Window A/C is always off in the morning

[Samsonsuperco]

I turn the window A/C in my bedroom on every night on full blast and every morning it is turned off. It is an older unit (from the mid 80s) so it doesnt have some sort of safety timer and the controls are knobs. Everyone else in the house says they didn't touch it so I'm the only other one. Is it possible that I turned it off in my sleep and don't remember doing so? It's irritating because it always ends up getting so hot in my room overnight.

[HarryNyquist]

The important question is are the knobs moved from when you go to sleep to when you wake up?

 

If they aren't it might be overheating or have some other fault that causes it to shut off to prevent damage.

[AshleyAshes]

45 minutes ago, Samsonsuperco said:

I turn the window A/C in my bedroom on every night on full blast and every morning it is turned off. It is an older unit (from the mid 80s) so it doesnt have some sort of safety timer and the controls are knobs. Everyone else in the house says they didn't touch it so I'm the only other one. Is it possible that I turned it off in my sleep and don't remember doing so? It's irritating because it always ends up getting so hot in my room overnight.

If it has no functions for turning itself off and the breaker isn't tripped, then yeah, either you're doing it or it's BROKEN.

But with a machine that old, does it even have 'soft on' buttons or does it have physical switches that close the circuit and power it on?  You said it has KNOBS so I'm thinking not.  If it doesn't have soft buttons, what position are they in when you find it 'off'?  Like is the knob still in the 'on' position when you find it 'off'?

[Samsonsuperco]

On 6/14/2017 at 11:08 AM, HarryNyquist said:

The important question is are the knobs moved from when you go to sleep to when you wake up?

 

If they aren't it might be overheating or have some other fault that causes it to shut off to prevent damage.

 

On 6/14/2017 at 11:11 AM, AshleyAshes said:

If it has no functions for turning itself off and the breaker isn't tripped, then yeah, either you're doing it or it's BROKEN.

But with a machine that old, does it even have 'soft on' buttons or does it have physical switches that close the circuit and power it on?  You said it has KNOBS so I'm thinking not.  If it doesn't have soft buttons, what position are they in when you find it 'off'?  Like is the knob still in the 'on' position when you find it 'off'?

Wow, I kind of forgot about this

 

Here are the controls when I go to bed:

 

And when I wake up:

[Steemax]

It's haunted..... burn the place down.

[AshleyAshes]

10 hours ago, Samsonsuperco said:

 

Wow, I kind of forgot about this

 

Here are the controls when I go to bed:

 

And when I wake up:

There's three possibilities I see here.

 

1) It somehow has a timer system that is turning itself off.  But it seems way too old for that.

 

2) It somehow has a breaker system and it's shorting out or it's failing.  That makes it a hazard, throw it away  Buuut... I don't think that it's likely it has that function either.

 

3) Air conditioners use a lot of power as is, that old thing is even less efficient than new air conditioners by a decent margin, so someone else in your household, probably someone who pays the electrical bill, is turning it off while you sleep.

[AshleyAshes]

Like, no joke, that is a WOOD GRAIN air conditioner.  I have an AC from 2003, 10 000 BTU, which is rated for 1050w, meanwhile NEW 10 000 BTU window units are like 820-850w rated.  I imagine any air conditioner dating back to the days of wood grain laminate and predating even EnergyStart is probably a real gas guzzler.

[HarryNyquist]

2 hours ago, AshleyAshes said:

3) Air conditioners use a lot of power as is, that old thing is even less efficient than new air conditioners by a decent margin, so someone else in your household, probably someone who pays the electrical bill, is turning it off while you sleep.

@Samsonsuperco might be able to confirm this bit by putting something in front of your door that will need moved to get into the room.

[dalekphalm]

I'm going to assume two plausible possibilities:

 

1. You're getting up in the middle of the night to shut off the AC because you're too cold, or

2. Someone else is shutting it off because running an AC 24/7 is damn expensive - doubly so for an old monster like that.

 

@Samsonsuperco you could setup a camera and record yourself at night (making sure to keep both the door and the AC in view if possible) and just see what's going on. You could use a webcam on a laptop, an actual CamCorder, or hell even your cellphone.

[Samsonsuperco]

On 6/29/2017 at 1:48 PM, AshleyAshes said:

Like, no joke, that is a WOOD GRAIN air conditioner.  I have an AC from 2003, 10 000 BTU, which is rated for 1050w, meanwhile NEW 10 000 BTU window units are like 820-850w rated.  I imagine any air conditioner dating back to the days of wood grain laminate and predating even EnergyStart is probably a real gas guzzler.

 

On 6/29/2017 at 5:18 PM, dalekphalm said:

 

running an AC 24/7 is damn expensive - doubly so for an old monster like that.

 

 

It's a 6000 BTU unit so its actually not bad... only pulls about 600-650 watts on full blast. I think the thermostat on it is broken because the compressor is constantly on when it is on full blast, but I can't turn it down because after I turn it off I have to let it sit for a few minutes or else the compressor gets stuck or something like that and trips the breaker. So I can't put it on like 5 or something because I'm afraid it will try and kick in too soon and trip a breaker. I have a really small room though so it cools like a beast on full blast. I can easily get it down to a balmy 65F (18.3C). 62F (16.6C) if I really push it.

 

On 6/29/2017 at 2:47 PM, HarryNyquist said:

@Samsonsuperco might be able to confirm this bit by putting something in front of your door that will need moved to get into the room.

I will try this

[Syntaxvgm]

these old units use as much as a small microwave when the compressor kicks on. Someone's turning it off. 

[Samsonsuperco]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

Try to hire Terry Crews to slap whoever is doing it.  Have him give them a death glare before he goes full bitch slap.
 

 Reminds me of Everybody Hates Chris. 

[Syntaxvgm]

22 minutes ago, Samsonsuperco said:

 

It's a 6000 BTU unit so its actually not bad... only pulls about 600-650 watts on full blast. I think the thermostat on it is broken because the compressor is constantly on when it is on full blast, but I can't turn it down because after I turn it off I have to let it sit for a few minutes or else the compressor gets stuck or something like that and trips the breaker. So I can't put it on like 5 or something because I'm afraid it will try and kick in too soon and trip a breaker. I have a really small room though so it cools like a beast on full blast. I can easily get it down to a balmy 65F (18.3C). 62F (16.6C) if I really push it.

 

I will try this

that's a lot of electricity. That said I get it, I always sleep better cold. I typically keep the ac off during the day, on at night. In my case my central air went out recently and I'm using several window units now, and turning off everything, shutting my door and cranking up a small dedicated one in my room so it's like super cold and still using less power than the central air at a higher temp. They have their advantages if you live alone or sleep in the same room with someone, but if everyone is kicking it up in different rooms, lots of power.  

[yathis]

On 6/14/2017 at 9:26 AM, Samsonsuperco said:

I turn the window A/C in my bedroom on every night on full blast and every morning it is turned off. It is an older unit (from the mid 80s) so it doesnt have some sort of safety timer and the controls are knobs. Everyone else in the house says they didn't touch it so I'm the only other one. Is it possible that I turned it off in my sleep and don't remember doing so? It's irritating because it always ends up getting so hot in my room overnight.

Yes it is possible you did that.

You should turn it on when you are just hanging around the house, and see what happens.

Either that or video record it or audio record it, web cam it perhaps.

Obviously you did not trip the breaker at the panel.

Maybe there is a feature of that AC unit that is timed.

I know I had a fan like that, it pissed me off too b/c I like the fan on 24/7.