I should have said the gas sounds like it is "whooshing" not whooping.

I just realized it is April Fool's day... and boy do I feel like one.

I hope I am not being foolish here by saying I would turn off the gas to the range, maybe even to the house.

If I am remember that I had a house fire a few yrs ago.

Well there is no gas flowing at all when the burner is off so no need to turn gas off. I think it is only the fine adjustment end that has something stripped inside or something. Have had another listen and I think the burner is making the same sound as my others, so probably disregard the whooshing sound bit. But, have lost the low end. The flame on low is pretty huge, way way bigger than it was before I started the procedure. I have an email in to Mandy at Bluestar and I will see what she says. I am hoping I can fix this easily myself.

Sounds like the valve is stripped. Not a big job, but not super easy either. The front apron has to come off.

One thing to check: make sure that when you are turning the adjustment screw that you are NOT turning the whole valve as well. You might have to hold the brass outer part (whatever you call it) while you turn the screw. The screws are not easy to turn.

Give that a try.

-Stooxie

Stooxie: Many thanks for the tip. Yes I tried that, was aware that could be an issue. Unfortunately it is not the fix I need. I am pretty sure something is stripped inside.

alexr: I feared that piece would have to come off but thank you so much for your input. You sound very knowledgeable! I am hoping it is easy to replace whatever needs to be once that is off. I believe it may be some kind of seat inside the valve? Maybe rubber or something?

In any case I hope this is a good warning for others who may try the adjustment. Turns out my flames do not spark the ignitors at the low end. Trying to go lower just resulted in this mess. Lesson learned. Looks like I am on my own "simmer fixing" journey!

Thanks again to everyone for help.

As an update I am pretty sure the adjustment is stripped inside - cannot adjust the flame up or down (at the low setting) at all. I will see what Bluestar says about the parts/fix. Thanks to all.

Good judgement comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgement.

Now you know more than almost all of us.

laat2: Thank you - I feel better reading that. But, I still should never have fiddled with it in the first place - that was the bad judgement. I have checked all the Bluestar instructions on adjusting this simmer, there is no warning anywhere about being careful not to go too far or the potential for damage and I have never heard it mentioned here. So yes, I know it now, and I hope my experience will help others to avoid such a problem. I will post on the resolution.

Tina: I think you snapped your wobbelater shaft. :). I'll fix it for $5000. :)

Just teasing. Boy that really sucks. I hate when I "venture" into something just to cause myself a whole lot of work and grief while doing so and all the time thinking how much better off I would have been if I just left it. I remember when I had my general contracting and interior design business and when something like that happened I was fortunate enough to have an employee that sang popeye's parrot (salty's) song "leave well enough alone squak squak". That really helped!!! Lol

I'm sure you will keep us posted.

tyguy: That is EXACTLY how I feel. There is now work, grief and, no doubt, expense when well enough could have been left alone..... . Well it is Monday and at least Bluestar is open today. I will post on the outcome.

Good news! My simmer is fixed - and improved over its original state. Mandy at Bluestar responded very promptly by email this morning with instructions and I followed up by phone. Since I feel there was a lesson learned and I found out why I was having a problem I am going to post the details in another thread so that others may learn from my mistake. Stay tuned!