Where I work we have a a few transformers that convert 480 to 208. The taps on those transformers aren't set right and we get low voltages off of those transformers. It tends to cook breakers from the low voltages, lower voltages cause higher amperage's.
There is a tempered spring inside of breakers that is rated to deflect at a particular heat range. That's how they determine what amperage a breaker is rated to trip at besides the contacts and conductors in it, by how that spring changes when it heats to a certain point, it causes the armature to tumble off. When a breaker gets hot over and over and its really close to the rating of the breaker but just below the rating, that spring can fail. That can cause a breaker to disconnect when the amperage is still lower than the rating of the breaker.
Low voltages and poor connections can cause breakers to overheat, very similar to shorts and overloads in an appliance. If you are experiencing weird problems when switching the breaker off and on, it could be a sign of a bad breaker but not necessarily.
I've had a few breakers at work and here at home that failed, they'd trip at lower than rated amperage's. I replaced them and the problem went away. But its not always the solution, there could be other things causing the problem.
An instant trip sounds a lot like a short, maybe in the outlet. You mention the appliance was disconnected. A voltage meter with a continuity tester would help you a lot. It helps to know how to use one though. If you are unaware of how electrical behaves, it may be time to get someone that understands it a little better. You may damage the meter or worse get electrocuted. It can be fairly simple to troubleshoot but the dangers are quite extreme.
Air conditioners are fairly high amperage appliances. When they are running off of 120V, many of the outlets that they get plugged into are only rated for 15 amps. Even when they are plugged into 20 amp outlets, the outlets tend to carbonize over time, after some time the outlets can do all sorts of weird things, usually not pretty. Kind of the nature of outlets of any kind. All it takes is the contacts not being so good and overheating occurs. Overheating can lead to the melting or vaporizing of the conductor in the outlet.
Just my 2 cents.
Steve
--- In DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com, "Jessica Wilder" <jewjrw4@...> wrote:
>
> Ok new development. Unplugged the a/c from wall and went and flipped
> breaker, and bam it flipped.
> So bad breaker????
>
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