Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
singingmicki_gw

Capital Culinarian burners clicking on simmer?

singingmicki
12 years ago

I just read up on a post talking about the Culinarian's burners, etc. I've been using my 6 burner 36" Culinarian for about a week as it was just installed in our new house, and the burners click when they are at their lowest setting.

I know in a previous post that Trevor said the issue had been resolved on all made this year, but we bought ours this spring and have the problem. Does anyone else have this problem?

It is truly an annoying sound. I cooked 2 cups of rice today (which cooked beautifully, by the way) and got to listen to it for a full 15 minutes! Woo hoo! :-)

I have not called Capital yet, but I will be soon. Just trying to gather information first. Thanks!

Comments (25)

  • jscout
    12 years ago

    Assuming you have the latest burners, it sounds like your simmer might be set too low. Here's a link to the discussion about it.

    I adjusted my CC very low, to the point were it'll click just occasionally, like when someone opens a door creating a cross current.

    Here is a link that might be useful: CC Simmer

  • scottdim
    12 years ago

    Id give Capital a call. Their customer service can walk you through many issues you may be having. Very helpful, just make sure you have your model # and serial number handy.

  • breezygirl
    12 years ago

    We bought our 36" rangetop late spring/early summer. Thankfully, no clicking on simmer. That would drive me nuts! Please let us know when and how you get it fixed. Good luck!

  • amcook
    12 years ago

    It's really easy to adjust. Set the burner on simmer and then gently pull the knob straight out. You should feel firm resistance but it does slide out. You'll what looks like a metal tube where the knob slid off from. There is a tiny screw (flat head) inside the tube. You'll want to insert an long narrow flat screw driver and turn it slowly counter clockwise. That will turn the simmer flame a little higher. Make sure you have the new burners with the disk in the middle. Without that, it is very difficult to adjust.

    Good luck.

  • singingmicki
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Does anyone have a photo of the new burners for comparison's sake? I will try that adjustment thing.

    Thanks for the feedback!

  • jscout
    12 years ago

    If you look down the "donut hole" of the burner and see a round steel disk attached to the base of the igniter blocking the hole, you have the latest burners.

  • jscout
    12 years ago

    Here's a photo:

  • Emilner
    12 years ago

    On occasion I get a click when on the lowest setting (very rarely frankly). It's not enough for me to worry about. It certainly sounds like you need an adjustment...

  • llaatt22
    12 years ago

    Very impressive.

  • singingmicki
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I did call yesterday, and while Surjit Kalsi was not in yet, (I called pretty early), the man on the phone was helpful. I didn't deal with the calibration issue yet, but when I mentioned that one of the plastic black holders for the knobs was broken, he mailed me a few of them in case any others broke in the future. I'm definitely happy with the customer service so far, as is my husband, and I am confident that we will get the burners calibrated just right very soon. I need to find the box that all the manuals got packed in, as we just moved this past weekend.
    The cooktop has been very enjoyable to use. Thanks, Capital, and I look forward to finishing up this small issue!

  • jscout
    12 years ago

    Caddidaddy, can the hole be seen in my photo above? Is that the small hole in the middle of the triangle formed by he three larger holes? I'm going to have to check it out when I get home.

  • kist1
    12 years ago

    I don't understand why such an expensive product needs so much calibrating and tweaking.

    Doesn't this bother any of you owners?

    Following the threads from the beginnings of the Culinarian series I get the impression that the burner wasn't quite ready for market.

  • Caddidaddy55
    12 years ago

    jscout, yes it is.

  • Emilner
    12 years ago

    Kist- My burners have worked great from day one. Keep in mind that burners can be very sensitive, more so when you are trying to get as little flame as possible. It may be calibrated in the factory, but they do not know what elevation the range will be at when installed. As a result the amount of air will vary and as such might need adjustment (one reason Bluestar has their white glove service). On cheaper ranges you do not notice since they already put out a lot less gas and as such can get to a simmer easier...

  • amcook
    12 years ago

    In a word, no. It doesn't bother me at all that it takes some tweeking to get right. Most consumer products avoid the need for calibration and such by designing and pre calibrating for the average user. In this case, that means a not so low simmer. Calibrating my range is much less frustrating than cooking on a range that doesn't perform well but can't be calibrated. Most ranges that doesn't require or allow adjustment are probably tuned for a much higher simmer level from the factory.

    Just look at any other high end product vs consumer versions. Cameras for instance.. You could ask why would you pay more to buy a camera that needs a bunch of manual adjustments when you can just get a point and shoot. AV equipment.. Why would you buy a separate amp and tuner? You pay for the extra performance (either perceived or real) and , in most cases, the ability to adjust/calibrate/tune (whatever you want to call it) to exact specifications or needs.

    In the case of CC, there was certainly some redesign of the burners since the initial shipments but I'd much rather see that than what we typically see which is excuses and a brick wall.

  • jscout
    12 years ago

    The OP's experience is not the norm. My range also didn't function 100% when I installed it. The small oven was DOA. I chaulked it up to something coming loose or getting damaged during shipping. Stuff like that happens for all brands and producs. I called Capital and within two weeks had a new thermostat delivered and replaced by a technician. Other than that, the range has been fantastic. Having used it for a while now, I'm glad that it can be tweaked for my environment and preferences.

    Nothing is ever perfect right out of the box. What I like is that I can make it perfect for me. It does not bother me one iota that I can tweak it. In fact, I welcome it. Did I have to tweak it? Absolutely not. But truth be told, I'd be tweaking the range whether it be a Wolf or an Amana. Tweaking my range or any cooking appliance goes hand-in-hand with tweaking my recipes.

  • kist1
    12 years ago

    I see it this way: there's a reason every other manufacturer has different burners with different max and min BTU ratings (or they only go to 16 or 17k BTUs)it's very, very difficult (some may argue impossible) for one burner to span nearly 23k BTUs and operate optimally at full on and simmer. Full on is the easy part but when it's on simmer there's not enough gas to support all the ports and it clicks (hence the sheet metal disk add-on) or flickers unevenly.

    The burner video on Eurostove's dedicated Culinarian website showing the burner on simmer has different ports going out and reigniting constantly.

    Everyone's might not be clicking but are everyone's ports (holes) all lit on simmer? Is the pattern uniform and consistent or flickering? Does the flame go out if you quickly go from high to low?

    Seems like they're doing retrofits and tweaks to keep the ports near the igniter lit so people don't complain. I doubt any change to the actual casted burner design has been made, just changes after the fact, sheetmetal add ons, drilling ports and messing with simmer settings.

    That's why I said maybe it wasn't quite ready for market.

  • Emilner
    12 years ago

    It is VERY ready for market. I can't get over how low it simmers and how fast it can apply the heat. I get a clicking maybe once a week, and it's only one click. To me it is a non-event. The point is that you cannot expect a range that is set at a factory for optimal performance will operate always perfectly in all other environments. Sometimes an adjustment is necessary, and frankly it is REALLY easy....

  • singingmicki
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    The flame does not go out when you go quickly from high to low, and all the holes are lit, all the time.

    Actually, the feature that all burners can be 23k btu or really low is what attracted us to the Capital Culinarian. It fits the way we cook, because sometimes we need a couple of simmer burners and sometimes we need several powerful burners at once. It's an asset for us.

    I haven't had time to completely follow up with finishing the calibration because my life is hectic right now...no fault of Capital, and the cooktop is working well for us in all other ways, so this is at the end of my to do list.

  • rob from nj
    12 years ago

    We've had ours since February 2011. Ours shipped with the redesigned burners. Two of the burners never clicked, one clicked occasionally and one clicked all the time.

    Kept meaning to call someone to come adjust it but never got around to it.

    amcook's December 9th post describing how to adjust the burner is perfect. Thanks again for explaining the operation of this range so well.

    I had to stop by Lowe's to get a suitable screwdriver but the adjustment was easy as can be. It turns out the two burners that never clicked could be turned way down - they'll now simmer even better. It took about 5 minutes to get all burners perfect.

    I'm not sure what kist1 is seeing in the video but I observed my burners just to check. While the flames definitely flicker, they don't go out and reignite constantly.

    After nearly a year with this range, we couldn't be happier. Believe me, I'd be the first in line to trash a product if I felt I got ripped off.

  • jscout
    12 years ago

    I just wanted to add another observation about the clicking. After marathon cooking for Christmas, I decided to break down the range to clean it. After the dishwasher, as I was putting the burners back together something occurred to me. There's a little play when you replace the burner caps. So as I replaced them, I made sure to seat the cap closer to the igniter. It's only a fraction of an inch of movement. But it gets that little flame even closer. When I fired up the burners on simmer, the occasional clicking I used to get disappeared altogether. I suppose I could now lower my simmer even more, but I think I'll leave it as is, because the simmer has been doing it's job.

  • dubbleU
    11 years ago

    I want to thank the posters who provided the vey helpful suggestions. My CC had two burners that did the click a few days back, continuing even through a medium flame. I wiped down the igniters and repositioned the burner cap so that the igniter got more of the flame. All is well again. Some day I may try to adjust the simmer down a bit more, once i'm sure the clicking is gone. I've only had my CC a few months, going from a builder-special GE. I can't say how happy I was that the appliance sales guy showed me this and the blue star. I don't think I'll ever go back away from these open burners!

  • Leslie Stevenson
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago



    I have a capital culinarian series range 48 " if the clicking sound keeps making noise, chances are the burner parts are not put in properly. You need to make sure the parts are secure and lineup correctly. The wire underneath needs to be secure in the ignitor as well. Also, the holes need to be aligned with the ignitor. Absolutely love this cooking range hope this helps cure your problem.

  • rob from nj
    4 years ago

    This was very helpful, thanks. We've had our range since 2/2011 and have had burners clicking on simmer occasionally. I checked ours and 3 of 4 ignitors did not line up with the pilot hole. Once I adjusted as shown, all work perfectly on simmer.