moved into a new home this past weekend and realized that our a/c unit (which was installed less than a year ago) is not cooling the house. The fan and thermostat work, there's just lukewarm air coming out of the registers.

Called up the company who installed it for service. They said the coolant (5lbs of it) was basically gone. Said that the cause could be one of two things. Either there is a leak, or someone stole the coolant. The tech did a recharge of the coolant and but some kind of additive to it to see if there is a leak.

How likely is it that some jerk off (possibly the previous owner) fucked with this unit. Again, it was installed in September of last year so it hasn't even been through one cooling season. Wtf?

Have an inspection before you bought this house/condo?

Inspectors are almost completely clueless on HVAC.
Trust me. I know what I'm talking about. I know you deal with a lot of inspectors. So do I.

They turn on the HVAC and let it run. The are qualified to anaylyze all mechanicals. They dont suggest what is wrong or how to fix them, they just say if something is working or not. if it is not working the report would say it is not cooling properly and call Darkside.

moved into a new home this past weekend and realized that our a/c unit (which was installed less than a year ago) is not cooling the house. The fan and thermostat work, there's just lukewarm air coming out of the registers.

Called up the company who installed it for service. They said the coolant (5lbs of it) was basically gone. Said that the cause could be one of two things. Either there is a leak, or someone stole the coolant. The tech did a recharge of the coolant and but some kind of additive to it to see if there is a leak.

How likely is it that some jerk off (possibly the previous owner) fucked with this unit. Again, it was installed in September of last year so it hasn't even been through one cooling season. Wtf?

Not hard for an inspector to run the AC and Heat at max and put a thermometer in the register.

You know, I had a customer once tell me that Obama's "people" took her refrigerant. She was convinced that Obama took it. No shit. Even when I showed her a massive leak in the evaporator that was bubbling my leak detector gel (Read: soap bubbles, significant leak) she still blamed Obama. It was... psychotic.

If it was Ike, the copper would be gone.

Installed in September? I'll bet the problem is one of these things...
1. The installer who took out the schraders when vacuuming the lines didn't install them correctly. Possible.
2. The installer didn't hold vacuum long enough, and the brazing is bad. Most likely.
3. There is a massive leak in the coils. Not likely. But possible.

They probably added a dye stick. I hate dye. I bought myself an electronic leak detector. Basically, you're going to run out of refrigerant again. And you'll have no cooling again. And they'll come back again. And still have to fix the problem.

No one stole your refrigerant. That's silly. You need some pretty special equipment to do that. I've seen coils stolen. Never refrigerant.

no the entire a/c condenser and the copper would be gone along with the furnace and hot water heater

They dont just see if it starts.

That's what I'm saying... if it was a new unit just installed the 410a is cheap and not really worth stealing. It's like $20/lb at most unless they're selling it retail which they're not, so they went thru all that trouble for $100 and left several lbs of copper? Nah.

Yeah they do. I've been on shit tons of inspections. I think with $200 and a weekend course you can be an inspector.

Move.

1. The installer who took out the schraders when vacuuming the lines didn't install them correctly.

Yeah they do. I've been on shit tons of inspections. I think with $200 and a weekend course you can be an inspector.

They dont just see if it starts.

Inspectors serve a purpose. It becomes an issue when first time buyers freak out by the inevitable 2-4 pages of bullshit they report.

had one that reported.

-2nd toilet doesnt flush well
-Closet doors dont close evenly

Buyer wanted new Toilet and new closet doors.....LOL

I went in and WD-40'd toilet handle and added screw to closet door to tighten it up.

This took a week of attorney communications, 2nd inspection and deal closed.

I tell people to list it "AS IS", and state there will be no price reductions as you need to nip it in the ass before it almost always happens.