Fire ants just love outside units. They are attracted to the humming and vibrations and will encase parts of the condenser and cause it to stop working. Happened to us once and, from what I read, it is not a rare occurrence in the south.
The exact same thing happened to my upstairs unit. One company told me I needed a new condenser, which is the entire outside unit. Another company told me it wasn't the condenser but the capacitor. Replaced the capacitor and it's been running like a charm.
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