The protector prevents large bursts of electricity from entering the unit and damaging the electrical components of the air conditioner. The red "Reset" button on the plug resets the electrical connection and allows electricity to flow to the unit again. If the "Reset" button keeps popping out, the plug might be damaged and may require the help of a technician.

Breaker

• After the electricity comes back on, you might want to inspect the breaker to determine the reason why the power fails to restart the unit. If the breaker is set to the middle, or "Off" position, the breaker has been tripped. If the breaker is set to "On," when you open the breaker box and inspect it, you might want to reset the connection anyway. Move the switch over to "Off" and then back over to "On."