Range vent

[flyfishrra]

Hey everyone!

Ok so our 34ft Limited has a range vent.. I don't know how it works.. There is some wireing hanging out of the ceiling above it that is twisted together. I am guessing the thing quit or the switch broke and the PO just bypassed it and moved on. We are full timeing it right now and having that thing working would be great! I just don't know where to start. I have not seen one of these working so some help to get gonig on how they work would be great!

[flyfishrra]

Seriously? No one knows anything about the range hood? I find that hard to believe!

[vswingfield]

OK, OK.

I'll take a couple of photos this weekend. It's kind of a strange arrangement. The vent motor is built-in on the overhead cabinet with a small lever protruding below, by the metal filter. Moving the lever back and forth opens and closes the outside lid, sort of, and turns the motor on and off. The outside lid doesn't close tightly, I should work on that, but at least it is made of soft aluminum that hail dents easily.

It doesn't move as much air as some vents, but i don't find that it is especially noisy, so it's not so bad.

[flyfishrra]

Thanks Vaughan!
I got it! I wasn't sure how that lever worked. I pushed it to the side and then forward and poof! fan kicked on and vent opened up! Works great! Does move quite a bit of air as well. More than I thought it would.

Still not sure what that outlet box is for though. My guess is for a water pump switch. Could be an outlet but I didn't think they would put one up high under the cupboard like that. There is on on the wall down below it already. It is right next to the range vent. Ideas Vaughan? Betting you have the same thing in yours~!

Thanks!
Matt

[Wazbro]

That outlet box was probably the switch to send power to either the microwave or the A/C so they couldn't be run at the same time.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by flyfishrra

Thanks Vaughan!
I got it! I wasn't sure how that lever worked. I pushed it to the side and then forward and poof! fan kicked on and vent opened up! Works great! Does move quite a bit of air as well. More than I thought it would.

Still not sure what that outlet box is for though. My guess is for a water pump switch. Could be an outlet but I didn't think they would put one up high under the cupboard like that. There is on on the wall down below it already. It is right next to the range vent. Ideas Vaughan? Betting you have the same thing in yours~!

Thanks!
Matt

Great! I love it when it turns out that you don't have to do anything.

Originally Posted by Wazbro

That outlet box was probably the switch to send power to either the microwave or the A/C so they couldn't be run at the same time.

Wazbro is exactly right. That box is for a heavy duty double throw switch that lets you run either the microwave or the air conditioner. Running them simultaneously could trip a breaker, so the switch forcing you to choose is a simple way of avoiding this. Since most people only run the microwave for short periods of time, it's not a big deal even in the summer.

The switches are commonly available, I had to replace mine and got the replacement at the local Home Depot. The thing to keep in mind is that is needs to be a heavy duty switch, not a light switch even though they look alike with the cover on. Behind the cover, they are a larger assembly. Of course it helped that I had the old one to take in with me. Here's a link to the switch at HD.

[perryg114]

I am having trouble with that same vent leaking and am probably going to seal it off. Winter is not the best time to be messing with it.

Perry

[vswingfield]

Makes sense to me, Perry.

[flyfishrra]

So if it is a switch that controls the microwave and ac then where does the microwave plug into so that the switch will work? Mine does not have a microwave in it currently. We live with out one just fine but i would like the switch to work. Vaughan, does that switch work even though it is only rated for 15-20 amps? My exterior plug is 30amp.
I can pick one up but I might need some advice on wiring since the wires are basically wire nutted together right now. I figured they did something important just wasnt sure what!

Thanks
Matt

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by flyfishrra

So if it is a switch that controls the microwave and ac then where does the microwave plug into so that the switch will work? Mine does not have a microwave in it currently. We live with out one just fine but i would like the switch to work.

The microwave is in a cabinet just behind the stove and spice rack in this photo. The bottom of the cabinet is just about even with the top of the stove, at the same height as the spice rack — across the hall from the mirror.



The outlet itself is in the exterior wall behind the bulkhead you can see, behind the spice rack.

I assume that the original was built-in there, but the one that was there was not the original. I've bought a Sharp Grill2 and plan to built it in, but haven't yet. I took the Goldstar that was there to work. It worked great, but the Sharp has the convection and grill features. Works great.

Originally Posted by flyfishrra

Vaughan, does that switch work even though it is only rated for 15-20 amps? My exterior plug is 30amp.
I can pick one up but I might need some advice on wiring since the wires are basically wire nutted together right now. I figured they did something important just wasnt sure what!

Thanks
Matt

It works fine. If you check your breaker box, you will see that your AC breaker is only 20 amps. You're only switching that circuit, not the entire trailer's 30 amps.

The wire comes from the breaker box to the switch's "in" connections. The switch has two "out" connections. One goes up to the AC and the other goes to the outlet at the back of the microwave cabinet. Simple.

I'm assuming that the AC is working now, so the connections that are wire-nutted together have to be the ones from the breaker box and the AC. Now you just need to locate the wires from the microwave outlet and you're ready to install the switch.