AC not blowing cold air, need some help diagnosing [Houston Resident!]

All,

I am having trouble with my AC, and it is quite warm down here in Houston to say the least. All help will be appreciated!

I was at work today and noticed through my Nest thermostat app that my AC unit was not working properly. The AC was set at 76 degrees but was not moving off of 80 degrees or so for a good two hours. I texted a friend to check a few things for me, and nothing could be resolved.

Here is what I know:

1) Nest thermostat installed a month ago, everything has been working flawlessly. All of the sudden, the HVAC is not blowing cold air.

2) I checked the coils inside of my unit in my attic, and the coils were not iced over. Three years ago, there was a leak in the coils and would not cool down my unit, so I had that fixed. Upon touching the coils, the unit is warm to the touch. I'm not sure how my heater system works to be honest, but there is a small 1/8-1/4 inch diameter pipe that is going from my water heater into my AC unit that is now hot to the touch. This is odd I must say?

3) There is a loud buzzing sound coming from my breaker box, specifically from the 50 amp two pole breaker labeled "AC Condenser". Upon touching the breaker, it is warm. It has been buzzing erratically for a few weeks now.

4) Adding on to #3, my breaker panel is making odd noises that is not following normal behavior. Typically when my AC turns on, there is a quick buzz that sounds before air starts blowing out of the AC. Right now, the buzzing hits every 5-10 minutes and then slowly makes a continuous buzzing sound for 10-15 seconds. This is really odd.

5) The AC unit fan appears to be working fine. Not sure if there would be a direct link to the AC condenser but I just wanted to point this out.

Here is what I have tried to far with no luck:

1) Shut off all the breakers to anything AC related, and turn it back on.

2) Reset the nest thermostat

3) Double checked the wires that go into the nest thermostat, and nothing is loose.

Any ideas or recommendations? I have a feeling that I may need to replace the AC condenser breaker.

submitted by /u/uracowman
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