And Canadian buyers, on the whole, have come to expect that. If the unit is 5 years old, the seller likely bought the best he could afford. If it's less than a year old, he likely bought the cheapest he could get.
I think what he's talking about is that the typical sales contract has an inspection contigency clause. The sellers used that, eg the furnace is past it's life expectancy, to then further negotiate after the contract was signed.
You have evidence that HVAC systems warranties are never transferable? Or even typically not transferable?
True enough. There is some debate about this now in the industry. The intent of the law was to stop the sale and installtion of new r22 systems after 2010. The actual wording of the law prevents the sale of pre-charged r22 equipment after 2010. Thus creating the loophole for the sale of empty r22 equipment. Some are mad at the manufacturers for continuing to make the r22 equipment since a lot of them have been telling customers that after 2010 you won't be able to buy r22 equipment. The downturn in the economy has contributed a bit as well with more people looking for ways to get by as cheaply as possible. The situation has lead to some techs offering to replace r22 systems with new r22 systems for less than the cost of a new r410a system.
I can't complain about it myself since I picked up a new r22 system just last month. My house has two systems. One is a 3 year old r22 system and the other is a 19 year old r22 system. I picked up a matching r22 system, dry of course, so that I could replace the 19 year old one with one that matches the 3 year old one. Having 2 the same makes troubleshooting a breeze. I'm not real worried about the availability of r22 for the next 5 or 6 years. After that I'll just keep a can for myself.
Me and my buddy GB are repairing more than we replace but we do install new R-410A systems when a whole system needs replacing. The problem is a great many HVAC companies have and have had a policy of replace instead of repair. Me and my friend are just the opposite, we will repair if possible and only replace if necessary. It's actually easier to replace a condensing unit than it is to replace its compressor but I do it all the time and am quite good at it. The caveat is the warranty on a new compressor is one year and the warranty on a new condensing unit is 5 years but you have to tell the customer the truth and give them a choice. If I see that the condenser coil is in good shape and the fan and other electrical parts are good, I recommend replacing the compressor but if the coil is beat up and the fan motor is soon to die, I tell the customer a condensing unit is a better deal especially if it's a beat up heat pump with all the extra components that can die.
TDD
Generally transfwerring ANY warranty is a hassle.. Not saying it's impossible - but it is seldom done without issues - and many warrantees are either to the original owner, or transferrable for a fee
We just give the supplier the serial number off the equipment and they look it up, even for equipment I didn't install. If it's in warranty, they replace it. They don't usually ask the customer's name unless it's something special.
TDD
With Trane, no registration I required so no hassle with a transfer.
e quoted text -
I agree, I think most of them base it off the serial numbers. Sometimes registration will buy you some additional warranty. If equipment sits around for a while the the warranty is supposed to start with equipment start up.
WandererFan wrote the following:
I'm not responding to your question, just giving some advice. When you are posting a question, especially in this home repair group, it would be wise to indicate where you are located, so that you don't get responses that don't apply where you are. You'll note that some of the responses do not not apply to your situation and have disparaged the tech, although he was correct for your location.
If the refrigerant's low, it's LEAKING.
A licensed pro can't legally top off a refrigeration system with a known leak. If the EPA gets wind of it he'd face fines and would probably lose his license.
Odds are a leak would require the replacement of one or more major components. Once you start replacing major components on a unit that old, you are better off in the long run to simply replace it. You will be chasing problem after problem if you try to fix it.
You'd be surprised how many AC leaks are bad fill valves, or on automotive AC, bad "O" rings. Minor components can leak as much as major components.
They do call HVAC service guys to come out to a house to see if they will do things like that. OTOH, you can always take a couple of wrenches to a fitting, snug it up and swear it was leaking.
I don't believe there is such a thing as a "borderline" charge nor do I think a charge can be "topped off."
It is either properly charged or not.
If it is not, then either it was never charged correctly (majority) or it has a leak. Systems do not use up refrigerant, they are sealed.
If it is not charged correctly, it is perfectly legal to adjust the charge. If he knows how.
If it has a leak, it is not legal to add charge without repairing the leak. At least, when I took the the refrigerant class for the license that was the case; that's been a while.
So if he's saying there's a leak and he's not willing to top it off then he's not only legal but professional.
If there's not a leak, I
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