Look for debris that has accumulated around the outdoor unit's base pan ... Open the air handler to check the evaporator coil. Clean the air conditioner coil. Cleaning will not fix the problem ...

If the AC unit has a split cooling system, two pieces allow the AC to turn on: an indoor evaporator and an outdoor compressor ...

There are some parts of the world where living without air conditioning borders on unthinkable ... using a refrigerator compressor and an evaporator from a baseboard heater.