The compressor on my central air conditioner tries to come on but won't. I hear it trying to come on. The unit is attached to a "Beat The Peak" system. Could that be causing the unit to not come on?

Most likely you have a bad capacitor or a bad compressor. When the compressor tries to start, does the condenser fan stay on? Does the compressor run at all or just try to start? If both the compressor and the condenser fan come on and run then they both shut off, you probably are low on refrigerant and the low pressure switch is shutting it off before it damages the compressor. Your Beat the Peak system shouldn't be short cycling.

What model unit is this? If the fan stays running, it sounds like you have a bad capacitor you may check the molded plug on the side of the comp. I have had them get loose and the start wire make a bad connection, most a/c's that have low press. Or loss of charge switches break the low voltage therefore if the fan is running I would say freon isn't the issuse. You may have a bad compressor

Most all condensing units run the condensing fan motor off the load side of the compressor contactor. When the 24 volt low pressure switch opens, the contactor opens shuting off the compressor and the condenser fan motor... Low refrigerant can be your problem...

But, he is not telling us if the fan is also shutting off??

Exactly, that's what my first question was in the first posting answer. But, if the fan is also shuting off, it can be a low refrigerant problem as well... We need more information in order to be anymore help.

I agree