I was always under the impression that if you had a leak in your AC system that it would all leak out and you'd have no AC. Therefore, I didn't think your refrigerant could be "low." (?) So if it's low, you'll still have AC, just not as cold. (?)

I guess, your compressor runs until a certain temperature and then kicks off. Then kicks in again when it needs to. (?)

It would be nice if somebody could give an explanation of how a whole AC system works from the minute you turn it on. I'd just like to understand AC systems better. - Thank you.