Question for electricans, A/C guys or

[beedees]

anybody smarter then me. Sit: A/C unit in my shop took a dump (kinda)- 18,k window unit mounted in the wall-230v. Will it even RUN at all on 115v? Been in there once , was a simple fix- cap. start was blowing thru what little insulation there was between the terminals on the comp. Now, it still cools but not very well, only ran it about 15 min. thanks

[RECHRGD]

If I understand your post correctly, you lost one leg of your 230 volt supply but the fan kept running?  Yes that can happen under certain circumstances.  Then you fixed the 230 volt but now it's not cooling?  Yes the compressor can be damaged under low voltage conditions, but I thought there was built in protection to prevent it from trying to run.  Not much help, sorry........

[beedees]

Don't know yet-haven't got the bear out yet-about 7. ft up in a 10 ft. wall. Just wondering, doesn't sounnd the same and barely cooling. thanks.

[Nacho-RT74]

no it won't... need 220-240 volts

get two phases ( lines ) hooked it up to the A/C unit plug, one to the theorically Hot prong, the other one to the theorically neutral one and will get 208-215 volts... ground prong to ground. Don't use Neutral line of the shop

[Paul G]

Short answer is no it will not run on 115 volts AC.

[Nacho-RT74]

But conecting two 115V lines to the plug will make it work... I make this all the time when using 220V devices down here ( we use 110-120V lines like you up there ) and we get 208 Volts due the 120 degrees phase out of the lines.

NOTE, just as previouslly described, not both together LOL

One line to one of the prongs, the other line to the other prongs... Ground to Ground... Neutral will be out of the game

[Paul G]

You are correct Nacho. That is how we get 240 volt power, by using two 120 volt legs. Each leg has 120 volts to neutral which makes standard house hold current, then across the two 120 volt legs we get 240 volt for larger appliances like air conditioners, compressors, and welders. But he must have both legs of the 120 volt power (which together are the 240 volt power) for the air conditioner to run. The OP said the air conditioner sounds different and is not cooling well. It probably has a failed fan motor, or capacitor. If it runs at all it will most likely have both legs of the 240 volt power.

Nacho, do you use 120 volts in Venezuela like we do in the US, or 240 volts like most of Europe does?   

[Nacho-RT74]

Yes we do use same volts than USA ( 110~120 volts ), toward the south ( Argentina, Chile and some others ) its 240v

Must say the 120volts summatory don't reach arithmetic 240volts...