Range and rangetop · Bellevue
Smell of Gas With Every Viking Knob Off
When a Bellevue kitchen smells of gas with every Viking knob at off, the range question waits: the first job is getting outside and letting Puget Sound Energy or 911 make the house safe. Afterwards, what we usually find is a disturbed connection or a valve that no longer closes fully. Once the utility has cleared the house, Viking Repair Bellevue is on (425) 696-2636.
What we usually find
- Most often
A connection behind the range that got nudged: the flexible connector or a fitting disturbed when the range was slid out for cleaning, new flooring or a remodel. The supply side belongs to the utility or a gas fitter.
- Sometimes
A valve inside the range that no longer seals, letting a trace of gas past with its knob at off. That part is range repair, and once the house has been made safe it is ours to trace.
- Rarely
Nothing at the range at all. The utility follows the smell to another gas appliance or to a line outside, and the Viking was simply the nearest suspect.
Do this first — before anything on this page
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Get everyone out
Leave the house now, people and pets, and do not stop to look for the source or open the range up.
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Touch no switches
Do not turn lights, the hood, the range or anything else electrical on or off, and do not strike a flame. Any of them can spark.
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Call from outside
Once you are clear of the building, call Puget Sound Energy’s gas emergency line or 911 and let them make the house safe.
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Then call us about the range
When the utility has cleared the house, ring Viking Repair Bellevue on (425) 696-2636. We look at the range itself — its valves, knobs and connections — once the gas side is signed off.
A whiff at lighting, or a smell that stays
A brief trace of gas in the second before a burner catches, gone once the flame is up, is common on any gas range. Natural gas has no smell of its own; PSE adds a sulfur or rotten-egg odour so that a leak gets noticed. That smell with nothing lit, a smell that lingers or grows, or a hiss near the range is the leave-now kind. If you cannot tell which one you have, treat it as the second.
Why nothing on the range is yours to test
Viking’s own manuals leave installation and service to a qualified installer, a service agency or the gas supplier. So no soapy-water tests on the connection, no sliding the range out to look behind it, and no turning of the supply valve unless the utility tells you to. Pulling a heavy range forward can strain the very connector that may be leaking.
Once the house has been cleared
The utility’s job is making the house safe, and it may leave the range shut off. From there, the technician checks each burner valve and the oven valve for a proper seal at off, each knob for a stem that is not returning fully home, and the connections on the range itself. Anything on the house side of the range’s shut-off goes to the utility or a gas fitter. The diagnosis is the $89 visit.
Asked about this
Should I shut the gas off at the range and wait for a technician?
Do not stay inside to do it. PSE's advice is to leave the building and call from outside, and the utility decides what gets shut off and how. When they have made the house safe, and not before, ring Viking Repair Bellevue on (425) 696-2636 so a technician can trace the fault on the range itself.
Is a strong smell from a new Viking oven a gas leak?
Usually not. Viking notes that a new oven gives off a strong odour and some smoke during its first few uses as insulation and protective oils burn off, and that it fades. That smell comes only while the oven is hot. A rotten-egg smell with everything off is different: leave first, then call PSE or 911, then Viking Repair Bellevue on (425) 696-2636.
