I truly believe it may be the thermostat but am not sure. The temp is set to 68 and the fan blows trying to cool off a 81 degree house but the compressor is not responding. When I tried to check the thermostat it kind of just came off the wall... does the thermostat control the compressor coming on or is an issue I should call a professional on

I think in general, the thermostat just says, "It's too hot...cool now". This will cause the fan to run and the compressor to start at the same time--it doesn't control each separately. As long as the wires on the thermostat look intact, I'd speculate that the problem is in your outdoor unit.

You might go out there and see if the fan on the outside unit is running (I'm assuming that the fan you mentioned is the indoor fan that you can feel in the A/C vents in the house). If it is running, then you know that the thermostat is trying to cool the house. At this point, you're probably better off calling in a serviceman.

Best of luck,
WallyH

Thanks for the answer... It turned out to be a really dirty filter. A dirty filter can restrict the airflow and not allow the compressor to know it has to come on.. THANK GOD.. $4 fix

thanks for the answer... It turned out to be a really dirty filter. A dirty filter can restrict the airflow and not allow the compressor to know it has to come on..THANK GOD.. $4 fix
Excellent! :D :D :D
Thanks for the feedback.
WallyH

I was confused by the title of your post. It indicated that the compressor was not coming on. It must be on if the fix was a filter.