I recommend those 5-2-1 hard start kits. Dropped my electric bill down around 20 bucks per month on a 5 ton compressor. Helped mine start faster and easier. This is what you REALLY need with your erratic start/no-start ups.
That 54 amps is your in-rush current.
Could be you need to clean up the wiring. What I mean is refresh ALL connections in your disconnect box AND your compressor unit. Cutting off corroded copper and going with fresh copper. Keep your fingers off the clean copper. Polish any contactor connections. All electrical connections need looking over. Ridding of all the outdoor corrosion keeps inline resistance back to a new unit. Less resistance while starting up (voltage drop) and so on. Little No-Ox or NO-OX-ID on the copper terminals will keep corrosion away. All of this is about contact resistance reduction.
If your disconnect has fuses, polish the fuse holders AND the fuses with Flitz, Brasso or any metal polish. Disconnect box connections need polished up. Ohm out each fuse. Should read near a direct short.
Every spade terminal needs to be corrosion free. Also you can tighten up spade connections with pliers. If you try to install a wire and it falls easily onto the terminal, she is too loose. Gently crimping or smashing the spade legs will create more of a dragging effect when you put a spade on say a capacitor terminal. When the spade legs are tight, it will scratch the capacitor terminal. Should take some good effort to get those on.
Another tip, get 2 capacitors. One for the fan and the other for your compressor. I stopped using those dual run POS caps. One side or the other seemed to fail about a year later. And make sure they are made in the USA. No Chinese caps at all. My outdoor unit has 3 caps. 5-2-1, compressor and fan.
Another tip, get an HVAC surge protector and wire it inside your disconnect box. Run a couple ground rods with a large copper conductor to Earth ground.
Could be worn out dead contactor connections. New disconnect, contactor, whip wire and such will refresh her.
