Cleaning Range Hood Fan/Motor

I have a exhaust range hood that gathers a lot of grease. I have been cleaning the metal filters regularly but the fans and the motors have trapped quite a bit of grease. I can disconnect and remove the fan/ motor assembly from the hood. I am thinking of dipping them into a degreaser, such as Simple Green diluted with water, for a few hours, then thoroughly rinsing & drying them before putting them back. The concern I have is whether the degreaser would damage anything inside of a motor. Any thoughts? Thanks in adv.

Reply to
panabiker
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That might remove the bearings lube also. Just brush over the outside with paint brush and mineral sprits then wipe dry and then wash with a rag of Simple Green. This way you won't destroy the bearings. WW

Reply to
WW

Water in a motor sounds like a bad idea. I think it may be difficult to dry too (water in the motor windings). I guess you could bake the thing at > 100C but that seems a bit dodgy also. Heck I've even seen paper used as an insulating material in some old motors.

Chances are your solution (pun intended) will shorten the life of the motor more than the original problem.

Unless, of course, there's so much grease that the thing constitutes a major fire hazard! That's a real problem in commercial settings but not normally a big issue in a residential environment.

I would clean the parts as thoroughly as possible without actually immersing motors and such like in any aqueous solution. Nor would I use any organic solvents unless I was quite certain the specific part(s) could handle it.

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

This one nasty, time consuming project, and may not even be successful. Consider a new range hood, especially one with better grease handling capabilities. You might also ponder the consequences of a diet that is so heavily oriented to fatty fried foods.

Joe

Reply to
Joe

The bearings are the real issue and drying them would be near impossible before damage might occur even sealed bearings you might let in water as some air escapes. I used to clean small dc motors for RC cars in I think with dry cleaning fluid [because its been 20 years I dont remember what fluid I used] by running them under power in the fluid, but the bearings were open to be re oiled and the fluid has no water and is made to evaporate quickly so what I did was an acepted way of cleaning them, google electric motor cleaning. But I think its unessary for a stove vent to go that far and what you propose is likely 95% water. If bearings are open or have a oil port oil them and wipe the casing and be done. Running them in liqued is fun but I was using 12v dc, not 120 AC. If the motor has brushes remove them to check whats left.

Reply to
ransley

I'd clean the motors by hand with a rag. Alcohol might work. That old grease is hard to get off. If you use a lot of soap on the motor then after it is fully dry reapply oil to the pads around the bearings.

Reply to
jamesgangnc

Can't he use some extra Simple Green on his arteries?

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, the motor bearing would be a problem. I used alcohol to wipe the motor bodies and only dip the squirrel cages in Simple Green solution. Everything is reasonably clean now. As for the grease in my diet, I try to vaporize the fat out through the vent rather than to keep it in the food :-)

Reply to
panabiker

I was able to fix my gunked up fan motor with WD-40. I took off the motor from the range hood. Then I sprayed WD-40 generously into the electric motor. Then I spun the motor around manually to see if I could loosen up the grease build up.

I then cleaned the fan blades with soapy water and a sponge. After that, I re-installed the motor on the range hood.Then voila it started spinning and working again. Saved several hundred bucks by not having to buy a new range hood.

Reply to
Hermes

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