O, my Bluestar ...

keitelJanuary 7, 2012

RNB 304 installed 4 years as of next week. 3 oven doors, a wiring harness for a bum convection fan and light, a spark module (as of Thursday), and this morning I took the oven floor out to clean it and every single rivet on the underside of the floor has popped out. There's also a supporting bracket that's supposed to hold the oven floor up that's fallen off and is just randomly lying in the bottom of the oven.

I guess I'll call BS (again) and see what they say, but at this point, there's no way I could, in good conscience, recommend this range to anyone. It's very clear to me at this point that this is a very poorly-built range.

Everything's been covered under warranty so far (either by BS directly or the 3rd party warranty I bought). The spark module is going to cost 260 installed (40 for shipping!) And it falls within the last 2 weeks of the extended warranty. Welcome to more wasted hours on the phone.

I can't begin to calculate the amount of time I've spent on the phone trying to get this thing fixed.

I know what he** you've been through with ranges keitel and I so feel your pain. I hope you are able to resolve these latest problems with your Bluestar and can enjoy problem-free cooking in/on it from now on.

I sold a used 30" viking online for $2850 a few years years ago but a) that was in toronto b) it was in almost mint shape as I was VERY anal to keep it looking nice as it didn't "patina" as well as a BS c) viking and wolf have big recognized names and are probably the two easiest brands to sell used.

I would say that if you are within an hour or hour and a half of a big city like toronto or vancouver you will be able to sell. You are going to take a loss, but I think you have been through enough.

Or if all else fails, a thought .... Go to costco and buy a brand new rcs for aprox 2k, take your 22k burners and orifices from your rnb, install them into your brand new rcs/rnb hybrid according to mojavean's instructions, maybe even the spark module if it will work(not sure if it will, but others may chime in) and then sell the remainders of your old unit for what you can get. I would do this as a last resort. Personally I would get out of a BS all together, and I don't say that easily as everyone knows I am a huge BS fan. Mine is around the same vintage as yours and I have not had even a single issue with it. However I do think there comes a time that its best to persue new avenues. Same thing with the poster on GW with the issues on the floor model miele DW. As much as I believe in miele, that poster had been left with a bitter taste and I think its best to move on. Sometimes these things just happen. Hey, a lot of people love their honda's, but in my experience they are not so amazing....I moved on.

I'm an hour from Toronto and it's in beautiful cosmetic shape. I've taken very, very good care of it, but as stooxie says, I wouldn't feel good at all selling it without full disclosure. And if I do that, who would buy it? Grrrr...

I know this is none of your problem, but I appreciate both the sympathy and suggestions.

You know, I could accept that a new wiring harness would be needed though a factory oversight on something. Spark igniters wear out and need to be replaced as a maintenance issue. But 3 oven doors, and all the rivets gone out of the oven floor in just 4 years? What the heck? That's just plain poor build quality? Did they ship the "seconds" to Canada to offload them or something?

Yeah, it's out of warranty, and I'm the last one to think that a manufacturer has any responsibility to a consumer past the warranty period, but heck. That's just too much. Especially since this expensive product was supposed to be low tech enough to be reliable for years and years. That's the whole point of buying into their marketing. Restaurant performance with restaurant simplicity and reliability. It's the entire basis of their existence. You might as well have bought Viking or Jade.

I too would be on the phone to Bluestar directly and be asking about a replacement of this as a lemon. It obviously has more than one issue, and if I were the manufacturer, I'd be embarrassed about the number and seriousness of those problems and be begging to give you a new one that had the kinks worked out.

I agree with you guys. I'm going to call and ask for a replacement because I honestly think it's justified. The rivets were truly alarming: 11 in total.

I was wrong in my report of the list of injuries: the convection fan was replaced within the first year, then came door replacement #1, then came the wiring harness because the indicator lights stopped working, then came a complete light show of sparks and shorting out of all electrical due to factory-pinched wires, then came door replacement #2, then came door replacement #3, then came the ignitor module, then came the rivets.

There. I'm pretty sure that's my whole list, and I don't see how any company can ignore that. Rephrase: I refuse to let them.

Sheared rivets might just indicate the oven was built too tight during production. Seem to vaguely remember Wolf or somebody having a similar banging and breaking issue and they had used miniature self tapping screws. It should be fairly easy to rivet the panels back together unless they have been warped under the stress. Don't give up now! Fight the good fight until you have tamed this beast.

4k for a Blue Star? Yikes! I'd sell it for around $2500 then. Screw full disclosure BTW. It's had some problems but you fixed them and took very good care of the range. End of story. They're getting a good deal and for all you know it may not have any future issues. Point is, once it's sold it's not your problem any more.

I had the old spark module go out on mine when I first got it, and then again in Dec of 2009. The first couple were made by Invensys (bad ones) but the last one, was by Tytronics and I bought if from Bluestar for $38.61 and put it in myself.

I don't remember the model number, but Bluestar listed it as item #729201 4 Point Spark Module. I'm sure that was a Bluestar number, somewhere I have a pic and if I find it I'll give Tytronics #.

My oven floor support(you have to remove the oven bottom to see) also had 4 loose rivets when it was new. They are still hanging in there, but I often though I'd replace them or drill them out or chisel the head off and put in short stainless sheet metal screws instead.

Those old Invensy modules went bad all the time, (a British company, made in India) it's not a big deal to replace it.

Bummer about all your issues. I agree that the spark module is really just a maintenance item at this point (extended warranty notwithstanding). A bunch of companies were using the Invensys ones around the same time, and I think there were problems generally.

I haven't pulled out my oven floor to see what condition the supports are in. But if the rivets really are completely out, it'd probably take less time to screw in some (stainless even) sheet metal screws than it would to try to convince someone to take it back, to call for service, or to sell it.

We're talking about a couple bucks in screws vs the other options. And it is 4 years down the road. Even though you've had more issues than most, I'd suspect you've gotten good use out of the range.

I think it would be a good idea to contact Bluestar about the issues you've had, in writing. It doesn't hurt to talk to them, but it is long out of warranty at this point.

If you decide to sell your range after repairing it, you should disclose to the purchaser your history with the range. I would explain that you have replaced all the defects with new parts and that you want to move on with something else. It is dishonest to sell something to someone and not disclose that type of history.

I once had the Maytag Neptune front load washer and dryer. It had about every imaginable part replaced. It was certainly a lemon but functioned beautifully (finally) after all the repairs. I sold it to a couple that wanted a second washer and dryer. I explained the history. We ran the washer and dryer and they worked. They bought them. I could sleep at night knowing I had been honest to them and that they made an informed choice.

I made a decision to purchase a Bluestar range for my new house. I don't regret the decision at all. Every product out there has some lemons, unfortunately. However, overall, Bluestar is a good range. The real problem is that almost all components for anything we buy these days are made overseas and not here.

Sent a detailed email to Steve Cramer, the director of service who I dealt with during door #3. He said no replacement but that he'd replace the oven floor (very large sections of paint are peeling off to go with all the popped rivets) and would send an experienced Bluestar tech over to ensure that everything's working properly. I wonder where he'll find one of those.

Quite shortly, there will be nothing left of the original range. I'm on my 3rd door, new wiring in the back, new wiring in the front, new toggle switches, new convection fan, new ignition module, and now a new oven floor.

keitel - we're probably getting a Bluestar, either a RCS from Costco.ca because it's such a great price, or an RNB or RCS from our local dealer, who match Costco's price for the RCS, and have been pretty good to deal with so far - not bought anything yet, though!

Just curious how/if your issues with your Bluestar were resolved to your satisfaction by the manufacturer in the end?

I would also be interested to hear if blue star provided any decent service to make this right for you, keitel. Although judging by how they've treated others, I'm not optimistic. :-( So sorry for this huge and expensive headache.

I just hung up with customer service for Bluestar. I have a 3 1/2 year old 36" range. We had some trouble with one of the gliders after I let a friend cook baked beans for 500 people in my oven. Needless to say, it was way too heavy and one of the extension gliders got bent. I went to make a warranty call to my dealer, and found out that they were no longer in business. The new business didn't have any of my warranty info for my 5 year extended warranty I had purchased. Argh!!! Well, I called Bluestar directly and they are sending me the new gliders for the oven rack, no questions asked, even though my product is past it's factory warranty. Then she gave me the service manager in my area's phone number, and he was able to tell me who the extended warranty people are....and BINGO! Back in business. We have a bunch of other appliances obviously. NONE are so well backed up. None bring us as much happiness. WE LOVE THIS COMPANY AND THIS RANGE! Thanks!!