The capacitor was bad and had to be replaced. At least, I think that's what it was. I could check my files tonight and confirm. The A/C tech had it replaced and running again in about 15 minutes.
Its the electrical version of a turbocharger for the compressor motor. The motor is small and efficient, but on startup is not always up to the task. The start capacitor stores a charge of electricity that gets sent to the motor for a momentary burst of power that gets the whole shebang spinning. Once spinning, the motor works just fins on its own.
6. UPDATE - all the people in KitchenWitchLand are rejoicing!
Back story: About six months ago I bought and installed a new thermostat (we had one of those old Honeysmell dome ones), because I wanted one that was programmable. Apparently I did not get the wire for cooling seated in the wiring harness properly.
I took the thermostat and all the literature for both the thermostat and the condenser to Lowes to get some advice. Got sound counsel there, but thought I had better try to rewire the thing first before doing anything else. And VOILA! The compressor kicked right on!
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