The Bluestar saga has been dormant on my blog for quite some time and for the first time I am happy to report good news. My oven door has been opening and closing for 1 year and 4 months! Most of you dear readers are probably perplexed at such trivial news. Your oven doors might have been opening and closing for 5, 10, or even 20 years. But if you keep in mind that in the 3 years of ownership, 4 doors got stuck and needed replacing, the fact that this 5th door is still opening and closing feels like a miracle to me.
My door problem was not unusual. It was reported on many appliance forums. I used to get frequent e-mails from Bluestar owners whose doors wouldn't open. I hope these problems got resolved for all of you dear cooks because being without an oven sucks.
I frequently get e-mails from people who are considering purchasing a Bluestar. They have read the horror story of my range on my blog and want to know how the range is doing now. The final door still opens with no greasing or any other trickery besides pulling on the handle. Life is good.
32 comments:
My Bluestar door failed nine months ago. Good news was that I called the factory in Pennsylvania and they promptly sent a no-charge replacement that has worked fine ever since. In short: Bluestar Quality 7, Service 10. David G
Our home has a circa 1955 Gaffers & Sattler gas stove that has been here since long before we moved in. It's getting a little creaky here and there, and some of the chrome is wearing down to the brass, but I'm scared to think of the day when we have to buy a new stove because I know it wouldn't last 3 days beyond the warranty period.
about warranty -- i have to give credit where credit is due. Bluestar has done all the repairs free of charge and extended my warranty by a year since my range continued to have trouble. I really hope that the new Bluestars work better out of the box than mine did. When this range works, it's fantastic and the open burner design rocks.
My second Bluestar door has just failed, each one lasting me about 2 years. Very frustrating. I am so glad to have stumbled upon your blog, it's been really helpful. Thanks for recording all your trials with the range. I now have to deal with Bluestar/Vesco and see if they will send me a new door. Ridiculous, considering how much the range cost. Also wondering if I should have my oven floor checked or maybe leave well enough alone!
From another grateful Helen
definitely have them check your oven floor. we had ours checked last time by accident because the oven igniter burnt out and needed replacing. An oven floor that fell apart could be sending too much heat towards the front melting your hinges. They have a better design now for both the floor and the door. best of luck to you. e-mail me if you want the contact info of my customer service rep
I hope you will have new bluestar in the future and really hope that new one work better out of the box than mine did. When this range works, it becomes fantastic and the open burner design rocks.
OMG...I have been considering a bluestar am then can upon your blog..yikes..bought a second home and want to replace cooktop..my current home has a viking..cooks good..but the clicking of the iginotors drives me crazy. Wondering how the 48 inch Bluestar cooktop is..any thoughts?
mine is 36 inch, not 48. at the moment, everything is working fine. the first few years were hell, but it looks like they fixed those issues. about clicking igniters, they might be shorting and the fix might be the same for bluestar and viking. here is a post my husband wrote on fixing them:
http://www.beyondsalmon.com/2010/09/how-to-fix-bluestar-igniter.html
This message is for Helen Rennie.
We just purchased a 30" BlueStar and it appears to have factory defects - outer glass oven door is loose and rattles, rightmost knobs don't lock and stick. I've seen the loose glass on the door reported by other consumers, so I'm hopeful that a repair tech will replace. Otherwise, looking forward to the new range.
Helen, you mentioned you have the name or email of your repair tech of (?) BlueStar contact? If you could post or send to me that would be appreciated. I can't see how to email you directly.
I have called and left a message with BlueStar CS and also filled out their online CS repair form.
I'll report back with how the support addresses the problems and how the range performs.
Thanks!
sorry about your range! e-mail me at helenrennie AT gmail com and I'll give you technician's contact info
My wife and I are looking at the Blue Star range for a new home. We are very seriously looking at this range. We are so serious that we drove to Reading to visit the factory.
However, after reviewing this blog and comments I am concerned the product quality may be poor.
Given your experience with this range, if you had an opportunity to purchase a new range would you purchase a Blue Star or choose a different brand?
Thank you!
My bluestar is working fine now and I love cooking on it, but considering how many e-mails I get from people who just bought one and are having terrible problems (one of them was a pretty serious fire!), I am guessing I would try another brand.
we also are experiencing a door stickiness looks like it will soon stick shut who do we call? we were sold as “it will last a lifetime”? hah
Jon
e-mail me for the name of the rep. it's helenrennie [AT] gmail [DOT] com
My own Bluestar tale isn't as happy. Three doors replaced, which is good as now the latest design is working.
However, the igniters for both front burners failed within the first year. Now, in year five, the igniters for both the broiler and the oven have failed.
Looking inside the burn cavity, there's a ton of debris in there, including a loose pieces of metal.
The quality of their ranges appears to be atrocious. I really regret not having gone with a competing brand.
Hi Andreas,
The stovetop igniters might just need electrical tape. Here is a post my husband wrote on a possible fix. The over igniter does burn out regularly (about every 2 years). I agree with you about the quality or lack there of.
Cheers,
-Helen
Hello Helen,
I have a variation on the Blue Star oven door.
Door #1 failed some years ago. I blamed it on the German Shepherd who opened the oven door and (presumably) stood on the door to get at the cookies stashed in the (cool) oven.
Door #2 failed in mid July. Contacted the factory and bought a replacement. Replacement arrived. We removed the old door and started to install the new one. Noticed that the box didn't include hinges. Contacted factory. They sent hinges. Once again, started to install new door. Noticed that it didn't fit: hinges on new door are spaced too wide to fit the slots in the range. Contacted the factory. They told us to call a recommended repair place (...visualize eye roll on the part of the service rep...). Arranged a service call with recommended repair place. Service guy came out and immediately confirmed that the door doesn't fit. He didn't charge us for the service call.
The repair place has contacted Blue Star and we're waiting for an answer. Still.
Anyone else have this problem??
Hi Carole,
So sorry about your door problems. Send me an e-mail and I'll give you a name of the BlueStar contact who used to help me a lot several years ago. He might not be there any more, but it's worth a shot.
My e-mail is helenrennie AT gmail DOT com
Cheers,
-Helen
This has been so helpful! I'm considering the 36" RNB freestanding range....I'm a little leery after ready all the oven door problems. Seriously considering just going with a range top since the open burner/flame design is what drew me to Bluestar in the first place but would love the large oven in a addition to the double electric wall ovens I'm using now. I'd like to think the oven design problems have been corrected and the new models are free of them. Do you know if any new owners are experiencing problems? Thanks again for your very informative articles!
I still get e-mails from new BS owners who are having oven trouble. The stove top is really awesome. If you don't need to get a range, I'd go with the stove top.
I'm a little glad I didn't find your blog before we bought our Blue Star Range. We bought ours in 2011 and we've been very happy with it. We just started having a bit of fan noise when the convection fan is on, which is why I was googling for the solution. I hope we don't end up having problems with the door.
Hallelujah! I cannot believe there is a blog devoted to the Blue Star Range-
I don't even have time to begin- I feel like I have the biggest lemon-
And for what these ovens cost- geezum-! I want to read more and I will share ALL
my agony-
Hi April,
I feel your pain. Let me know what the problems are. Maybe I can help. Though I can't say I have a blog devoted to the BlueStar range. Just a few posts :) Most of my posts are your typical cooking blog.
Cheers,
-Helen
RNB 48- puchased September 2010
Sharon- my husband thought our children broke the oven door- I didn't use it for about 2 months because I was dreading the cost and repair, etc... so I started googling and saw it was a factory problem-- They sent the wrong size-- reschedule repair tech--
When the repair man came out and we started looking more inside the oven I found
I also had a problem with my heat shields- it seems the screws used to attach them are not heat resistant so they break thus causing the
heat shield pan to fall- literally on top of the direct fire- My heat was not distributing properly- So All you blue star range owners you wouldn't realize this
unless you remove the shield from the bottom and you will see a flap of sheet metal hanging- careful it's sharp too-
The broiler igniters do not last long- I use my broilers very little and they are VERY expensive to replace- I use my range for home -not commercial-
I'm on number 3 broiler igniter.
ONE THING AFTER THE NEXT---UGGGHHHHH!!!!! I would never recommend this range- LEMON
Yup -- had all those problems :( The bad news is that they are extremely expensive to fix (unless you are still under warranty). The good news is that the new parts I had installed about 2 years ago are a lot better. You could try to call them and say that although you are no longer under warranty. Those were all known issues and considering the extent of problems, the products should have been recalled. I looked up consumer protection laws in my state and wrote them a letter with the help of a lawyer. It was shortly after my warranty expired, but they agreed to continue fixing things for free for 1 more year.
We had the door hinge problem that so many Bluestar owners have had and thought I'd report how I was able to fix ours.
Lubrication as recommended by Bluestar does not work; it's just a bandaid on the problem. I finally pulled the door down to closely inspect the hinge mechanism. Comparing the profile of the part that sticks out of the door with the same part on the left side, I noticed a difference. The right hinge had a damaged area. Whereas the surface of the left one looked like a smooth, roller coaster ride, the corresponding surface of the right side looked damaged, as if it had been beaten on with a hammer causing the metal to mushroom out a little, catching the roller that rides on it.
I spent some time filing off the protruding metal and now we have a door that is easy to open and doesn't click.
Continuous clicking igniters.
It was driving me crazy. I called BlueStar and they had the answer
The 110 outlet that the range was plug into had reverse polarity. iAd the plug re connected correctly correctly.
Al igniters work beautifully. It is not always the stoves problem
Does anyone have experience with the newer models of BlueStar ranges? I’ve heard BS redesigned the door, but I haven’t seen many posts saying the problems have been eliminated. I’m considering a new 30” BS RNB, but would like to hear a few people say they are having good luck with ranges purchased within a year or two.
Thanks
I have had my BS Platinum range a few months. The stoves got recalled and repaired for their heating problem a couple years ago. My outside does not overheat. The burners are the best ever because I like extremely high heat from my past work as a chef. The PowR oven is honestly pretty awful. It does not perform well with sheetpans. Cakes and breads are fine. The issue is the burner in the back of the oven. When it cycles on the radiant heat overcooks everything on that side of the sheetpan. You can see it with the pictures of cookies in their marketing materials. Mine has 2 ovens and the small normal oven works better than the PowR oven. I would still buy the range, it just seems silly to have an "upgrade" that costs more, but has inferior performance. Once again if the stovetop is highest priority buy the range, if the oven is highest priority, do not.
I've had my 36" Bluestar RCS366BV2 (open burner) with *no* options since 2016. I bought it because I wanted as few features as possible (less stuff to break). I like to cook and I cook a lot... but, I'm no chef. My Bluestar has been a Champion!!! Everything has... and still does, work perfectly ...all the time. I installed it myself and inspected it thoroughly so I have a very good understanding of all the parts and I am confident that if anything becomes problematic I can fix it myself.
Loving my Bluestar
Dennis
New Orleans
We got our 36"" BlueStar RCS366BV2 about a year ago. This range is in our shore house which we recently renovated and have not had much opportunity to use the oven. Today I noticed that when I ran the oven there was a slight smell of gas by the front middle burner on the range. There was no smell of gas when I opened the over door and the oven heated well. If I ran the Broiler there was no gas smell. I was not using the convection fan just the regular oven. Also all six of the burners started and stopped without issue and there was no additional gas smell.
I purchased a 30” BlueStar range in 2007 for a weekend home. The oven was hardly ever used. Recently, while cooking for 6 guests the oven door locked shut. I had to get the burning food out quickly and called BlueStar for advice. After the customer service operator talked to a technician, they told me to wrap a crowbar in a towel and pry it open. I did and it bent the interior lining of the door. They now want $862.50 for a replacement door.
Post a Comment