The kitchen hood, it no workie

July 18, 2010 7:40 AM

Rangemaster cooker hood has gone kaput. Halp!

Our house came with a very nice range hood (this one); it has worked flawlessly for three years, not even needing so much as a light bulb change. We had a power outage last night—about three seconds long—and now neither the lights or the blower come on. I've reset every fuse in the house. The unit itself has no fuse. So, is it dead or am I missing something? I was thinking maybe some rain got into the vent and shorted something, but isn't most electrical equipment made to withstand a slight misting nowadays? Puzzled, and can't afford to replace this beast right now.

posted by littlerobothead to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Best answer: If no part of it works then the hood itself is probably fine; the chances of a fault in the hood that would knock out both lights and blower are rather slim.

Double-check the circuit breakers (fuses can't be "reset," only replaced). Don't just push the breaker towards the "on" position; switch it fully off, then back to on. If it still doesn't work then you should have someone knowledgeable open up the hood and check for power right at the hood.
posted by jon1270 at 8:09 AM on July 18, 2010

Response by poster: @jon1270 Right you are about fuses; I should have said these were breakers. Awesome advice, though. I'm off to check them one more time. If nothing, I'll get an electrician out here. That should *still* be cheaper than a new hood!
posted by littlerobothead at 8:15 AM on July 18, 2010

I'm not an electrician, and I don't suggest that you try to fix this yourself, but it looks like the thermostat in your hood was shorted out. According to the manual [PDF], that's the only connection between the lights and the blower. Here is a replacement thermostat for $16.99.
posted by at the crossroads at 9:43 AM on July 18, 2010

at the crossroads, I think you're misreading that diagram. The thermostat doesn't affect the light circuits at all. It looks to me like the thermostat is intended to turn the fan on at a certain temperature whether the user intentionally switches it on or not, and the user ought to be able to switch the blower on manually even if the thermostat is faulty.
posted by jon1270 at 9:56 AM on July 18, 2010

According to the wiring diagram, it looks like there is an indicator light embedded inside the fan switch that is always on. Is this the true? Is the indicator light on now? If not, it means no power is getting to the hood unit.

Also the hood is connected to the house power by a standard NEMA 5-15 plug just like a regular electrical outlet. If you can find the plug, remove it and plug in a lamp using an extension cord and see if it has power. The plug may be hidden behind an installation panel.

My guess is that no power is getting to the hood and that there is a breaker somewhere that has not been reset. Note that breakers don't always look like they have tripped. You must switch them all the way off then back on again to reset them.
posted by JackFlash at 10:10 AM on July 18, 2010

(oh no! john1270 is right. I misread the diagram. The thermostat does not affect the lights.)
posted by at the crossroads at 10:28 AM on July 18, 2010

Response by poster: I rechecked all the breakers tonight, and to my delight it was the only one I hadn't checked—the one for the dryer on the other side of the house.

Thanks all! Happily blowing air and lighting my range with far too much light again.
posted by littlerobothead at 4:48 PM on July 18, 2010