Bad gas KitchenAid cooktop, won't return.

16 years ago

We just had a new Kitchen Aid glass gas cooktop KGCC566 (from Sears) installed. I think it is defective and want to have it exchanged, but Sears/Kitchenaid has refused because the repairman (from a company owned by sears that KA wants used) said it was as good as I could expect.

My serious complaint is that the burners don't burn correctly. One of my burners has big yellow flames at the tips (that were far worse before the repairman found that two burner heads had been reversed) and two burners have small yellow tips. To quote Kitchen Aid manual : "Check Operation of Surface Burners...Check the flame on "HI" for a blue color. It should be clean and soft in character. No yellow tip, blowing or lifting of the flame should occur. Occasional orange flashes are normal and reflect different elements in the air or gas."

I don't recall yellow flames on my old gas stoves but we are now using propane and it could be different; but I just checked my neighbor's 10 year old Hotpoint (with similar burner design) and it does not have yellow flames or tips either. I think a new Kitchenaid should be better than an old Hotpoint. I also note that my small burners have smaller orifices than the manual expects and they don't increase gas delivery in the top third of the range. The KA tech people finally responded and said that the manual was wrong about orifice sizes.

In any case, I think that KitchenAid owes me a new working cooktop. What do you all think and what have you been able to do in similar circumstances. OR do you think I am over reacting. The repairman thinks that they are all like this.

Actually, I suspect that this unit was already returned and repackaged because although perfectly packed in styrofoam: the gas pipe was dammaged preventing the gas line to be threaded on until after serious filing of munged threads; several rubber feet were missing or rubbed off in the grates that protect the glass top (they sent replacement grates); I found a couple of small chunks of foam stuck in the corners where the top mounts to the granite that looked identical to the foam I later applied and reapplied after taking one piece off that made identical little leftover chunks, and finally the two burners were misoriented.

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Comments (4)

User
16 years ago
Where did you purchase the cooktop? Is the store helping? If you paid with credit card, you can do a charge-back.
podge8
16 years ago
For natural gas, no, you should not have any orange or yellow tips on the flame. However, I do believe that with propane, yellow tips are completely normal as propane does not burn as hot as natural gas. It should state in the manual that if you are using propane (LP), yellow or orange tips are normal.
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alku05
16 years ago
It sounds like your air shutters just need to be adjusted. Yellow tips on a natural gas flame typically means that there isn't quite enough oxygen getting into the burner. Many new gas cooktops and ranges need this adjustment made, and usually it is part of the installation process.

If the appliance company chosen by KA is incompetant: 1) Call your gas company b/c most will adjust your burners free of charge due to safety reasons; 2) Hire your own appliance person to do it.

If the yellow flames are b/c of incomplete combustion (not enough oxygen), you are probably producing some carbon monoxide gas, which you definitely don't want to mess around with. Get it looked at and adjusted before using it.
chas045
Original Author
16 years ago
Sorry, my computer has been in the shop.
I bought the unit at Sears, but they are relying on the repairman notes and they said exactly the same thing as kitchenaid (I believe they turn the repair/replacement back on ka.) Thanks aliceinwonderland about the credit card point. If necessary I may try that. However with more nagging, ka did ask another repairman to take a look, and he is going to talk to the ka technical side and see what they reccomend. It has been like pulling teeth to get help from the tech side of ka.
Alku05: unfortunately, the new design of stoves have no shutters or other air control. I have already had the propane company out to verify that the hookup and gas pressure were correct.
podge8: I suppose you might be correct that yellow tips are permissible, but then why do 2 of my burners only have blue flame like my neighbor's hotpoint? And just for future reference, propane burns HOTTER than natural gas. That is the reason that LP stoves require the orifices to be made smaller and line pressure to be reduced.

Are other people having installation problems like this with gas cooktop/stoves?

Bad gas KitchenAid cooktop, won't return.

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Bad gas KitchenAid cooktop, won't return.

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