I've dealt with Mandy at Bluestar and had good results.
If your local "Bluestar Authorized" service company is unresponsive, I'd get the part from Bluestar and have any oven or appliance repairman handle it.
Replacing the oven igniter on a Bluestar is a very straightfoward procedure that any competent repaiman can handle.

Sadly we have already replaced the ignitor and unfortunately that was not the issue. I need the problem diagnosed first before we can order the part. I'll give Mandy a try. Do you have her extension or an email for her?

I don't have an extension but here's her email.

mlopez@bluestarcooking.com

Hmmmmmm!!

Hopefully Mandy will help, but I recall a post saying She was transferred to another position at Bluestar.

So I guess we better keeps an eye on Mike, as we recall
Blue Star customer support before Matt then Brandy???

We see posts and (even right here in this thread), "Any competent repairman can handle"----well maybe if they are willing to work on it---so at least at this point , I would take that "With a frain of salt"!!

Hopefully, one of my favorite folks is NOT RIGHT, when he said, "Ther're You Go Again"!!!

Nine months without an oven, I really hope it is cleared up
straightaway!!!

Gary

Thank you willtv.I've emailed Mandy. We'll see. Maybe word will get back to Michael Allen that I'm not so satisfied with his help.

Thanks Gary - I hope we can get it fixed soon. I'm very lucky to have a wonderful little Miele wall oven that I dearly love. But it would be great to have use of the Bluestar oven too.

You can look inside your oven to see what's going on. Example- does the broiler work? The oven works like the broiler only it's under the floor of the oven, which can be lifted out. So I would lift out the oven floor (you might have to remove the racks) and with the door open and the floor removed, turn on the oven to see what's happening.

The oven ignitor is really just a "glow plug". You'll see it if you have the oven floor out. The glow plug/ignitor starts getting hot (glowing) first. So you want to see if the glow plug is glowing. It runs off electricity.

If the glow plug doesn't 'glow' red hot, then it is bad, or there is no electricity to it.

If the glow plug glows after a minute or two, and the oven doesn't light, then the problem is with the thermo-couple(also known as a thermopile) that has to heat up and send a small electric current to a valve or relay to let the gas flow to the glow plug and ignite the burner.

So it's either the glow plug, the little thing the glow plug heats up (thermocouple) or the relay/solenoid that opens and lets the gas flow. Sometimes the thermocouple get's knocked a bit and doesn't get hot enough at the glow plug/ignitor to send a signal to open the gas valve.

If you tell the repair company,(any company that works on Wolf or Viking etc) that the glow plug is working, they should be able to bring a new thermocouple out with them.

And call Bluestar, they might have an idea what the problem is if the glow plug is working

Hi Alex. Thanks for your helpful response. The glow plug/ignitor does not light up when we turn the oven on. So both I replaced it - and it still didn't glow and the service company replaced it and it didn't glow. So maybe somehow the power is not getting to it?? The broiler ignitor does come on and after a big scary boom (like too much gas is in the oven) it starts. I appreciate your help!

You could also scout around your local restaurants, school cafeterias, etc that use gas and try to find out who takes care of their stuff.

Nice helpful post alexr!!!

Don't you find it interesting that when folks REALLY NEED HELP, with their Capital or Blue Star ranges that they have to call "1 (888) GRD-Webb" ??????

Gary

Thank you Laat2.

Gary - I have to agree that I thought I was getting a great deal for my money when I purchased the Bluestar but what I didn't consider was the fact that repair service might be few and far between. In retrospect I would NEVER purchase their range again, but I would get a Bluestar cooktop every time. I can fix those myself ;-)

Well, hopefully they are will see this thread, or better yet, email it to MIKE!

Capital along with Garden Web, caused them to "Clean up their act" before, hopefully this is just an "Isolated Incident", not that it means anything, if it's Your Range.

I can truly empathize with you, as in less than 2 years, a very expensive, fancy cooktop died, and I was never able to get any help, and it fact the company went "Belly Up".

As the cooktop was a 36" semi circle, built into the granite at great expense, I not only had to replace the cooktop, but redo the granite---but it was well worth it, as the Great Folks here, introduced me to Induction!

Wife and I Love it.

Do check the glower as suggested!

Gary

Hopefully you will get help from Mandy and I recommend that you contact her. I had erratic responses from Mike too, not sure if he is there any more, but he dropped the ball with me too. Luckily Mandy picked it up again and as far as I know she is back in the service dept. I might add that it sounds like you also need the broiler fixed/modified. My broiler was also igniting only after a very long delay and with a horrible explosion. After several service calls they eventually came out with some kind of new bracket that holds the broiler glow plug ignitor closer to the gas. It totally fixed the problem. I had become scared to light the broiler but now I light it without worry. I would contact Mandy and explain the broiler issue and see if they can do the retrofit for you. Then that should result in them locating a service company for you that can also look at the oven ignition issue. Good luck!

Well you can find out if the glow plug is faulty or if it's not getting electricity. Anyone who has repaired a lamp plug would know how.

If you have your old glow plug, that's already out of the oven, you could (cut an extension cord)- splice a wall plug/cord to it, lay it on a plate, and plug it into a wall socket. It will glow if it's good.

If you're removing the one in the oven, be sure to unplug the range first. Always a good idea.

willtv - Thank you sooo much for Mandy's info! I guess Mandy gave Mike a poke and voila - we have the name of another service company!! YAY! We'll try them out.

buffalotina - SOOO glad to know that you had the same problem with the broiler. I always jump about 3 feet when that thing ignites! I have requested the bracket from Mandy and Mike. THANKS!!!

Gary - That's so painful! Glad you all are happy with your new cooktop. It makes all the difference in the world to have a cooktop that is a joy to cook on.

alexr - you have more faith in my electrical skills than I do :-) Thank you for taking the time to respond with your help!

I will post a follow up after the service company comes out and let you all know what is the problem and its repair. Thanks so very much for you kind and generous help.
Amanda

Amanda, Great news!! Make sure Bluestar gives the service company the instructions with that new broiler ignitor bracket. I think I could have done it myself with good instructions but it is probably better to have them do it. My broiler was terrible, I mean literally a ball of fire inside sometimes. I used to turn the gas on, leave the room and creep back in to check whether it was lit or not and of course that meant I never really wanted to use it. There was also some new gas valve they came out with too, I believe they show you how to install that on the Bluestar website service videos. That valve also feeds the broiler I believe and you might want to enquire about that also. It did not fix my broiler but I think it is good to have it. I think they have the ignitor closer to the broiler/gas now on the new V1 ranges. In any case, the valve & bracket fix made a night and day difference on my broiler. Keep us posted!

Yes buffalotina - a flaming gas ball!! Exactly! I stand way back with horrible anticipation and I could never quite figure out when it would light so it never failed to get a frightened and annoyed reaction from me. I have only used it about 4 times (in 6 years) for that exact same reason. Thanks a million for sharing this info!!

Once you get this fixed you will love the broiler. It does a wonderful job.

FWIW, the service manual has three items as possible for the oven not lighting when the broiler will:

-defective thermostat (voltage at thermostat, voltage at glow plug; look for broken wire if you get voltage at thermostat but not at glow plug)

-defective igniter; if you have voltage at glow plug but it doesn't glow when turned on

-open heater; if the gas valve coil doesn't have continuity, replace the valve; if so, check wiring from thermostat.

Amanda, Glad to help.
"buffalotina" is right.
You'll love your broiler, but pay close attention.
That thing is HOT!!!
Do post a follow-up after the service call.

Thanks thull! That's a GREAT list of stuff to check - I will pass it on to the service company (of course I would LOVE for them to know all that already).

The service company is coming out Friday morning and Michael at Bluestar ask that the service company contact him when they're at my house. Buffalotina - I've ordered the bracket but am letting the service company install it. Will post back to all of you kind people who have helped out so very much with your gracious help and support. Thanks again!!

So here's the update. Had a great service company come out. They diagnosed the problem in the first 5 minutes they were here: Power leaving the switch but not making it to the oven igniter/glo plug. They basically took the range apart and it turns out that the wires' (in the side wall of oven) insulation had melted off in a .5' spot, touched each other (you could see the black flame mark on the stainless from where it happened)and of course shorted out the solenoid. We're waiting for parts. My question is what's going to keep that from happening again? I do use my oven at high heat for pizza and roasting. I would often say it smelled like wires burning, but thought that it was just the paint on the floor of the oven still burning off....

Amanda, Glad to hear you've found a competent service company.
Try calling Bluestar to tell them about the cause of your problem.
They may have a fix that they've incorporated into their V1 model that can be applied to your range.
Failing that, I try adding some insulation around that area to better protect the wiring.

ajnolff, sound like you found the right repair people, thank goodness. It's likely the wires were pinched and that could have caused the short and the wire insulation to burn away- rather than any heat from the oven.

I think these service people sound smart enough to be careful when they reassemble it, so that that problem won't happen again.

If your broiler needs a new bracket so that it lights properly,(no big whoosh!) be sure to get that taken care of too.

Yes, I was wondering if there was any update on your broiler. You want that updated so you can use it - it is great when it works! Keep us posted!

I have the bracket but the service technician said he wants to see something from Bluestar about how to intall it. I let Bluestar know (and they have too). Will let you know when the work's done. Can't wait!! Thanks for all your help!

Did this end up getting resolved to your satisfaction?

Yes - thank goodness - my Bluestar has been working like a champ ever since. The hinges on the oven door did seize up and Bluestar sent me a new one for free.

What exactly ended up being the problem? Glow plug, thermostat, etc?? Did you do the work yourself? Thanks!

I didn't do the work. I think somebody who has some confidence in their electrical skills could have done it though. So as far as the oven not igniting the insulation around some wires in the left side wall panel had melted, allowing exposed wires to touch and shorted out the solenoid. They had to take the entire oven apart to find it.

They replaced the bracket on the broiler ignitor and it works beautifully now.

Hi! If you are still on this site can you tell me if the solenoid was part of the thermostat? I have the Blue Star parts list, but I do not see a solenoid listed anywhere...

Thank you! I am having the exact same problem.