OT: Can kitchen range hood be retrofitted with different fan?

[Dennis S]

I have a stainless steel range hood with a light that doesn't work and a squirrel-cage fan that is totally gunked up beyond repair. The squirrel-cage type fan is a bugger to clean. Can I remove the fan and put a generic blade fan somewhere else in the pipe? It goes out the roof at about 4 feet above the ceiling.

[Carm]

Sounds like excess gunk on the light and fan switch(happened on my grandmothers stove hood, I repaired it). Most of those fans are replacable.


Carm

[Dennis S]

I don't want to replace the squirrel-cage with another one because it is impossible to clean all of the sharp blades, plus, it's over a glass-top stove and it's very heavy and I might bust the stove one day.

I want to strip the fan out, make a base to hold more of the metal filters, rig up a new light, and put a generic fan somwhere in the chimney pipe.

[spearmint]

Blade (propellor) fans do not provide the static (ability to overcome resistance)that squirrel cages(straight radial) do. Probably the blade fan will not move air. Lots of cfm if there were no ducting or hood.

[Racer X]

throw the squirrel cage fan (fan only) in your dishwasher. The hot caustic solution will do WONDERS. Same with the hood vent filters, assuming they are metal. When i was a renter I actually ran car parts through with a double load of soap, and the potscrubber cycle. You would be amazed at what the hillbilly hot tank can do. (I want to get a used portable one for my garage actually. The type with a butcher block top)

and just lay several layers of cardboard over the cook top when you do your work.

[spacescape]

Racer X Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> throw the squirrel cage fan (fan only) in your
> dishwasher. The hot caustic solution will do
> WONDERS. Same with the hood vent filters,
> assuming they are metal. When i was a renter I
> actually ran car parts through with a double load
> of soap, and the potscrubber cycle. You would be
> amazed at what the hillbilly hot tank can do. (I
> want to get a used portable one for my garage
> actually. The type with a butcher block top)
>
> and just lay several layers of cardboard over the
> cook top when you do your work.

Wow... This kind of grosses me out... I'll be sure to mention this to my friend that was just bragging about his new appt. having a dishwasher... haa haa...

In all seriousness, the company I work for (my families company) use to use a vapor degreaser but now we use a large heated water and laundry detergent washer. Much safer to use and much better for the environment... Basically just a large dishwasher...

Bill

[Dennis S]

Put it in the dishwasher with the electrical cord and all?

[BigGuynRusty]

Dennis S Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Put it in the dishwasher with the electrical cord
> and all?


Before RacerX gets sued, please read his instructions again, especially this part.:

RacerX recommends.
"throw the squirrel cage fan (fan only) in your dishwasher."

I think the "FAN ONLY" part is really clear but to make it even clearer, Do Not Put the Motor in the Dishwasher, just the Squirrel Cage.

BGnR

[Racer X]

sheesh, do I need to post pictures of the big Costco buckets of laundry detergent with the artwork on the side depicting the bucket half full of water, with a baby in it upside down, and a big red circle with a line through it?

You can be that dense, can you?

And BTW, the fan moves the air, the motor moves the fan, so putting the fan in the dishwasher simply meant "put the FAN" in the washer.

Powdered dishwashing detergent will also strip latex paint if you leave the part in it long enough, so keep that in mind if you need to clean house paint off of metal.


Restaurants routinely put the vent hood screens/filters in the dishwashers for a cycle or two. You think they pay someone to scrub them manually?

(thanks Rusty. And to think I only added the (fan only) as an afterthought in the original suggestion.....)