Hi Nabq, I can understand what you are suffering through. I spoke to my local BS distributor; he informed me that all RCS now ship with 15k burners only; but if you purchase from a retailer and not Costco; you can also purchase a upgrade kit to upgrade it to 18k. I believe instead of getting the 18k burner; the newer RCS' come standard with convection fan. Although the distributor said this may only apply to our area as it really depends on what the distributor specifies when they order a batch. Maybe BS is differentiating the RCS and RNB lines more by deleting the 18k as standard equipment? Theplayer is correct; the newer RCS ranges don't have the slots in the kick plate and the Bluestar logo is etched instead of a pressed logo. The control panel is also different; one piece now. As dodge59 has said; the difference between the 18k and 15 btu burner is the amount of orifices for the flames. The 15k only has orifices on the level surfaces on the 'arms' of the star shape. Meanwhile the 18k burner has orifices on the beveled edges of the 'arms' of the star shape. A quick glance at the 18k burner and it looks kind of like the simmer burner because the orifices on the 'arms' are kind of hidden by the shadow on the beveled edges.

I don't know how long these things have been out but the range I put in a rental 5years ago has one It came in a kit with the flex hose Months ago when I put my new range in I got the same kit at lowes on York Pa. I don't know if it's new code maybe it is in some areas where I am code is that a valve be near the appliance. My valve is in the basement just under where the range is located. So I put the excess flow valve behind the range. It is supposed to reduce the gas flow to a safe level if the flex hose bursts or gets ripped off for any reason like earth quake or someone pulling it out to far for cleaning

>>> I just noticed today they have a new gas range on sale for their black friday event. "They" meaning Costco and referring to the 5 burner 36" Ancona gas range and not to a new stove by NXR? Or did you mean that the Samsung was the new gas range? Beyond that, I'd say it would be a good thing to take up the offer by unixisgoodforyou and discuss the BS stove in detail. Even better is seeing some of these stoves in person and actually using them. Well, except that you probably aren't going to see the new Ancona "in the flesh" anytime soon. Compared to the Samsung, I would say the Ancona looks great in its photos but has characteristics that may or may not fit your planned kitchen and cooking. . As best I can tell, the Ancona seems likely to have been made in Italy by Fratelli Onofri or a similar Italian company which means it is what we would call " counterdepth." Looks snazzy but makes the oven pretty shallow. The oven is downright small by North American standards. Also, when you look at burner power, seems that the Samsung might be a better deal, at least for a small kitchen. That said, the Samung has smaller burners than those in the BS/RCS and NXR/DRGB models. Which may or may not matter to your cooking. When it comes to appliance longevity and ease of repair, there is something to be said for simple, traditional gas-stove designs like those of the NXR and BS. A Samsung may or may not have longevity. While I harbor suspicions/prejudices that make me agree with Deeageaux's projection of weak-kneed ciircuit boards/microprocessors failing in a 5 to 7 years, that is prejudice and pessimism, not a data driven point. I find myself thinking of the recent proclivity of Whirlpool/Kirchenaid/Maytag ranges to blow out the oven electronics or the over-temp circuit breaker whenever self cleaning functions were used. But, OTOH, there are lots of microprocessor driven circuit boards in the stressful environment under the hoods of motor vehicles, and many of those last for decades. Stove makers should be able to achieve similar durability and reliability. Maybe they have. Maybe next year? At this point, it seems to me that we just do not yet know how durable or short-lived electronics will be with the Samsung ranges. Anolther consideration that may favor a Samsung for you (or not) is that the electronics give ou a lot of features not available on the NXR DRGB3001 and Blue Star RCS models. Sabbath modes, self cleaning ovens, and a bunch more. Can't get any of those features with NXR or BS stoves. Samsung's cooktop real estate is more restricted --- the thick backsplash and the major-brand standards for burner spacing mean you may have trouble ftting four large pots on the stove at a time. If that matters to you. It does for some (like me) but a lot of people just do not care. The back burners of the Samsung are definitely better suited to using smaller pans. The NXR and BS/RCS give you more flexibility on pan placement, if that matters to what and how you cook. But, as I said, this will matter to some and not others and will matter in varying degrees. As for deciding between the BS/RCS and Duro/NXR, there are a number of other considerations. Most of them are matters of personal preferences and opinions. If you can tolerate it, here is a car analogy. The NXR is a budget choice. A Huyndai, maybe an Elantra or an Accent, (Credit Tyguy with that helpful analogy). The Blue Star is more of a domestically produced, heavy duty durable vehicle like a manually shifted Ford F150 pickup or one of the domestically produced Subaru Outbacks. The Samsung is more akin to an imported Kia Soul. Less exoensive, fully functional wheels, that maybe (or maybe not) what you'd prefer, given the choice. If budget is an importat factor, then the NXR (currently at $1799 on Costco.ca) is substantially less expensive than the BS/RCS (currently at $2399 on Costco.ca). For some cooks -- deeageaux being one --- the flame spread characteristics of the BS open "star" burners are a significant advantage to their cooking. Others (myself, for example) don't find the open burners a big deal and find the dual-stacked sealed design of the NXR perfectly acceptable for what we do. While I might prefer the BS-style open burners in the abstract, I'm not willing to fork over the extra $600 to get them. (When I was stove shopping last year on this side of the border , the NXR-BS difference was even greater, more like $1500.) Again, if your budget isn't limited, then this is a matter of preference However, when it comes to oven size, the Samsung and BS beat the NXR. The NXR oven is a bit shorter and shallower (due to the projection of the convection fan housing) and has only two racks with five rack positions. (Actualy, it seems to be the same size as the ovens in the Electrolux Icon gas stoves that I've seen.) The BS will (barely) hold a full size sheet pan. MOst of us use half-sze sheet pans, and the BS oven can fit two of them side by side. I haven't really checked out the Samsung oven, but I'll bet its the same size as the oven in the Samsung NE597NOPBSR that I looked at last year. WHile it will not fit a full size sheet pan, it does allow you to shoehorn two half-dheet pans side-by-side and also has seven rack positions. Some people are strongly attracted to the BS range's cast-iron range-top surface. Others are repelled by black (non-induction) cooktops. That's a matter of personal esthetic preferences. Some like the industrial/commercial look of the BS and are fine with cleaning the Blue Star's cast iron stove-top. Others find the stainless top of the NXR fine and easier to clean/keep clean. Remember what I said about about perferring Fusions, F150s and Outbacks to Rios? Same thing goes here. Then there is the matter of warranty service. NXR, as the newest brand with the smallest market share, probably has the fewest complaints. Not so much because it is significantly more reliable or has better quality control but more because its smaller market share means that there are fewer people from whiom complaints could come. Any gas stove -- including BS and NXR --- will need some occasional upkeep and maintenance. For example, you'll eventually need to replace oven and burner ignitors just as you will eventually have to replace sparkplugs on you car. But --- and her is the big qualifier --- if you get a lemon, or if your stove arrives with warranty damage or if your stove gets damaged in shipping to you --- it seems that all three brands have difficulties with timely and competent service for their warranty contractors. Check out Samsung complaints on consumerafffairs.com. The market shares of Blue Star and NXR are so too small to produce much of a response on consumeraffiars, but there have been numbers of threads here with tales of woe about both companies. Counteracting those uncertainties, there is the great benefit of buying each brand's range from Costco. Maybe the stove gets dropped at your curb (rather than fully installed in your kitchen) but you can take it back months later (for a full refund) if you just don't like the stove, never mind warranty issues. This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Nov 29, 13 at 16:17

Blue Star all the way. If I move my RNB goes with me, period. My husband and I spent more than a year researching and going from big box type appliance stores to local appliance stores and even drove out of state to look and get varying opinions. In the end it came down to Wolf or BS and we went with the BS. I called and spoke to the area rep for BS and purchased from a local (albeit franchise) appliance store that will provide service and I called and spoke to persons at the BS home office, if that is the right term. I asked about the supposed issues that had cropped up with the first run of these ranges and he was very honest with me and pointed out all the flaws that they had encountered. He assured me that they had fixed the issues and listened to their customers. After asking the sales reps they backed that up. One thing to keep in mind is that stores profit differently from each brand so you have to take some recommendations with a grain of salt. All brands have their flaws and kinks when buying a high end appliance so just go into it knowing that. One thing that really helped sway us is when the contractor came into our home to measure and look at the space we wanted to have our range installed at. We talked quite a bit about what I was looking for in a range (power, as little electronics as possible, American made if possible, reliable, etc.). At the end of the conversation he asked why were buying a Wolf...it took me aback. He said I should be buying a BS if those were the things I wanted and he asked why we didn't consider it. I explained that we had considered BS but Wolf, I mean come on, Wolf! He just kind of laughed and said buy what you want but I am a contactor, I build luxury homes and restaurants so I have seen the best of the best and BS is the range you want. This guy wasn't getting anything other than his install fee and I hadn't even mentioned my interest in BS. He just contracts with the appliance store to install their high end appliances (he gets a discount with the homes he builds I am sure) so he really had no "dog in the race" and the appliance store we used sold both brands. That went a long way for us and we are super happy with our choice. Sorry this post is so long!