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An upward view into a stainless under-cabinet range hood with its grease filters taken down and resting on the counter, a phone's flash lighting the inside wall of the range hood, a faint trace of steam from a kettle drifting up, the burners cropped out below.

Troubleshooting

Find the range hood model label behind the filters, inside the canopy or below the counter

A range hood model number is printed on a rating label inside the canopy, usually behind the grease filters on a side wall, the back wall or the underside, and on a downdraft it sits on the unit's front below the counter. Take the filters down by hand, use a flashlight and a phone camera, and never unscrew a panel or reach toward the blower to find it.

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  • Checks you can make from the floor
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  • Across every type and make

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At a
glance.

The label that carries the model and serial number is almost never on the outside of a hood. It hides where grease and heat cannot bake it off: behind the filters, on an inside wall of the canopy, or, for a downdraft, in the cabinet under the burners.

Read the whole guide

Under-cabinet hoodsA side wall of the canopy

Broan's standard under-cabinet hoods: right or left inside wall.

Chimney hoodsBehind the filters

Broan's fashion chimney hoods: the canopy underside, filters out.

Downdraft ventsBelow the counter

Broan: on the unit's front, sometimes behind drawers or shelves.

Suffix lettersCopy them all

Broan asks for the full number, including any letter suffix.

Why the full number matters

Two hoods that look identical from the kitchen can take different motors, filters, light modules and control boards. The range hood model number tells a technician which of them is in front of you before the visit, so the right blower or board can be on the truck; the serial number narrows it further to a production run, which matters when a maker changed a part partway through.

Broan-NuTone makes a point of this: some of its model numbers end in a letter suffix, and it asks owners to quote the exact number including that suffix when ordering parts or requesting service. Copy every character, and photograph the label as well, because a 0 and an O or an 8 and a B are easy to confuse on a greasy sticker.

Source: Broan-NuTone — Locate model numbers — Quote the exact model number with its letter suffix; standard under-cabinet hoods carry the label on the right or left side wall of the canopy; Allure hoods on the back wall or the air pan behind the filters; fashion chimney hoods on the canopy underside behind the filters; professional-style hoods on the inside of the left wall; downdrafts on the unit's front beneath the cooking surface, with drawers or shelves possibly in the way

Where the label sits on each kind of hood

Almost every hood puts its rating label inside the canopy, above the filter line, where you can only see it from below with the filters down. Where exactly depends on the shape of the hood.

  • Under-cabinet: inside side walls, then the back wall.
  • Chimney or island: canopy underside or an inner wall, filters out.
  • Insert: on the insert, not on the custom hood around it.
  • Downdraft: on the unit's front, inside the base cabinet.

Under-cabinet hoods

On Broan's and NuTone's standard under-cabinet hoods the model label is on the right or left side wall inside the canopy. On the Allure line the series number is on the back wall of the housing or on the air pan behind the filters. Tilt your head and your flashlight toward the side walls first; the label is often just above the filter frame.

Wall chimney and island hoods

For its fashion-style chimney hoods Broan puts the label on the underside of the canopy behind the filters, and for its professional-style hoods on the inside of the left wall. Island hoods follow the same idea. On any of them, do not look for it inside the chimney cover; that tall section hides the duct and the wiring, not the label.

Inserts and downdraft vents

A hood insert or liner inside a custom wood or plaster hood carries its label on the insert itself, usually on a side wall inside the filter area; the decorative hood around it has none. Broan places the label on a downdraft on the front of the unit beneath the cooking surface, and warns that drawers or shelving in the cabinet may have to come out first.

Close on a small blank metal plate with no characters inside a range hood canopy, its filter lifted out.
Close on a small blank metal plate with no characters inside a range hood canopy, its filter lifted out.

Getting to it safely

Switch the hood off and let the lights cool; halogen bulbs in particular stay hot enough to burn for a while after they go out. Take the grease filters down using their latches or pull tabs, and set them somewhere they will not drip. That is as far as the search should go: the label is meant to be read through the filter opening.

Use a sturdy step stool rather than a chair if the hood is high, keep your hands clear of the blower opening, and use your phone's camera and flash instead of reaching in. Point the phone up into the canopy, take a few pictures from different angles, and zoom in on them afterward.

Source: Zephyr — Firenze ZFI-M90S use, care and installation guide — Light bulbs become extremely hot; do not touch them until switched off and cooled

Reading a greasy or faded label

Rating labels live in the warmest, greasiest part of the hood, and many are hard to read after a few years. Wipe the surface gently with a paper towel and a little warm soapy water; a solvent or a scouring pad can lift the print along with the grease. Glare on a foil label is easier to beat by photographing it with the flash off and a flashlight held at an angle.

Besides the model and serial numbers, the label lists the electrical rating, and on some hoods the filter type for recirculating use. Broan's manuals point to that label for the correct non-ducted filter, which makes it worth photographing even if nothing is wrong today.

  • Model number, including any trailing letters.
  • Serial number, or a series code on some lines.
  • Electrical rating in volts and amps.
  • Any filter part numbers printed on the label.

Source: Broan-NuTone — BCSD1 range hood installation, use and care manual — Refer to the label on the product for the non-ducted filter type and for further requirements

When there is no label to be found

Labels do fall off, get painted over during a remodel or end up hidden behind a light module. Before giving up, look for the paperwork: the manual in a kitchen drawer, the box's end panel if the hood was recent, or the order on the builder's appliance list. A picture of the whole hood, its controls, its filters and the width across the front helps a technician narrow it down.

If the only remaining place to look is behind a panel held on with screws, stop there. The diagnostic visit will identify the hood; it is not worth opening anything wired for the sake of a sticker.

Step
by step.

Four steps, in the order worth doing them.

01

Switch off and let it cool

Turn the fan and lights off and give hot bulbs a few minutes before reaching up.

02

Take the filters down

Use the latches or pull tabs, and set the filters on a towel.

03

Search the canopy with a camera

Point your phone into the opening with the flash on and photograph each inside wall and the underside.

04

Copy every character

Write down the full model and serial numbers, including suffix letters, and keep the photo.

A family cooking together under a stainless range hood in a bright kitchen.
For the heart of your home.

Questions
owners ask.

Is the model number on the outside of the hood?
Rarely. Outside you may find a brand name or badge, but the rating label with the model and serial numbers is almost always inside the canopy behind the filters, where it survives heat and cleaning.
My vent hood is hidden inside a custom wood hood. Where do I look?
On the insert, the metal liner with the filters and fan, usually on one of its inside walls once the filters are out. The wood or plaster shell around it was built on site and carries no label.
The label is too greasy to read. Can I clean it?
Gently, with warm soapy water on a paper towel. Avoid solvents and abrasive pads, which can take the print off; a photo at an angle with the flash off often reads better than your eyes.

The problems
behind it.

Each has a page of its own: what it usually means and the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
Close view of the front control strip of a stainless wall-mount chimney range hood on a tiled wall, a few abstract lit segments on its small display and one indicator blinking, the range hood's canopy filling the upper half of the frame. Problem

Reading a Range Hood Error Code or Blinking Light

7 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless under-cabinet range hood below white kitchen cabinets fills the upper half of the frame, its lights on but steam from a simmering pot below curling out past the front edge of the range hood and up against the cabinet doors instead of into the canopy. Problem

Range Hood Fan Not Working at Any Speed

6 causes, cheapest first

 A pop-up downdraft vent stuck halfway risen and slightly crooked behind a set of cold burners on a stone kitchen counter, the vent's stainless face and grille filling the upper half of the frame, crumbs visible in the gap around it. Problem

Pop-Up Downdraft Vent Not Rising

6 causes, cheapest first

When it needs
a technician.

The repairs on the right are where this guide ends when the checks do not settle it.

Range hood diagnostic visit

A visit that runs the hood through every speed and light, tests the draw at the filters and follows the air outside until one part is named.

Downdraft vent lift repair

Repairing the pop-up vent that rises behind the burners: its lift motor and gears, the limit switches, the blower below and its controls.

Range hood filter and baffle service

Cleaning or replacing what catches grease and odor: mesh and baffle filters, charcoal pads on recirculating hoods, and the grease channel.

More in
troubleshooting.

The checks a range hood owner can make safely, from the breaker and the fan speeds to the filters, the damper flap and a paper towel held under the canopy, and exactly where to stop and book.

The whole section
Checks you can make from the floor

Ten minutes of range hood checks from the breaker to a paper-towel draw test

Power, the keypad, the filters, a sheet of paper towel on each speed and a careful listen: the whole owner's check, where it stops, and the notes that shorten the visit.

 Checks you can make from the floor

Reading the hood indicator lights: filter timers, heat protection and blinking keys

A letter that appears every thirty fan hours, a key that blinks after you press off, every speed key flashing at once: most of it is routine, and here is how to tell the rest.

 Guides

All 18 guides

Six sections, by what you are trying to find out.

Back to your everyday

Read it and still not sure?

Book with what you checked and the model number, and the technician starts where the guide stopped.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 398-3217
(844) 398-3217 Schedule a repair