DIY kitchen hood engine repair

In detail: do-it-yourself kitchen hood motor repair from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

A working hood must absorb all vapors and odors

Hood malfunctions in the kitchen deprive the inhabitants of a house or apartment of their usual comfort - unwanted odors are carried through the rooms, condensation accumulates on the walls and windows, and the air itself becomes harmful to health.

In the event of a breakdown of the kitchen ventilation system, many immediately turn to workshops and service centers, which, for a considerable fee, repair kitchen hoods. But, this kitchen equipment, even with additional functions, is not too complicated, and it is quite possible to repair it with your own hands.

The primary function of any hood is to remove air saturated with vapors and odors from the room. Therefore, the kitchen owners suspect poor-quality ventilation when condensation appears on the windows. An increased cooking odor also indicates that the kitchen exhaust ventilation equipment is not doing its job, although the motor is running.

The accumulation of condensation on the kitchen windows indicates poor performance of the hood.

In this case, there are two possible reasons for the poor-quality operation of the hood:

  • Hood filter and grease trap clogged;
  • The exhaust duct is clogged.

Filter cleaning and other maintenance work should be described in the manufacturer's instructions. Since there are many different hood designs, it is not possible to give a universal description of this process.

But, having carefully studied the instructions, almost any user will be able to do a simple filter cleaning with his own hands, as shown in the video:

Video (click to play).

Users often complain: “We bought a high-quality Cata hood, installed it, everything works, but there is little condensation on the windows, too.” If the hood is installed for the first time, be sure to check the draft of the exhaust duct - if there is no air circulation in it, then no matter how powerful the fan is, it will not be able to blow out water vapor and odors from the kitchen.

Air duct without visible traces of clogging

Checking the draft is done with a lighter (the flame should be deflected by the air flow) or by applying a sheet of paper to the ventilation grill. If the exhaust duct in a private house is clogged, then it can be cleaned with your own hands, and in an apartment building, most likely, you will have to contact the appropriate services.

Checking the ventilation draft by deflecting the flame

If for some reason it is impossible to clean the ventilation duct, then in order for the hood to function, its outlet pipe must be brought out in another way - for example, by making a hole in the wall, or changing the window frame.

Image - DIY kitchen hood motor repair

Checking the traction with paper - the sheet should press against the grate

If the exhaust fan does not work at all, then the following reasons are possible:

  • Poor contact in the socket, plug, the power cord is broken or there is no voltage;
  • Blown fuse;
  • The connection terminals inside the hood casing are loose, or the wires are unsoldered;
  • Malfunction in buttons or switches;
  • If the hood has an electronic control interface, there may be breakdowns in the electrical board, relays, sensors, etc.
  • Fan motor defective.

When starting to repair the hood, you need to look for malfunctions, excluding the possible causes indicated above, alternately going through the points.

Troubleshooting inside the hood

Initial diagnostics of the hood is made by turning on the built-in light bulb.But, due to overvoltage, all components of the hood may fail, or at best, the fuse may blow. Checking the wiring and fuse, measuring voltage and repairing the outlet are described in detail in other articles of this resource.

To get to the internal connection terminals, you need to disassemble the hood casing, having previously disconnected the power cord from the outlet. Due to the vibration of the fan, the terminal bolts may loosen and the contact will disappear. If checking and tightening the bolts fails, proceed to the next step.

Check the reliability of the connection terminals of the exhaust fan

You can check the buttons and speed switches with an ohmmeter (tester, multimeter in continuity mode) or a probe (factory or homemade). Since the motor windings connected to the switches have low resistance, when tested with a probe, they can affect the false operation of the indicator, so the terminals should be disconnected first.

At home, without skills and tools, repairing an electric motor is impossible, so you will have to look for an identical or suitable replacement.

As a rule, capacitor single-phase electric motors are used in hoods, to familiarize yourself with the principle of their operation and test methods, follow the link provided. The electric motor for the hood has several taps from the windings, which are switched to change the fan speed.

Exhaust motor connection diagram with outputs for speed switching

It is also possible that the starting capacitor, relay or electronic control unit malfunction. Sometimes, if a complex electronic circuit cannot be repaired, it can be replaced with a simpler solution based on reliable mechanical switches, as shown below: