Brand-New BTO Never Felt Cold: Undercharged from Install

A brand-new flat never felt properly cold, and the equipment gets the blame. Whether it is faulty or was never finished off.

By Team Snowflake | Updated 24 Aug 2026

Teaching case based on recurring Snowflake service patterns; identifying details are combined.

How this presents

A newly installed system in a new flat cooling weakly from the first day it ran. No fault code appears and everything operates as it should. The pipework between the outdoor and indoor units is considerably longer than usual.

Setup: Midea Wall-mountedNew installHDBTengah
Misread as: A defective new unit, with a warranty claim and an argument to follow.
Check first: Whether the system has ever performed correctly since it was installed

What else produces this

Never having worked is a completely different starting point from having stopped working, and it redirects the whole visit. Rather than hunting for what changed, the useful question is what the installation required and whether it was done. A long pipe run needs refrigerant added beyond what the outdoor unit is shipped with, and that additional amount is calculated from the run length rather than estimated.

Weak output from the very first day of running rules out any component that has since degraded.
No fault code and normal operation confirm nothing is malfunctioning.
A pipe run well beyond the length the factory charge covers requires an addition that may never have been made.
A charge measuring short of the calculated figure for that run explains the whole shortfall exactly.

Why it happens

Equipment leaves the factory holding enough refrigerant for a standard pipe length. Anything longer holds more refrigerant in the pipe itself, so the extra has to be weighed in during commissioning, calculated from the run that was actually installed. Where that step is skipped or estimated, the system operates permanently short. It will run, it will cool a little, and it will never reach the rating printed on its own label.

What resolution involves

The charge is corrected to the calculated figure for the measured pipe length, and the system reaches its rated output. This is worth knowing before accepting any new installation. Ask for the measured pipe run, the calculated additional charge, and confirmation that it was weighed in rather than guessed. Those three answers take a minute and they separate a commissioned system from one that was merely connected.

How to tell it worked

Output measured against the unit's own rating rather than against how it was performing before the visit. A system that has never been right has no useful baseline of its own to compare against.

Before you approve a quote

Never worked and stopped working are different problems

A system that has never performed has nothing that failed. Look at the handover, not for a fault.
Long pipe runs need refrigerant added by calculation and weight, not by feel.
Ask for the pipe length, the calculated addition, and confirmation it was weighed. Three questions, one minute.

Questions this case answers

Brand-new BTO aircon has never felt cold: what should be checked?

The pipe run length against the factory charge. A run longer than the standard allowance holds more refrigerant, so check that the calculated addition was weighed in during commissioning; a system that has never performed is a handover question, not a fault.

What is a factory pre-charge and why does pipe length matter?

It is the refrigerant the equipment ships with, enough for a standard pipe length. Anything longer holds more refrigerant in the pipe itself, so the extra must be calculated from the actual run and weighed in, or the system runs permanently short.

Is a warranty claim the right route when a new aircon does not cool?

Usually not. Nothing has failed when a system was never charged for its pipe run, so the conversation is about commissioning that was not finished rather than a defect; correcting the charge to the calculated figure is the fix.

Warm air from a new unit: low gas or a dead compressor?

Usually, and it is worth pursuing as a commissioning shortfall rather than a defect. Nothing is broken, so the conversation is about work that was not completed rather than equipment that failed.

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Tell us what’s going on. Symptoms, setup, photos, anything we should know. We’ll assess and come back with the right next step.

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