Weird circuit breaker problem

Factual Questions
1

So for the past 2 weeks, every single morning, the circuit breaker to my A/C is flipped off, not tripped, it is just fully 100% switched off.

What could cause this?

2

Someone in your house thinks you are wasting electricity.

3

Your spouse/kid/roommate thinks it’s too cold, and doesn’t know how to turn it off properly?

4

My guess is that it is tripping due to an overload. But instead of indicating an overload, it is faulty and moving the handle all the way to the off position.

5

And remember, the breaker may be faulty by moving to the “off” position for a tripped condition AND your A/C is tripping the breaker … perhaps and electrician or someone like him should look into this …

6

I had the exact same issue a couple of years ago. At first I thought the kid was being lazy and using the breaker as a switch to avoid walking across the room.
But it turned out to be a faulty AC unit.
I never investigated the breaker problem, I’m pretty sure the breaker turns 50 years old this year. Maybe it’s the way the older breakers worked.
After some googling I found this on Reddit,not sure if it’s accurate

Quote from some guy on Reddit

“In a standard residential setting with thermal breakers most trip to the middle position. Some brands of breakers -Cutler Hammer comes to mind - do not go to the middle spot and will trip all the way off.”

So maybe it’s just the breaker.

7

So why would it be tripping overnight, if I read the OP correctly? And not during the late afternoon and early evening when I think the load would be heaviest?

8

The load is the heaviest when the unit switches on. Motors, like the compressor in the AC unit, as well as the fan, require higher current to start than they require to continue running. Google “inrush current” for more details.

In the daytime when it’s hot, the compressor and fan are probably constantly running and therefore don’t trip the breaker.

If the compressor is starting to wear out, the current required to get it started could be getting excessive, which may be what is tripping the breaker. It could also be that the breaker is going bad and is tripping at lower current levels than it should. It could even be both, since a lot of excessive current that keeps causing breaker trips can eventually damage the breaker.

9

Weak latch spring/worn latch point. Replace the breaker.

10

The breaker is going to be a very cheap thing to replace yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=replace+circuit+breaker