My central AC stopped blowing cold, the fan outside was still running and when I checked the compressor it was not running and was very hot. I turned entire unit off and waited about 1 hour before turning system back on. When I turned the system back on the compressor immediately felt cooler and the larger pipe felt very cold and the smaller pipe became very hot, I went back inside and felt the air coming out of the vents and it was mildly cool (outside temp was not real hot or humid) went back outside and compressor was again off and very hot but fan was on.

thanks for any help

could be low on frean, could be compressor going bad, could be dirty outdoor unit.

A bad compressor run capacitor or a real bad dirty condenser coil will do it. My bet is on the first.