I still don't relish the idea of even a perfectly good AC which may draw say 12+ amps being served by a 15 amp branch circuit, since I designed so that no more then 80% of maximum continuous load was allowed, meaning 12 amps max on a 15 amp branch circuit. I don't see 123 volts or even 116 under load (if that what it was at the unit itself ?) as low enough to cause current to be 17 amps, so I don't think low voltage (at least as far as at the source) is the problem. With such motors what happens is that the power required to turn it does not change and since power is volts times amps, when voltage drops the current must increase and with the increased current the temperature of the motor also increases and so your circuit breaker may very well be preventing the failing of your a/c motors from getting too hot. With resistance loads, as voltage drops the current also drops but that is not true for an ac motor. The A/C should be capable of pretty much constant running if everything is proper, but as Vern has mentioned, low voltage can be the problem and likely is. Keep in mind that most circuit breakers will only carry about 80% of their rated current for a constant running condition. I'm just a little bit surprised that your A/C is on a 15a breaker as most that I'm familiar with are on a 20a but I don't advocate replacing it unless you make sure that the wire size is plenty large enough. But this statement: " It started at 12.5 Amp and gradually increased to over 17.5 amps, then the breaker popped." leads me to believe that you have done this. If you have one, I'd use a "clamp on" amp meter to verify what the current load is accurately, if you have not already done so. Reading through the responses, most of what I was about to say has been covered. John T NOT an AC expert or tech by any means, so see what the experts have to say or add to this. Last time I talked to one and he discussed the cost to perform a line tap to check Freon and/or or add any versus the cost of a new unit, I decided to try and check it wasn't worth it since it may fail again and then all that money would be wasted. If you clean both coils and the interior air filter and there's no bad capacitor (which I doubt is the problem) and all electrical connections (breaker and panel and at unit) are good yet she still draws 17.5 amps, I think Id have an RV AC Tech take a look as there may be a compressor or Freon problem. Is the fan motor clean and free, that's easy to see and get to, its not running overly hot is it? While capacitors can go bad, I suspect you unit just has a START Capacitor instead of any START and RUN, so such is NOT my "first" suspect (still anything is possible). Id fell better if a 12 to 14 amp unit were on a 20 amp branch circuit then a 15 amp. Next, even if the unit normally draws say 12.5 amps, TO ME THATS TOO MUCH CURRENT FOR A 15 AMP BRANCH CIRCUIT BREAKER (I wouldn't use over 12 amps) and assuming its a Thermal Magnetic Breaker, a long continuous 12 to 13 amp draw could eventually trip the thermal, and of course your reported 17.5 amps will trip it quickly. They make a powerful spray coil cleaner I've seen RV AC techs use, but the solution is fairly strong so make sure no spray ends up other then on the coils I use my air compressor plus a soft brush so I don't bend any of the delicate fins. First off I agree with neighbor Ray to clean the coils, and of course that means BOTH the easy to get to Condensor PLUS Evaporator (which some people don't) as well as any interior foam type strip air filters.
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