Note any problems you think you have on the check list and send it to Bluestar, if a problem exists it will be fixed during the White Glove Install.

RCS...

RCS 30". No white glove I believe. It was pushed into place when we moved into the new home...for asthestic reasons to make the kitchen more attractive. We hooked it up ourselves. I am reading on these posts and starting believe these things can be prone to issues. Our last home had the same GE range for 20 plus years and never had it break down. We found the check list in the paperwork inside the oven...if we fill it out and send it in like it requests, will they fix it. I hope they do not give us a problem because it asks the installers name.

The simmer burner is not only on one of the "long" tubes, but it also has a gas flow rate that is roughly half of what the 22k burners can output. I've seen the same "flakiness" when first starting up the burner, which I've just associated with the physics of a long tube being filled by a relatively slow flow of gas. It's always lit right up after turning off and then back on, as if the first "bubble" of gas gets pushed along by the next.

Do you have any symptoms of that burner needing air adjustment, such as (on natural gas) any significant yellow tipping, "lifting" of the blue flame from the burner, or a "noisy" burner?

Most spark-ignite ranges I've seen have the "all spark" behavior.

Igniters don't generally "burn out" but more generally it is that the ceramic insulator gets cracked through being bumped or the like. They are relatively easy to replace.

The igniter unit on a BlueStar has been successfully replaced by others in the board using a "generic" Tytronics module for under $50.

White Glove or no, give BlueStar a call and talk with them.

I find that my simmer burner lights faster and more reliably if there is a pot on the burner before attempting to fire it up.

The simmer burner seems dead on in regards to noise and the flame quality. That is funny though you experienced the same issue..turn it off than on and it starts. I have been moving the valve back and forth around the high range and it works too, but not as consistently as turning it off than on. I will call them, but it seems like one of the quirks I may need to live with.

Longer initial ignition time is due to forcing air out of the tube. Part of this is burner design I believe. The simmer burner on the Bluestar is a full "star" burner but only holes in the center ring. I would suspect that the cavity inside the burner still extends out to each of the arms which means there's a good amount of space for a very low flow nozzle to fill.

AFAIK, pretty much all spark modules fire all ignitors at the same time. It probably is due to a cost trade off but not one made by Bluestar. Bluestar uses standard spark modules on the market and I'm pretty sure most if not all behave the same. I know Wolf and Viking both behave the same at least o all of the models I've used and seen.

Okay I'm one of those very happy/no regrets type of Bluestar owners who needs some help with regards to simmering. When I had my white glove service, I asked the service guy to adjust the flames to their lowest level as I had read to do that somewhere here. He wouldn't do it because he said that everything tested according to factory approved levels. On my 22K burners I get flames licking up the sides of the pans including my 12" stockpots and sometimes these tips are yellow in colour so I'm always turning the dial on lower settings. White glove service person said yellow flames was due to dirty gas or impurities in the gas mixture, nothing I can do about it.

Here's my simmer question. When I use the simmer burner and make rice, I usually put a lid on the pot once it has come to a hard boil. On the lowest simmer after lifting the lid maybe 5 minutes later, I'm getting a fairly strong boil still. Not gentle bubbles barely breaking the surface. Overall does my range need the flames adjusted and if so can I do that myself? If I simmer without the lid on the rice pot, it really does simmer nicely so should one simmer with or without the lid? TIA.

Here's a test, and I'll start with a disclaimer that you absolutely should not resolve things this way.

Can you, by turning the knob from HIGH towards OFF, once lit, get a reliable, lower simmer than you can by turning the knob as far as you can past LOW? If so, you should adjust the simmer setting (which is the "right" resolution).

There are instructions in the back of the manual (which you can download, if you've filed yours away safely). Basically, you pull the knob, insert a small screwdriver into the shaft to engage the little brass screw, then turn it. Mine were pretty stiff to adjust. I adjusted mine so that the holes just barely fill with a blue dot of flame. When I blow the burner out, they all (save for maybe a couple holes) relight in a few seconds (not WOOSH, but more a gentle progression around the burner). This is significantly lower than when delivered.

Some yellow tips are normal, but more of an occasional flicker here and there, at least without a pot on the grates. Adding the pot changes the airflow, so you may get more yellow tips.

Thanks sfjeff I did your test and there are desireable small blue dots going from high to off. I guess I'll have to monkey around with the flame adjustments on all of the burners but maybe keep one of the 22k burners as is for the higher heat.

I think I've always noticed the flames licking the sides of my cookware (when set to high) but only lately there seems to be more yellow tipping and with that I've noticed the sides of my pots to be burned too. Do you think yellow flames cause more blackening of pots because I don't think they were ever this bad in the first few months of using this range? In fact the bottom of some of my pans now have a star shaped black pattern which I assume is from using the higher BTU burners and not from the lower heat. This is most evident on some of my thinner stainless steel cookware but surprisingly I also have soot/burns on my Le Cruset cast iron pot.

Thanks again,
Judy

Sometimes a picture is worth...

I love it!! If I were to use that picture as my screensaver or avatar my family will truly think I'm nuts.

Setting the low, AFAIK, doesn't change the MAX setting of the burner. Think of it as setting the stop as to how far past LOW you can turn the knob. My 22k burners are set the same way, and can simmer better than a lot of the sealed-burner ranges I looked at before I settled on BlueStar.

My pots do show some "patterning" related to the burner grates. They have it even from our old 10kBTU/hr Caloric. It is really evident on my clay cookware, and I notice it when I wash my metal cookware, especially stainless or stainless clad. I've never worried about it.

The yellow tipping and soot sounds like you need to check the air shutters. This is a "normal" gas range setting that is often overlooked, no matter the make. It is a relatively easy adjustment. There is a collar around the base of the tube that feeds the burner that can be rotated to let in more or less air. If you don't have enough air, the gas can't burn as effectively and tends to go yellow at the tips. That might be the cause of the soot. It's not a super critical adjustment and the range is unlikely to blow up if you are a bit off.

Remove the grates, front and rear.

Carefully, without tugging on the wire if you can, rotate the burner head slightly and feel it come free of the base. Gently slide it away from you until you can see the Phillips head screw and shutter/collar.

Loosen the screw a turn or so and rotate the collar a little bit to make the gaps on the sides wider. Tighten the screw gently.

Tuck the tube and burner back in place, making sure it slides over what should feel like a little post that sits inside the end of the tube farthest away from the burner head, right behind the control knob. Be gentle and you'll feel how it fits in and sits down nicely.

Try it!

Open a little more if you're still getting yellow tips (an occasional pink-y or orange-y one now and again is OK); close it a little if the flame "pulls away" from the burner head (it may sound loud as well).

After you are done, you might want to re-check the simmer setting.

You can see how little you need to move the burner to access the shutter - on the left side of the photo, just "above" the orange wires.

Thanks sfjeff...you are the best. I will fiddle with my simmer burner and see if I can get it to light more consistently without fiddling with the knob each time.

I had the same problem with the burner simmer, but the tech who came out to do the white glove service replaced it and it works just as good as the others now.

Funny enough, I also did the same thing of turning it off, then back on... and it would usually light.

Mine simply won't go that low - the flames begin to flutter and go out at the point where they are just little blue dots. Sometimes a few here and there flicker and go out sometimes the whole burner does. I can get close, but not as low as sfjeff's photos show. Anything that might cause that?

Also, on the simmer burner the adjustment screw seems to have no slot. You simply cannot get a screw to engage and so it cannot be adjusted. I'm assuming there is just a part that will need to be replaced for that?

My experience with the adjustment screws (assuming you mean the ones behind the knob) is that they're small enough that you need a large jeweler's screwdriver to adjust them. Even my longest, smallest regular flathead screwdriver wouldn't work.

I have the right size screw driver - that is how the other burners were adjusted but on the simmer burner there is no slot in the screw head or it is misfomed or stripped, not sure what. Something is wrong, which prevents adjustment of that particular burner.

hi

My problem with the simmer burner is there are no variation with the flame of the simmer.
At the higher position or the lowest position, the flame is always the same.
I try to adjust the air shuttle but no result
Help me please
Thank you

Here is a link that might be useful: Appliance

Ok.. Mine worked fine until cleaned the first time in soapy water.. Since then -- even months later it just clicks and S-L-O-W-L-Y lights around the circle. Even after all holes are filled with flames it continues to run the ignitor on all 4 burners.. Any ideas what I messed up? This is the only burner so far that I've cleaned and I'm a bit leary of cleaning the others..

I have result my problem with the information of "sfjeff"
and the flame of the burner are ok

( Basically, you pull the knob, insert a small screwdriver into the shaft to engage the little brass screw, then turn it. )

Thank you