Purchased this home in June 2011. Split A/C systems - one system is Amana installed in 2009 by Autumn Air for the downstairs. Autumn Air is the A/C contractor the previous owner (owned home for 3 years) used for A/C repairs, installations and tune ups. Before we purchased the home, Autumn Air had recently done a spring check uo and tune up on both A/C systems and reported that everything was working fine with no problems detected - owner provided paperwork and report - so we did not hire an A/C inspector during the option period since the units had recently been checked and serviced by what we thought was a reputable company. The systems were not very old and the Amana system installed by Autumn Air in 2009, only 2 years old, was still under warranty. Moved into this home early June 2011. 1st Service Call on Amana Units - October 2011: Five Months after moving into Home - In early October we had a few hot days and noticed the downstairs A/C seemed not to be cooling at all and it was running constantly. So decided to call Autumn Air to check the units, since they were the installers and knew units were still under warranty. The technician called me back within 20 mins. and came out within an hour to take a look at them. He checked the outside unit, then checked the upstairs unit and diagnosed the problem saying that a circuit was open and it was instructing unit to not go into cool mode - the control board was instructing the compressor not to come on because it was indicating a hazardous safety condition which was actually not present, so control board defective and needed to be replaced. The new board was covered under warranty, but not labor. Labor = 350.00, service call and diagnosis fee = 89.95, part acquisition fee (yes they charge a fee to get the part)_ = 42.50. Total 439.95 He came back two days later to install the board. A/C seemed to be working after the repair, but really didn't use A/C that much because it became cool and was using the heat. So don't really know how well it was working or how long it would have worked had we continuously used the A/C. 2nd Service Call on Amana Units - November 2011 : About 3 weeks later- early November, we had a warm spell, so turned on A/C and noticed air blowing out of vents was not cool and downstairs not cooling off or reaching temperature set on thermostat. Called Autumn Air again, told them they just serviced and repaired these Amana units but now, not cooling again. They came out promptly. Again the same tech (Danny) checks the outside unit, then checks the unit upstairs and now says that the unit is not coming on due to an open fuse which was caused by a shorted condenser control wire . The shorted condenser wire was caused by the wire that runs from upstairs unit to outside unit which caused the problem. He could just replace the fuse but the wiring to outside unit needs to be replaced because not installed correctly or something wrong with wiring to outside unit. I asked why wouldn't this be covered by them - they installed the units, shouldn't they have rewired to the outside unit. He explained that the wire was not part of installation, on install only connect to existing wiring and it's the existing wiring that caused the problem. He needs to rewire to outside unit - so cost is Diagnostic Fee: 69.95, Wire, Wiring, Fuse Replacement = 160.00, Total Cost 232.95. Basically he just cut a wire, left it hanging there and ran a new wire from the inside unit to the outside unit. Air blowing from vents after repair seemed to be cool and so appeared to be working Understand I'm now having doubts about this company and their installation for several reasons -- On both visits, when I observe him opening the upstairs cabinet, there is a rats next of wires everywhere all bundled together, it looks a mess - Im wondering how he can even single out in that mess what the problem actually is. There are wires running everywhere around the unit and now that Im looking at it , everything about the inside unit looks patched together. Doesn't look like a very professional install and with these problems occurring within weeks of each other I'm beginning to wonder if he is even correctly diagnosing the cause of these problems and whether the installation itself may be to blame for the problems. 3rd Service Call on Amana Units - February 2012- Note: Haven't Used A/C that much since the last service call, it got cold in November - was using heat. Had a warm period in February and turned on A/C and wouldn't cool off the downstairs - outside unit running non stop and wouldn't cool to the temperature set on thermostat. Point : Since all of this occurring during cool months I really had no way to tell if the previous repairs actually resolved the problem with the A/C. Called Autumn Air, expressed my concerns about the necessity of these repeated service calls. Again, Tech Danny came out promptly - checked outside unit and said problem is that the unit is very low on refrigerant. Need to add more gas. I told him that they had done an AC tune up check on the unit before the summer for the previous owner and the refrigerant levels were reported as being good at that time. So if level was now too low, there must be a leak somewhere. Told him I didnt want to pay to have more gas added just to have it leak out again. I asked him if he checked the coil for leaks, because I knew that typically leaks occur there. The coil would still be under warranty. He supposedly checked the coil, wish I would have observed him doing it. He said he did a soap and water test and found no leaks in coil, coil looked fine with no leaks indicated. He started talking about how they have had situations where teenage kids sniff the gas from the outside units to get high on? Very strange. I told him I doubted that was the case (this is not that kind of neighborhood). He said the only thing he could do was to add more gas, watch the system, and if became low again they would have to do a dye test where they put dye in the gas to detect where the leaks may be occurring . I said well I didn't want to keep paying for high cost of adding refrigerant multiple times so I would prefer to find the problem immediately because obviously there must be a leak somewhere. He said he wanted to check the outside unit again, he came back in and said he found a leak at the service valve (where they measure and add the refrigerant) - the valve was not tightened down completely. He said he added 2 lbs of gas and tightened valve and now he doesn't detect a leak there. By the way he added the gas and did this without asking me if I approved this repair. He said problem should be resolved unless its a bad shrader valve - if he has to ultimately replace the valve he would have to drain the system of refrigerant and then replace valve - then I would have pay cost to completely refill with refrigerant. So best to just wait and see if tightening it down ultimately solved the problem. Cost: Diagnostic Fee:= 69.95, Refrigerant = 316.38 Total Cost =386.33 Conclusion: Adding the refrigerant resolved cooling problem for a little while. Note that all these problems were occurring in winter and the cooler months in which the A/C was used very seldom. Everyone knows if you add refrigerant, it will resolve a cooling problem until the refrigerant, again leaks out. How long this takes depends on the size of the leak and how much the unit is used. So when we actively needed to start using the A/C again on a regular basis in the month of April, it was cooling a little but not well. I decided I wanted another A/C company to check and tune up both systems. I bought a couple of Angies deals from a super service award A/C provider and they came out and this is the result: 1) The Amana outside unit was almost completely out of refrigerant.2) The inside Amana unit (Furnace and Coil) very shoddy installation. Wrong type of coil used (should have been a box coil and a slab coil was used instead ) causing much less cooling efficiency. The coil typically just slides out of a cabinet but they had used duct board to attach the coil to the unit and ducts so that it had to be cut out to replace coil. The tech said he had never seen it done this way, terrible. They were amazed at how bad and unprofessional the installation appeared to have been performed. 3) Within five minutes the tech discovered where the coil was leaking. Said it was very obvious - the refrigerant leaves an oily residue where leaks are occurring and it was also bubbling there. So all the refrigerant added at a cost of 386.00 just a few months before had just leaked out. Tech said you do not use dye to test for leaks in this type of system - will cause damage to compressor. You look for the oily residue and bubbling to check for leaks. 4) When they replaced the coil they discovered that there were also very visible leaks in the copper piping. The copper piping/tubing was made up of smaller pieces (like scrap pieces) that had been sautered together and lots of oily residue at a few of the sautered areas indicated that probably leaking at several of these areas as well. Should use one piece of copper tubing, not small pieces sautered together. So the tubing had to be replaced as well. 5) Yes, the wiring in the cabinet is a mess. This mess, how it's wired could have possibly caused problems with control board. The wiring from the upstairs to the downstairs unit is typically included in all new installations.. You don't just wire into the previous existing wire on a new install, you want to make sure there are no problems. So the wiring repair $232.95 would have been unnecessary if wired properly on the install. Bottom line: Use this company for check ups and installs of your A/C systems at your own peril. I will never use or recommend this company.