Outside A/C unit throws breaker

We have just bought an older home with an older A/C unit. This afternoon the outside unit stopped running. The outside breaker had been thrown. We reset the outside breaker and threw the main breaker. Immediately, when we turned the unit back on, the unit would make a clicking sound and the breaker would be thrown again. We are novices when it comes to A/C repair and have no idea how serious this is. Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

This could be very serious. You have a shourt to ground in the system. This could be a number of thing, as simple as a broken or loose wire to as major as a grounded compressor. My advise is to call a trusted HVAC service contractor to check your system. You are dealing with 240 volts. Please be careful when dealing with HIGH voltages.

 

Hi
Do a visual check of your outside unit. Are the coils dirty?, do you have very tall grass around it?, or anything else that would obstruct air from going through the coils? Dirty outside coil in hot weather will cause amp draw to go up, then blow the breakers when they reach their limits.
Is the outdoor fan running when the unit is turned on? Again, losing your outdoor fan motor will cause compressor amp draw, and the overall system amp draw to go way up and can blow breakers.
There are also some compressor cooling/refrigerant problems that can cause amp draw to increase, but you really should seek local professional help for those problems.
Hope this helps............

 

FYI -- out HVAC man came by today. It was the compressor. We found that it was more economical for us to replace the whole outside unit than just replacing the compressor. This is a great resource for those of us who are novices. Thanks for the help!!