Heard back from the DCS tech yesterday with some useful information and a gameplan. We;\'ll see how it ptogresses. Here's his response for anyone interested:

Dan,
Thanks for responding so soon.
After reading your email, with your range working off natural gas, it seems as the top burner flames are working properly. You mention 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" size which is close enough. Both NG and LP work on the same size flame. So when they are converted, there is no loss in performance. Although LP burns hotter than NG, its BTU measurement is less, however, there is no loss in performance because of the size of the orifice which would correspond with the flame size. Just a bit of extra information.
Anyway, it is possible the I/R broiler burner maybe sized, accidently, by a LP orifice. Its rare when this happens, yet, it does occur from time to time. Very seldom to be honest. Also, the dual thermal safety valve which both the broiler and oven use maybe the culprit, it could be that it is not allowing the correct amount of pressure and therefore only allowing a minimal flame which does not measure to correct specifications. The NG operates at all times at 5.0" W.C. pressure. The LP operates at 10.0"W.C. pressure. The W.C. stands for water column, in inches. Its the form of measuring the amount of pressure of gas. The usuall gas pressure is around 1/2lb.P.S.I.,per square inches. To be more accurate we use a manometer to measure the W.C. pressure. It is mandatory all of our ranges use the regulator which come with the units, so they operate correctly according to the specs the engineers have tested and set.
Enough on the extra info. At this point I would recommend calling 800-863-5394 and asking for an authorized service dealer near you come and inspect your range. Let them know you have been in contact with me and I recommend the tech come with a mamometer and the NG orifice broiler holder, which will include the correct orifice.
Also, ask the customer care center person to have the tech call DCS tech support from your home for any assistance. The appointment should be set up between the hours of 7am to 4:30pm., P.S.T., Monday through Friday.
Customer Care Center CCC is open 24/7 for your convinience.
Thanks for your patience and hopefully the tech will remedy the issue on his first visit.

Thanks for followup and I will continue to watch for a remedy to your issue before I order.

Thanks for posting that info. Going to test our broiler this week with a steak as you described.

Response from DCS sounds logical. Let us know how you get on.

Cheers

As a note, I toasted some garlic bread under our broiler last night. Had broil on while I got the bread ready. Put the garlic on the bread and then thin slivers of butter around on top. Popped it under the broiler on the upper shelf and the butter melted quickly and the bread toasted up nice and quickly. Now, I was putting the bread right under the broiler so would have perhaps been a bit slower lower down in the oven, but was certainly fast on top.
Sounds like what the DCS rep said may be bang on. Look forward to hearing that all has worked out for you.
Cheers

PGGIRL -- I used the highest rack setting as well. My biggest frustration is with the idiot tech at the dealer that came over, didn't know how to work it, had my wife turn it on and once he saw that it came on he said there was nothing wrong with it.

DCS hooked me up with a local service rep who knows DCS very well. I mentioned to him who my dealer was and he immediately understood my frustration and said that they have heard similar frustrations in the past.

They are scheduled to come out next Friday, hopefully that will get us back on track and broiling away.

capt.dan, really glad someone is coming fairly quickly and I hope they fix your broiler. Please keep us informed. How do you like the burners and oven otherwise?

Well, used the broiler for a steak last night. Steak was an inch thick. Broiler worked great. Had to watch it so that I didn't burn it! Think I did leave it in perhaps a bit too long as it was overdone for our tastes. Need to get the knack for it as usually do steaks on the grill outside (too cold right now, was in the teens yesterday eve.). Also, I used an iron skillet for the pan and heated that pretty hot on the range top before popping the steak in it and then putting it under the broiler. Maybe got it too hot perhaps and the residual cooked the steak too much.

Anyway, will have to test and find what works. Otherwise broiler is great and works as good as if not better than the InBroiler on the gas grill outside.

Glad the rep knew about that dealer. One would hope they would do something about it. Either that, or if the chap the rep sends out is good I think I'd just call them instead if you could.

Looking forward to hearing all is fixed and well.

Cheers

Eandhl -- We love the range, very powerful burners that simmer down nice and low as well -- in my opinion better simmer control than the Viking. I love having the five burners, not that I would use them all at once, it just gives you a lot of flexibility. We have a large lobster pot that hangs over the side of most ranges, it's nice to be able to plop it down right in the middle of the range.

The oven is nice and larger than the comparable Viking. One noticeable difference is (this is a little embarrassing to admit) the Viking door won't shut on a large pizza box and the DCS will. I'll sometimes pick up a pizza from the local place and bring it home, throw the box in the oven and turn it on low while we do whatever we need to before dinner. With the Viking the door won't close by about 1 1/2 inches.

We haven't used the oven a whole lot yet, it has baked cookies and brownies well. I wouldn't say it heats up exceptionally fast, but not any slower than any other oven I've dealt with.

I prefer the heavy grates on the Viking range over the lighter DCS ones, but it does make cleaning the DCS easier than the Viking. The Viking grates will also hold more residual heat than the DCS, can be good or bad, depending on the situation.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer them.

Did the tech come out Friday or is that this coming Friday?
Cheers

Nice review capt.dan. So far on this forum I have only heard of minor issues that get resolved with the DCS and I sure hope your range is among them. I am one of the people that really wanted a Wolf but gave up due the unresolved issue they are presently having. I am selecting the DCS based on the good reviews here. What kind and CFM size hood do you have?

The tech is coming this Friday, Jan 25 and I will report the outcome.

The current hood is the old Broan 250 CFM unit that was in there when we moved into the house, not real effective! We've ordered a VAH SLH6-230SS, which is special order only. It's a 30" under cabinet model that is rated for 600 CFM (in VAH speak that's 900 CFM), hard to come by!
http://www.ventahood.com/hoodmodels.jsp?id=2
VAH is the only mfr I could find that makes a 30", 600 CFM unit for under cabinet use. It should be in next week sometime, not sure when I'll finaly get it installed. Will also report on that.

Capt.dan, I have heard a Viking with baffels and a VAH and there was no comparison, the VAH was much quieter. I also know from this site people seem pleased with their VAH's other than apparently a little more difficult to clean.

capt.dan, I sure hope no news is good news.

Yes, had the same thought. How did the tech visit go? All fixed?

OK, here's the deal. The tech came and had a look, he noted that the left side of the broiler is hot, but the right side is not nearly as hot. You can look at it and see that it doesn't burn evenly.

Now, he also said he has never seen the broiler behind glass, I guess it's a newer design, and he questions why it was designed that way. He even went as far as to say it might be a design flaw, that the broiler wasn't getting enough oxygen to burn right. I have a hard time believing this.

either way, he ordered a new broiler unit and regulator. He will contact us once he knows how long it will take to get the parts in.

Anyone else have this type of brolier?

My DCS range is 5 years old and has a broiler under glass and it works fine so I don't think it's a design flaw - I think yours is just defective - hopefully the replacement will fix the problem.

Thanks weissman, sure hope you're right.

Glad they are replacing the broiler for you. Question weissman or anyone with an infrared broiler. Have I totally misunderstood something? I thought all infrared broilers are under glass with tiny holes for heat to disperse evenly underbroiler.

I don't think all infrared broilers are under glass - on the DCS when I bought mine, only the 30" range had the broiler under glass - the larger ranges had the broilers exposed but I believe they were still infrared broilers. Here's a definition I found on the web "Infrared broilers use porous ceramic or metal-mesh burners to produce deep-penetrating infrared rays which speed cooking."

I honestly don't know how much difference the glass makes.

Can I assume the porous ceramic is the glass?

No the porous ceramic is not the glass. There's a burner above the glass. I don't know what the burner is made of on the DCS. The glass is just a covering - the burner itself sits above the glass. There are no holes in the glass.

The broiler on my RGSC-305SS has a similar problem. The left rear quadrant does not glow red at all. However, the rest of it works very well. Too bad the service man or DCS never admitted there was problem. I can assure you I told everyone I know. And the company lost several sales as a result.
Also, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the glass cover was to protect the broiler on self-cleaning ovens.

I have had a DCS 48" Duel Fuel range for almost a year. I have only broiled in the small oven which is very quick to heat up, but my large oven takes over 15min. to get the broiler hot. After reading your complaint I tried my large oven broiler and it does get hot. I'm sure with a new broiler unit it will solve your problem. I had to deal with DCS's tech and customer service, but my problem was the gas plumbing not in the stove but by the plumber. The tech for DCS was so good he was able to solve the problem over the phone. I had the service man for DCS, the gas company, and the plumber all scratching their heads. Have faith, DCS has some really good techs and don't hesitate to call DCS if your problem is not solved by the new part, call while the service person is there have your service person talk to DCS right in front of you. I did and got results. Good luck.

Yes, must be as described above in that the 30 has a different broiler set-up than the larger. Ours is a 36" AG that we ordered 11/17/07 and it delivered 12/03/07. I've taken a couple of pics this AM for you so you can see it. No glass protective sheet over it. Maybe there as mentioned to protect during self clean. Our 36 is not self clean it is me clean.
Maybe there to help stop spatters as well and spread the heat perhaps. I've now done a steak or two and they do spit juices up that hit the broiler when using the top rack, but they just burn off right away. Same way our outdoor grille does. Hope these work and help. Click the link and they should come up.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1380257}}

Here is one with the oven lights off. 36 AG 11/17/07 order date

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1380258}}

Looks just like my broiler, but mine has the glass over it. Sure hope this is a simple sollution, not a flawed design!

I just called DCS and was told the self clean have the glass the manual do not. Unfortunately I also found out the closest certified DCS range tech is going to be about 2 hrs away. Now I am really questioning buying this as I ran into a problem with our Thermador tech being just over an hour and refusing to come this far (and that was still under warranty) To the owners of the DCS do you think after warranty is out any good service person could service the AG, manual clean?

eandhl - that's a tough question to answer. Will the person 2 hours away come for warranty service - that would be the more immediate concern I'd have. I'd call them to find that out. If anything, I'd bet they'd be more willing to come for a non-warranty call since they'll probably charge you more than they can get reimbursed for warranty work :-). Is the place 2 hours away also a dealer - if so you could buy the range there on the condition that they'll service it for you.

The good news is that my DCS is 5 years old and so far I haven't needed a non-warranty service call. The burners are warranted for 5 years by the way.

Ditto, I'd call the service provider and see what their service area is. I would think, with a call to DCS if needed, that pretty much any service provider could work on the range. Looks really simple construction. The manual clean that we have is pretty basic/industrial and that is why we bought it in the end. I slid the bottom pan out of the oven a few days ago to clean it and the burner and everything is right there. I'd maybe call some service places in town and see if they can service also. If you are buying the DCS from an in town retailer then surely they have in house service or at least a provider who can get you service if needed.

Cheers

I shall make more calls. I was told where I planned on buying it (I do not believe they have in house service)there would be no problems with service but now DCS said the only certified person is 2 hrs away. I am just so discouraged buying a gas range.

The service techs are at my house now to replace the broiler unit with a new one. Wish us luck!

Better get that steak thawing! Best of luck with it. Hope that does the trick for you.

Cheers

Well, lloks like we still have an issue.

Just heard from my wife that he techs couldn't figure out how to take the old broiler out, so they left and will call me later. Good lord, how difficult can this become?

Hmmm, seems like help for them was only a phone call away at DCS......
Hope all works out for you on it. Sounds like you are having extra work on your part for nothing. Think I'd be pretty hot under the collar at the moment. You would think that if the tech person was sent out with the part they would at least know how to put it in or have the sense to call DCS to have them walk them through it. I'd be really doubting the worth of the service person now and worried that if they didn't have the thought to call DCS to find out how then what would the screw up and break guessing... Best of luck with it and let us know how you get on.
Cheers

Yeah, they should have called DCS but better to walk away then have them experiment on your range and screw something up.

The first time the tech was out I asked him why he didn't just call DCS Techs, he said something along the lines that he couldn't understand their accents. This is becoming too much work for a brand new stove!

I feel so badly for you. How frustrating!! I am still holding off ordering till I hear you get satifactory service and you should get it quickly!! Good luck.

Apparently this is such a new design that the tech hasn't been trained on it yet. They have changed the way you pull the broiler from a simple few screws out and drop down deal to having to take several panels off the front, including the locking mechanism for the self clean system. DCS sent me the shop manual for it, doesn't look that difficult, just quite a few more steps than one might think.

The service guy is supposedly talking to the diasrtict rep who is the first person that gets trained on these. Supposed to have a resolution by Friday.

Let me note, DCS has been very responsive every step of the way, it just seems to fall apart when you get to the individual tech level.

Well at least I am glad to hear that DCS has been very responsive. Now to just a tech that knows the range and you should be all set. Wishing you good luck on Fri and anxious to hear ALL WENT WELL AND YOU ARE CHARRING YOUR STEAKS.

How did the service go? Hope all is working for you now.
Cheers

Hope your DCS problem is solved. Please let us know how it has come out. I know how frustrating it can be.

Hi,

I have a DCS range running on NG and the broiler gets so hot that I burned things. I bought the 36" with a grill. But I don't use the grill. After tasting steaks cooked under the broiler, I am addicted to it.

I purchased my stove in 2004. I had the broiler go out. Even though I live in Chicago, I had a hard time getting a repair person as I had purchased the GE extended warranty. After fighting with GE for weeks over their recommended repair person who would always refuse to take the job, I finally got GE to authorize to reimburse me for the repair.

The repair guy had to take all the screws off the back of the stove to work on the igniter. It was a heck of a job seeing that the way my stove was installed did not lend itself to moving the stove.

I hope yours gets fixed as I am truly happy with the broiling ability of the stove. The repair person was also great in that he gave me a lot of pointers.

Take care

Well, looks like we are back in business -- I think.

The techs came on Wednesday and spent about 4 hours pulling out the old broiler and installing the new one. Seems like it heats evenly on both sides now, but i haven't used it yet. Hope to get a chance over the weekend, but from the looks of things we should be good to go.

capt.dan, I am so happy the broiler was replaced for you and seems to heating evenly on both sides. Now to hear you are happy with a seared steak and I will place my order. Happy Broiling!

We were all set on getting the Thermador double oven and just last week decided that we were going to switch to the DCS double oven (some friends are having problems with theirs just as the warranty period expired). What sold us on the DCS unit was the broiler feature, which the salesman referred to as a salamander broiler (my DW did not let us get this on the BlueStar rangetop).

Here is what they say on the DCS website:

Glass-Sealed Broiling Element
Do you like your steak broiled or baked? Turn on the broiler in any "residential" oven and the elements start emitting convected heat. Your precious steak begins to bake, not broil! Not so at DCS. We put our broiler under glass. This allows it to use direct, Âradiant heat when broiling. This has been proven to cook more quickly and at a higher temperature than convected heat.

Well, capt.dam, now you have me wondering if this item performs the way DCS states it will. Do let us know.

Charlesa,
The wall ovens have electric broilers that are not the same as the gas infared broilers.

Not sure on the glass covered one, but out DCS gas 36 manual clean has the IR broiler with no glass. Works really well. We've done a few steaks that way in an iron skillet. Have to watch or it will get too well done quickly! Cheers

antiquesilver,
DW wants only the electric one (for self-cleaning feature), so I am hoping this unit is the next best alternative.

I hope this message goes directly to Capt Dan's posts, sorry if it appears twice. Like Capt Dan, I bought a DCS Professional 30" Five Burner Self-Cleaning Natural Gas Range model # RGTC-305 in September 07 and experienced low broiler output. It took 1 hour for the light to move from heating to ready, and ten minutes to broil a 1/4" pork chop that was barely browned. I ignored the problem until now when I realized my warranty was coming to an end. A service visit by a DCS trained technician on 8-09-08 resulted in a replaced thermostat, but the output is still low. I called a DCS engineer and was told the broiler should heat to 550 degrees fahrenheit, and to have a technician check the rate and pressure of the broiler. At this point I searched the internet to see if anyone else had this problem, and found Capt Dan's messages. Thank you for so completely detailing your experience. Your outline of the flame output and need to check the WC, and have the tech come with a Manometer and NG orifice broiler holder, along with providing the tech with access to the DCS calling center, and actual installation instructions will probably save me much time and frustation. How I love the internet. I'm scheduled for the 2nd tech visit on Thursday 8-14-08, and hope to have the broiler issue resolved so that I can enjoy my otherwise perfect DCS gas range which packs more in 30" than some ranges in 36". TBC