Need thoughts on range hood vent problem

[relena]

Our 13 yr old ge monogram range hood vent seems to be having some fan issues. The fan makes a loud noise when it's on high. Yesterday it seems to have shorted and remained on even when we switched the button off. After we shut the power down to that area and let it cool down for an hour, the fan seems to work again.

I've looked for the replacement part and the cheapest that I've found is $650. The part is discontinued by the manufacturer. Has anyone replaced their range hood fan? Does this seem expensive? it's a 600 cfm fan and motor assembly.

Should I try cleaning the fan blades to see if that would help? (I'm sure the blades are caked in oil)

[patrat]

shut down the power, remove it and have a looksie inside and out. So long as the power is turned off (be sure) the most you have to lose is an already broken fan and possibly some scratched hands. Clean off any gunk and look for something obviously broken.

Culprits include bearings, motor brushes (unlikely used on a fan), or the switch. If this portion is beyond your skill, cruise youtube. If still beyond you, open the google pages and look for an electric motor or small appliance repair shop you can take it to.

If you are super handy you could also replace it with a similar sized product, like a bathroom exhaust fan.

[totoro]

New range hoods are much less than $650.  Some of them are $100 new.

[relena]

shut down the power, remove it and have a looksie inside and out. So long as the power is turned off (be sure) the most you have to lose is an already broken fan and possibly some scratched hands. Clean off any gunk and look for something obviously broken.

Culprits include bearings, motor brushes (unlikely used on a fan), or the switch. If this portion is beyond your skill, cruise youtube. If still beyond you, open the google pages and look for an electric motor or small appliance repair shop you can take it to.

If you are super handy you could also replace it with a similar sized product, like a bathroom exhaust fan.

thanks. i'll try cleaning it first. maybe a weekend project. it does have 13 years of grease on it. when we opened it up yesterday to look for the fan p/n,  it did look like it plugs into a cable for power.

[Bicycle_B]

Cleaning the blades probably won't help an electrical problem, but if you get it to work at all, cleaning the blades has a huge effect on making the pull more powerful. 

A few months ago I cleaned mine after years of neglect and the difference was amazing.  It went from pulling almost nothing to happily passing the standard effectiveness test for range hood fans: can it hold up a letter sized sheet of paper?

The cleaning was incredibly easy once we got the blade out, which was needed because ours was in an awkward position. A couple minutes with paper towels was all it really needed.  Can't hurt to try it first - it's a cheap solution!