Reply #37: Right!

[Tesha]

A compressor usually can't restart right after stopping;
it needs as much as five minutes for the pressures in the
system to equalize or it tends to "slug" (trying to compress
incompressible liquid refrigerant that has temporarily
gotten to the wrong place).

In that case, the compressor makes nasty noises (such as
a really loud humming), overheats in a few seconds, and
won't restart until it cools down (possibly a few minutes
or maybe even many minutes!).

A very brief power failure (lasting just a second or two) can
easily cause this condition if the control logic in your system
doesn't explicitly protect against it.

I suppose the condition can also trip circuit breakers or
blow fuses, but that usually doesn't happen.

Tesha