Repairing a Viking range for a friend of mine. After endless searching on the web, Viking is junk and their support is crap. All I can say is this 48" gas range is about 6 years old. The only reason is has lasted this long is due to to the fact the person that previously owned the house and installed the appliances did not really cook. So they were rarely used. There is a file with about 4 service visit. The igniter for the burners has 1 bad leg and the igniter continues to run. Kind of normal, igniter order to replace this. When using the oven there is a constant gas smell and the other day they were using it the CO detector in the kitchen went off. I tore into the oven yesterday. Baking burners have holes from the oven glow ignitors running all the time. Then I found the entire bottom of the oven a disaster. The flame guard/baffle fell off the bottom floor of the oven and was resting on top of the baking burner tubes!! It appears that this flame guard/baffle caused the screws to back out over time when it expands and contracts?? Screws are in the bottom of the oven below where they would have been installed. This only happened on one side. Then when the screws fell out of one side of the flame guard/baffle, the spot welds on the "Z" bracket on the other side broke off. There were 2 spot welds that were too close to the edge of the "Z" bracket and they were less than 1/2 strength. I did better spot welding in my middle school shop class!! What total idiots. I will see how many years their warranty covers mechanical parts and welds, as far as I am concerned welds should be lifetime. So new bake burners have been ordered. Not sure how to repair the bottom of the oven as the floor is porcelainized and welding or drilling will cause the porcelain to crack, but probably will make a repair and see how it goes. These stupid ranges are a serious safety hazard and everyone needs to report their problems to the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission). They will not do anything for your specific problem, however, if enough complains show up, then they investigate and may issue recall notices? Oh, this is just the range problem, will not even go into the refrigerator door hinge problem. These have been recalled, however, the appliance repair people they sent out have changed the hinges 3 times and the doors still do not work correctly. Not sure is the problem is parts, training or just plain sloppiness on the appliance people?? Anyone who tells you Viking appliances are good quality either do not use them or they have staff that cooks and they have no idea about the poor quality of these appliances. If you use these appliances daily, you will see. Oh, then just wait if you expect support from Vikings indignant customer un-service staff. They feel like you are personally attacking their company. Well they deserve it, how disconnected can you be regarding crap products you turn out and sell for $1000-$5000 more than a standard Sears or GE product that actually works!

I do have to share one additional experience with the IR broiler. I once broiled some salmon and left it in just a little too long and it looked burnt. The marinade/cure for the fish did have a fair amount of sugar in it, but was wiped off before hitting the broiler. I took a nibble of the crust and it didn't taste burnt so I served it, because the rest of the fish was really moist. Afterwards, my wife commented that the best part of the fish was that "burnt" crust. I had to agree because that crust was like eating a toasted fish "cracker" or "chip." I didn't use a dry rub, so that crust was all fish.

"Wonder why Viking puts such a small box...." Because they can get away with it. The NEMA code is not nearly as not as restrictive in may ways as the NEC since it covers equipment wiring. The wiring used also has a higher temperature insulation than typical permanent wiring in a structure. Between the well known loads present (lights and blower)using higher temperature insulation allows for a smaller enclosure and smaller conductors. It is not designed to be worked on very much, so access and convenience take a back seat to saving even a small amount of $$ ($1 saved over 20,000 units is significant).

Actually MUA is not required by Code everywhere, only some areas. Regardless of Code requirements, the OP needs to do MUA with 1200 cfms because that much suckage carries with it the risk of sucking back CO into the house, i.e. backdraft. It's a serious risk because with that much cfms pulling air out of the house, other exhausts will be pulled in, like from the water-heater, furnace, chimney and dryer vent. That backdraft is bringing poisonous carbon monoxide into the home. You can get away with no MUA with an exhaust that is 400-600 cfms and if your house is drafty and not a newer super-insulated house. But not at 1200 cfms. At 1200 cfms, cracking a window will not be enough. You will need to install an MUA system. Either add that to the expense of your renovation, or choose a different cooking setup. People not willing to install MUA is a main reason why people forego the 60" ranges and their exhaust requirements, and opt instead for a 36" rangetop and separate ovens.