Bluestar Range RCS30 Door Hinge Repair/Fix

[JetRooster]

1.5 year old Bluestar freestanding gas range door would not close completely. This allowed heat to escape, resulting in uneven cooking temps and extremely hot knobs. (not talking about my wife!)

The Chief of Staff insisted the installer had repaired it with a "long skinny screwdriver" without removing the door.

Well, After many beers and on-line researching sessions, I decided a few things!

1. Bluestar definitely has a door "problem"

2. I didn't want to pay for a new door

3. We live in the sticks

4. The damn thing should work!

So, I did the only thing any red-blooded American member of the Samurai Appliantology Academy would do,

decided to disassemble the door and finger it out.

What I discovered, is Bluestar has a design flaw in the interior of it's doors (at least on 2010 models).

The hinge assy spring rods

(guessing at nomenclature, don't have a manual) float freely within the door. However, as you can see

when closing, at full extension the ends of the bars contact the sheet metal heat shield. I flexed the heat shield out of the way, which allowed

the springs to extend fully, which allowed the hinge cam rollers

to complete their throw, thereby closing the door firmly

.

I removed the door by releasing the receivers on each hinge

then pulling the door from the oven. I then removed the Door Cover by removing all retaining screws (10).

After placing the door on a smooth covered surface ("Don't scratch the damn paint", she said with vigor!),

I used a Dremel with hardened cutting wheel to cut an approximate 1/4" incision

on the heat shield on both sides ( Cut with the blade rotating in a direction which doesn't throw debris into the fireproof mat material underneath the sheet metal heat shield )

Then I reinstalled the door minus cover (note: the door without the weight of the installed cover will snap closed, requires more attention and less beer to perform).

Opening the door slightly allowed me to compress the springs enough to attach a vise grip

to the tabs created by the cuts and bend them outwards slightly at approx 25deg angle

This angle allowed enough clearance between the heat shield and the back of the door cover, and also formed a ramp upon which the spring rods ride closed.

I then removed the door, attached the cover and reinstalled the door.

Worked perfectly, door closed completely, wife happy (the most important result ), no more hot knobs! I also think the first repairman knew the problem and used a long skinny screwdriver to free the guide ends. Of course, the next time we opened the door they flexed out and came to rest on the fire shield. I think maybe he was expecting another service call??? At any rate, after much searching on the web, there are a ton of complaints about Bluestar doors. Hope they find us here! Cheers!

Edited October 6, 2012 by Rooster

[kdog]

Nicely done! nothing like a virtual walk in the park

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Excellent post, Brother Rooster! We are all enriched and inspired by your work. Thank you for posting this!