Skinny line is chilly. No cooling. How bad?

[cano]

So to sum up. I'll turn on the AC and I hear the compressor turn on. The skinny line gets cold and the air inside never gets cold even though I hear the compressor running. I then hear the compressor kind of sputter and I can feel the unit slightly vibrate at this point if I'm touching it. Right after this the compressor stops and the fan keeps going. From researching it could be that the compressor is falling apart or that it's overheating because something is clogged. If it is overheating would the fan turn off also?

[cano]

And I forgot to mention that a couple of years ago the compressor wouldn't turn on at all and they put some kit on it to get it running. It was a little can with wires coming out of it. It eventually turned on and was REALLY loud for awhile, but quieted down and worked fine since then. Was that the beginning of the end?

[beenthere]

Stop running it. Or you will damage the compressor. Have a tech come out and find the problem and fix it now before it becomes more expensive.

[cano]

I finally looked at it this weekend. There is no cylinder anywhere on either line. I looked inside the unit and the lines all the way to the inside unit. Nothing. So if they can't replace the drier, I assume they should install one, but does that make this likely worse/more expensive? So it's possibly a clog inside of something harder to fix? They're coming Friday, so I have a few days to understand this. TY.

[ga-hvac-tech]

As mentioned... do not run this unit until it is checked out
Depending on its age... you may be in for a new system... Not trying to spend your $$$... rather prepare you for what may (or may not) happen.

[cano]

I'm not running it. It isn't even 5 years old yet.

[m singer]

If the "skinny line" is colder than the outdoor ambient temp, there is a restriction. Nothing else could cause that.

[cano]

Is the restriction before or after the cold area? If there's no drier where do you think the restriction could be? Thank you.

[ga-hvac-tech]

My gut says there is a LL dryer inside the AC unit... and it is plugged... take another look inside the AC unit... it will look like a bulge in the CO tube... and yeah, it is CO on the outside.

[cano]

CO tube?

[beenthere]

Copper tube.

[cano]

I looked again, I don't see anything on either copper line. I looked inside the unit around the center and also between the cage/housing part and the condenser. I see nothing. Can the line itself be clogged? Hope they don't need to replace something else.

[SBKold]

My advice is call the company and ask them to send a tech experienced in diagnosing restrictions.