Plum, I live in the Sierra Mountains about one hour NE of Bakersfield, CA. I had the range custom built for my 6000' elevation.

Happy Holidays!
It's been a while since I logged in. Sorry to see that a few of you had the same problem we did with the gas leak. The first one I had was a connection in the back of the stove. It was easily fixed once our service came but scary initially because we were out of town and came home to find the whole downstairs filled with gas smell. The second one was the smell of gas on starting the oven. Our service guy was very good., but took a while to come back after he ordered the part . I'm not sure what he did but it was inside the oven and he installed some kind of connector to tighten it up. He also recommended that we start preheating on regular oven and wait a few minutes before turning on convection because he said the fan was sucking the gas out and about. I have done that and not noticed it since then.
Other than that we are enjoying the range alot. We love having the six burners and we made a great turkey at Thanksgiving. Plan to do it again at Christmas. Best wishes to all

jeff8407 thats really good to hear. glad everything is going well!

plumorchard glad to hear it, let me know what happens with the initial smell, mine does it too.

shappy it's a pretty good situation with A.R. you do what ,makes you happy.when your ready check out josh @ dvorsons restuarant equip.

mcferg626 glad that was fixed, i would have freaked out.

good hearing from you all again.

merry christmas & happy holidays to you all!
john

I've been lurking to get a feel for the American Range. I'm trying to decide amoung American, Capital and Bertazzoni, none of which may be purchased locally. Apart from wanting your opinions on these ranges, can anyone tell me how I would go about servicing an American Range when I live in a rural area ten miles from the nearest town? Please help.

My American was installed in september and I had a control problem (broken knob) and an igniter issue. American service diagnosed the problem and shipped me the parts but had no dealers or regular repair persons in my area. I found a couple repairmen but they would not do warranty work and bill American because they had no relationship. My local guy was at my house to fix a dryer and looked at the range and had no problem working on it. I had to pay him up front (about $100) and I'm in the process of trying to get reimbursed. My sense is because of few electronics any range tech will have no problem. I also had a quirky igniter and was walked thru the issue by this thread. (thanks again Johnny). I think DW would have been a little more comfortable with having a local dealer, but overall I'm satisfied buying long distance. Hope this helps.

cannond - American will coordinate service issues for you and find someone in your area. I guess you could also recommend someone if you knew of someone in your area. Or, like jakswon mentioned DIY. Might be worth a call to American to see if there is someone already in place. Parts come from CA if needed. Mine were here pretty quickly (parts) just took a little time to schedule the service call. (Bertazzoni parts I think would come from Italy. Also, be sure you understand how that oven works. It is quirky if you haven't seen it)

A quick follow up on my previous - service is coming Sat just to be sure all is OK. He thinks the small smell at ignition is normal but he wants to be sure.

I have noticed is seems the preheat time is a little shorter now and it appears that cooking times are more on target than before too. So hopefully, the fix has been made!

mcgerg - sounds like our leaks may have been in the same area. Also, I think it was the other issue was the same too -with the oven. Do you have any gas smells now?

Happy cooking!

Thanks to Plum and Jaksown. The Bertazzoni quirks would probably not bother me much. Last time I did a kitchen, (different house) I had a Lacanche Cluny. I swore never again, not because of the quirks, but because for the money it cost me I found the construction to be fairly rinkydink. Moreover, the ovens vacilated wildly in temp and the local repair people couldn't seem to fix it. I only had it two years before we bought this farm and now it's time to buy another range.

Have any of you purchased a American in color, and if so, what do you think of the finish?

Any cleaning issues? I know they're manuel clean, but I really hated cleaning the ovens of the Lacanche (I roast alot).

Smell upon oven ignition.

The factory tech told me that if you smell gas when the oven is firing up then the flame needs to be adjusted. He was specific that you "should not smell gas."

Mine had the same problem and he adjusted it by partially closing the "--word escapes me."

FYI, jeff

cannond - I had the Bertazzoni for a short time, sold it - the family that bought it had never used gas so they didn't mind the quirks. I have only ever had gas and couldn't get over them. The door to the oven has to be open while you light the oven burner, which took upwards of 15 seconds. This had to be done each time you turn it on. The burners were odd too and ours didn't hold the temp very well. The oven fan also runs all the time, any time the oven is on and was very noisy. See if you can review the instruction manual before you decide, if you didn't like the Cluny I'm not sure the Bert will will be for you. Also, it was very light compared to the Am (or other ranges). (We had the 30" and of course, these are just my opinions)

Color panels - I've ordered, not received so can't speak of use. But when we saw them in the showroom the finish seemed very nice.

Cleaning - I've used Easy Off- fume free very effectively in the oven and I find the top very easy to wipe down.

jeff - thanks! Dang - that bums me because the service guy was just here and tested everything and said it is normal for that little puff of gas to smell for just a bit while it burns off. He had the gas tester and looked on the flame (no yellow) but it did still have the very slight smell on ignition. I think it was the shutter that was probably adjusted on yours. Do you know who at the factory told you this - I guess I need to call AGAIN. Drats.

I can't remember his name. He was of Middle-Eastern descent, with an accent, about 45-50, drove a silver or light green Toyota Camry. That might help if you call. jeff

cannond- Plumochard has a good idea about checking with American service to see if they haye a local tech that will bill them. In my case American service tried to coordinate a local service person but had a hard time getting someone to call them back about doing warranty work. My calls to local companies was that they were happy to make a COD service call but were unwilling to bill an out of state company.

I have a red range. Finish bright and shiny. Cleans beatifully with glass cleaner. Since you asked I looked really closely and saw 3-4 tiny paint flaws on the edge of the door. Never would have noticed if I hadn't been looking. I tried to photograph, but I cant even see them. Photos attached FWTW.

One funny thing: No nameplate on the door. I think they forgot to install after it left the paint shop.

Stellar kitchen, Jaksown. The range is magnificent. It was very kind of you to take the time and post those photos.

Oh how I wish they made a self cleaning oven, but that would probably defeat the low tech, low repair idea. Thanks again.

jaks - great pix - oh, I wish I had ours too! FYI - I did notice at the distributors when I visited that the painted ranges didn't have the logo either. Great range you've got there!

Hi. I am new here, and am following this thread with great interest, since I'm interested in an American Range.

Are you all ultimately pleased with them? They seem to have had a bunch of start-up problems within your circle.

Plum, I'm in Atlanta, too. Which distributor did you buy from? The closest I could find was in Nashville, and I'm uneasy about buying a stove if the closest dealer is that far away. Who does the servicing down here? Is there anywhere locally to see one?

I currently have a four year old Jenn-Air which is an absolute piece of junk. I can't use all four burners at once,because the burners start snapping and cutting out, and the operation panel gets so hot, I am in constant fear it will ignite the cabinets on either side. I saw the handwriting on the wall from day one, and purchased the five year warranty the day the offer came in the mail. Our repair guy practically pencils us in the week after every holiday, because that's when the darn thing is bound to break down.

Really, I'm not rationalizing just because I yearn for a bright yellow range.....

springlering - Hi! When we purchased our American the distributor was different than now. I was able to see the range at the warehouse off Fulton Ind Blvd. The dealer I used was Guy Gunter & Assoc in Atlanta - they did not have one in the showroom at the time. It is my understanding there may ?? be additional retailers in the area now. Check with the distributor and see who in the area is a retailer.

The service company for ours was Accurate Appliance which is local but I think they are also adding new servicers as well.

Also, last I heard American was displaying at the Kitchen & Bath show here in April - can you wait until then to see one? They should have one there.

I have been very pleased with the range so far. We have just had it a year and it replaced a very defective Wolf range (purchased back by the manufacturer).

spring....lovely kitchen! Great job - I'll visit again. How do you like the smarts? I'm eyeing a mini.....

Here are some photos of our range & kitchen - also an agents worse nightmare!
:)

springlering i really enjoyed your blog i guess you would call it. great pics, thanks for sharing!
john

Thanks, ya'll! D'oh, I didn't connect that retailer and distributor were two different things, so that's a relief. I'll call them tomorrow to see who sells them here. I find it really interesting that there's practically a fan club for them here. I haven't seen that with the other stoves I've looked at. That carries a lot of weight. I'm not in any hurry. I think we've got another year or so left on the Jenn-Air warranty. The last circuit board took four repair visits, which would go a long ways towards a new stove right there. The dashboard gets so flippin' hot it blows them out regularly.

Johnny, I saw your kitchen on one of the other pages, very nice, did you ever finish it? Plum, I love your kitchen! Especially that lovely dark wood floor. I am so happy now our contractor talked us into putting flooring under cabinets, island, and stove. At the time I thought he was nuts.

SMART Cars? How long have you got? We took a gamble, and sold all our "grownup" cars, and replaced them with three SMART cars. We couldn't be more pleased. Now that the kids are off at school, they are perfect. They've been very reliable, you absolutely forget you are in such a tiny car when you drive it, the mileage is beyond great,parking is laughably easy, and the fun factor is off the chart. And on the few occasions we've needed to go somewhere as a family, which is mostly up to the Paco's restaurant around the corner, we just take two or three of them, and then it's a parade. Neighbors wave, and little children point and smile!

The only caveat I would give is that the ride is very stiff(they have no springs), but, then again, the ride on the SLK convertible we sold was just as stiff. You just compensate by riding on the inside lane where there's fewer potholes. ;-) Big truckers are noticeably courteous to us on the freeway, it's the folks in the regular cars I have to watch out for.

The cargo area is surprisingly roomy, too. We made a trip to IKEA, and she met us there in hers. We had two large baskets piled with stuff, including a couple of huge potted palms. We were loading the cars in the loading zone, when we turned around to discover we had gathered an audience of a dozen people or so, fascinated to see if it would all go in them. It did, with plenty of room to spare, and they applauded, which was kind of surreal.

springlering - that is too funny about the cars. I've seen maybe two out in Cherokee/Woodstock & Canton. I want to go check them out. Loved them in Divinci Code.

Oh, I was visiting a store today and asked about American - he can get them. I didn't notice one on the floor but I could have missed it (I was talking to him about other things and got sidetracked) Anyway, it is Luxury Kitchen & Baths - use to be Appliance Depot. They are in Roswell on Mansell - right across from the Lexus dealer. If you need a number, shoot me an email and I can give it to you. If you learn of others, let me know!

Flooring - the one place our flooring is messed up (other than where the repair folks recently gouged it!) is at the dishwasher. We didn't have the new dishwasher yet when they were installed and so there is a small gap only I notice but it bugs me - so your contractor was right!

Plum, Thanks for the two leads. Gunter is around the corner from us, so I will try to see what they have.

The only SMART dealer in Georgia is SMART of Buckhead, aka Mercedes of Buckhead. They have been outstanding. I've been back twice, to replace a windshield, and 10k checkup, and they treated me no different than if I were driving an $80k car from acrost the hallway.

springlering - I am also located in Atlanta. There is a lot of great advice on this board.

I purchased my range from Dvorsons in CA. I saved ~$1k on the range and shipping was less than tax. Josh was very helpful and ended up holding the range for me for a good while as out project was delayed.

We are still under construction but the range is sitting boxed up in what will be the new kitchen.

Don't hesitate to purchase this range from out of state. My purchase could not have gone any smoother.

We have selected our tile for the new master bath - marble with glass tile accents.

Our cabinets are under construction by a local custom cabinet builder and we are in the process of selecting our counter tops.

I have been away from the board for a decent while dealing with the house. Plus work has been crazy.

The difference in countertop space will give you an idea of the change in size from the existing, small kitchen to our new kitchen. We are going from 27sqf of countertops to 89sqf.

Can't wait for the project to be done. We are ~4 months in and probable have 2-3 months left.

amg - hello! Glad to hear things are moving along.

springlering - I've heard good things about Dvorsons from others as well. It may be worth it to purchase from him as noted. But you still might be able to see a range at one of the other dealers here in town. Or, drive that SMART on up to Canton and you can check out ours! (We got a brochure today, by the way - it is a bit less than the MINI)

Wow, Luisa at home, that is one gorgeous kitchen!! What is your cabinet wood? Stained maple? And what did you choose for the lighter countertop? That's the look we're after....
Stacey

After hours and hours of research, we're seriously considering buying an American Range 30" sight-unseen over the internet. I know several of you have done so.
We live in Maine, and I'm a little concerned about service. What have others found who did not live near a dealer? Do they have enough of a service network for their commercial ranges that they'll send someone?

Also- I intend to post a seperate query about this- does anyone want to comment on our other possibilities or suggest something we may not have considered?
Criteria: ~$2500 or less
Pro style. Would prefer no electronic modules but not strictly necessary.
Prefer closed burners.
30" (small kitchen would feel dwarfed by 36", I think. This rules out Ikea's Fratelli clone)
Oven big enough for a turkey (I think this rules out the bertazzoni...)
Needs to work well with LP Propane.

Thoughts??

Thank you!!!
Stacey

Hi,
New to this forum but you guys seem to be onto something. I have had an american range 30" since last April, the stove top is great but the oven is just plain scary. The popping sound when it lights can be heard from another room as well when it re-ignites during baking, also there is a slight smell of gas when it is turned on I have to turn on the hood. Yesterday i could have sworn i saw flames out of the flou. Also another bonus is when it re-light during baking I might be lucky enough to hear something like a torch being lit.
Now the best part the store where the stove was purchased tells me this is normal. (this is my first gas stove, what do i know) but I am to the point I just will not use it...Anybody else with these problems,please tell they are not nomal...HELP

sportyt, the popping noise could just be the walls of the oven expanding and popping when heated, this is normal and many ovens do this because that's what steel does. Sometimes it flexes slightly - warps and stops popping.

There should be no smell of gas detectable. Please get someone out to look at it.

The oven burner may also need to be adjusted- the torch sound.

Alex, thanks i will get somebody back to look at it again, hopefully a rep from the store is willing to come over. Now i know that it is not normal, as for the popping i don't think it is the oven walls as seeing as it will happen 2 hrs into the oven being on. Cooking the turkey on Christmas was interesting, the pop was so loud at times it could be heard over conversation an music.
eerie, only the stove top for me for now

Happy new year. I have been following this thread for several months now. All of your comments, experiences, and insights have been instrumental in the purchase of an AR 30" from Dvorsons (I live in VT). The range has been in use for about three weeks now and is working pretty much as expected (1st time cooking with gas). I do however at this time have an oven related question. Is it normal with gas ovens to have considerable condensation during preheating. The oven window (interior) is usually coated with moisture until higher temp is reached (steam may also flow from the oven vent initially). I find during this time opening the oven door leads to some irritation of the eyes. I did do the initial burn-off according to instructions (and tips from previous posts). Thanks

redo the burn off, condensation could be caused by an improper door seal or your up against an uninsulated wall.

Springlering, thanks for the compliment. the kitchen isn't finished as yet. i'm waiting on the taxman.

amg so glad to hear things are progressing.

staceyinmaine i can only speak of AR.

sportyt i would call bert @ american range and explain what's happening.1-818-897-0808

tipster09 my oven doors fog up also

i live in new jersey & i bought mine from josh dvorson in california.

best of 2009 to you all.
john

John,
Thks for the tip. I will call Bert directly today.All i know is that everything I am experiencing is not normal, even the store where i purchased it advised me to stop using the oven...let you know what the outcome is.
tara

Hi, Staceyinmaine I also live in Maine and have been researching ranges. I called the AR service department. I got the #from their web site.
I was on hold for quite awhile but the fellow was honest with me and said he has no service provider in Maine yet. He said I would call him in the event of trouble anyway and he would either trouble shoot with me on the phone or have a local tech help. AR would reimburse if under warranty.
I am interested in your experience. I am considering a 24 inch - I have clearance limitations but want the powerful cook top and have had it with electronic keypads!
Thanks for sharing all the posts on AR -its reassuring.

Dear herbert@tidewater.net and Staceymaine,

Please contact the American Range factory at 818.897.0808. We do have factory authorized service repair in Maine/New England area.

Respectfully,
American Range

sportyt any luck tara?
viewscaper AR has talked me thru a repair or 2 and it really wasn't hard at all. i chose to do them myself. they are very helpful and very customer service conscious at least in my situation and from what i've read from other posts. i see that they actually do have service in your area so thats cool how is the search going.
john
917-842-1809

amr01 - if you are online, give me a buzz -
Thanks,

Really wishing someone, anyone, from AR would return my calls and help me get my range fixed. (Sigh)

A few problems remain - still smelling gas upon oven start up. Some say normal, some say not - just would like clarification at this point as it is pretty strong for a bit. We use it as little as possible these days. The oven also seems to be off on temp.

Another is burners "clicking" randomly during use. This is due to something at a recent service visit but not sure what (its a guess since it wasn't a problem before they dismantled the whole thing while servicing and it wasn't a problem previously). At least two burners are doing this. One pretty consistently, the other pretty random.

(All problems started AFTER the initial service call for something completely different!)

We are willing to make any adjustments ourselves if possible if someone would just let us know what to tinker with. (Not my first choice after several visits from a service co previously, but I'm pretty desperate at this point!)

I've left repeated messages, voice mails and emails with two points of contact at AR. I've even tried to schedule the service co myself - which they won't do until they get approval from AR. I also left messages with our retailer that have gone unanswered as well.

After such a great experience with the brand, our range and service at the beginning - this is a great disappointment to us.

My next course of action would be to call an independent servicer to repair the range but I wonder if they could get the parts needed from AR if they were needed, or help from tech if needed?? And, since the service call and the repairs would come out of our pockets we've tried to hold off for a few reasons.

Very frustrated.....

To update, I have been able to reach AR and am in the process of getting the issues resolved.

On another thread someone asked if I recommended the range. The answer is yes, I do. My issues that are above have been mainly with the service company that has worked on the range in the past.

Hi Tara (sportyt),
I was just curious to find out what you found out about the 2 problems you wrote about: 1) the popping sound and 2) the torch sound.

I am experiencing similar behavior.

Thanks.
Donna

Hello,

It is me again ... I was rereading sportyt's initial post and it got me wondering. When baking, how often does the oven re-ignite. I am noticing that the oven re-ignites often. The temperature does keep at the desired temp.

(As you can tell, this is my first time with a gas range. So, please bear with me :-) )

Thank you.
Donna Y

donnay i never noticed my oven re-igniting. how can u tell?
john

Hi John,

I may not be using the correct term. Sorry.

I am looking at the manual now, to get the correct terms (hopefully, I am interpretting this correctly ;-) ).

Once the thermostat reaches the desired temp., the burner goes out. A few minutes later, the burner re-ignites. What is the "normal" time period for the oven to keep the desired temperature before having start up the burner again?

Does this make sense?

Also, I was wondering about the "popping" sound in the oven. I paid some attention to this and it does sound like the metal popping. My problem is that it continues throughout the baking process ... not just at the beginning.

Thank you so much.

plumorchard, are you still having problems with the oven temp? Mine doesn't seem to be hot enough. Every recipe I've tried has taken much longer than it should. I scheduled service for last Friday afternoon, but no one showed up (I'm in LA so I'm dealing with AR directly). I'll reschedule, but in the meantime I wanted to find out if you've had any luck fixing the problem. Thanks!

I find that if I preheat on bake the oven temp measured by an oven thermometer is 25-50 degrees lower than I set the thermostat. If I preheat on convection the temp is right on. What I do is preheat on convection then a minute or so after I put food in, switch to bake (if i dont want convection cooking) for the duration of the cooking cycle. Doing this my cooktimes seem correct to the reciepe.

Well, the repair man came today and replaced the thermostat. Then when he tested the temperature, the oven was still off by 25 degrees (the oven was set for 350 and a thermometer inside read 325). The repair man didn't seem to think this was a big deal, but I do. He said his thermometer might be off, so I'm going to buy my own. I'll report back.

adla - sadly I'm unable to use the oven at all at the moment. We seemed to have developed another problem in that if the oven is on, the burners get no fuel. It also makes some strange noises - so I've been afraid to use it. Right now, we can use one burner at a time.

Service is coming out next Monday. They were scheduled for yesterday and it was a no show. Let us know how it goes with yours. Your guy saying the temp not being a big deal must be one of those that sets his clock fast so he won't be late. I think it should be pretty darn close to what it is set at!

donnay i understand what your saying now. unfortunately i'm at work for the next 10 days and never really paid any attention to that. how does it hold the temp?
my 48" makes no popping noise at all.

plumorchard i feel for you. i'd have lost it along time ago. did the gas company ck your pressure? isn't that the same thing the wolf was doing? i hope it gets rectified before this thread turns to #4.

adla if your not satisfied don't let him leave till you are. take your thermometer and put it in your toaster oven if you have one then set the toaster oven to 375 when the thermostat goes off it should be close to 375 on the thermometer then let it cool & put it in the oven and repeat the process see what the thermometer says when the blue oven lite goes out. this way you'll have a better idea of how your thermometer is reading.granted the toaser oven may be off also. if you have a surface temp thermometer shoot it at the metal on your oven thermometer and see what the temp is.
john
917-842-1809

tugs - yes, the pressure has been checked by the plumber and by the gas co. - all is good on that front.

Not exactly what the Wolf was doing - but same end result -no use of the oven. Hate to say it but getting service on the Wolf was waaaaaay easier - they have a service network here. Also, many others had that same problem with the same model Wolf and mine and others were bought back from the company.

The problem with the American didn't start until AFTER the service company tore it apart and put it back together while installing a part to fix the gas smell we had. Then they fixed some small gas leaks and put in a new gas regulator. All the problems started then and it has been progressive. We've gone from annoying clicking with the burners to completely crippled using only one burner at a time.

I'm wishing I had the 15 year old GE we replaced when all this started. After cooking with gas most of my adult life I would seriously consider going induction/electric after the past couple of years we have had!

Service is due out Monday - I'll let you know what happens.

And now, nothing works - not even the one lonely burner - it just clicks.
Bummer!

well it's time for a new thread this one was started out of sequence but here is the link

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg1221234112968.html

american range owners #4