Cooker Hood Not Working in Wigan - Common Faults and What to Do

Published September 2026 | Cooker Hood Not Working Common Faults

What Causes a Cooker Hood to Stop Working

Cooker hoods take a lot of abuse. They run through greasy, steamy air day after day, and when something goes wrong it's rarely without warning - you've probably noticed reduced suction or strange noises before the full breakdown. Our engineers across Wigan and the wider Greater Manchester area deal with hood faults regularly, and the causes nearly always fall into one of these categories.

Blocked or Saturated Filters

This is by far the most common fault we see. Grease filters - the metal mesh panels you pull out from underneath the hood - trap fat and cooking debris over time. When they're clogged, airflow is restricted so severely the hood barely extracts at all. Carbon filters, used in recirculating models that don't vent outside, absorb odours and have a limited lifespan. Once saturated, they stop working entirely and no amount of running the motor harder will fix that.

Many Wigan homeowners assume the motor has failed when in fact they've simply never replaced the carbon filters. These typically need changing every 3 to 6 months depending on how much you cook.

Blocked External Ducting

Ducted hoods push air outside through a vent, usually through a wall or ceiling. That duct can accumulate grease over the years, or the external vent flap can get stuck closed or become obstructed by debris. A blocked duct causes the same symptoms as a blocked filter: poor extraction, cooking smells coming back into the kitchen, and sometimes the motor overheating and cutting out on a thermal safety cut-off.

Motor Failure

The extraction motor is the heart of the appliance. Motors can fail due to age, overheating caused by blocked filters making them work harder than they should, or simply wearing out after years of use. You'll often hear the warning signs before it gives up completely - a grinding, humming, or rattling noise that gradually gets worse until the motor stops altogether.

Some motors use a start capacitor to get spinning. When the capacitor fails, the motor hums but won't rotate. This is a relatively common fault on older hoods and models from brands like Hotpoint and Beko, and it's considerably cheaper to fix than full motor replacement because the capacitor itself is an inexpensive component.

Electrical Faults - MCB, Fuse, or Wiring

A cooker hood draws a meaningful current when it starts up, especially at full extraction speed. That startup surge can trip an MCB (miniature circuit breaker) in your consumer unit, particularly on older electrical installations. If your hood stopped working suddenly with no prior symptoms, this is always the first thing to check.

Plug-in hoods can also have a blown fuse in the plug. Hardwired hoods connect to a dedicated spur on the wall, and the fuse in the fused connection unit (FCU) can blow. Neither of these is complex to check, but they're easy to overlook if you don't know what you're looking for.

Faulty Control Panel or PCB

Modern hoods - particularly touch-control models from Bosch, Samsung, and LG - use a printed circuit board (PCB) to manage all the controls. When the PCB develops a fault, you might get partial operation (lights working but no fan, or the fan running on one speed only), or complete shutdown with no response at all. PCB failures require test equipment to diagnose properly and usually need a qualified engineer to resolve.

Switch and Wiring Faults

The mechanical rocker switches used on older and budget hoods can fail with heavy use. When a switch contact corrodes or breaks internally, the circuit doesn't complete and nothing happens. You might find one speed works and another doesn't, or the lights come on but the fan won't start. Intermittent faults - where the hood works sometimes and not others - often point to a wiring connection that's gradually working loose.

How to Diagnose Your Cooker Hood Step by Step

Before calling an engineer, work through these checks. The Voltrade GoFIX diagnostic tool can guide you through this process interactively if you want step-by-step prompts, but here's the sequence our engineers recommend:

Step 1: Check the power supply. If the hood is completely dead - no lights, no fan, no response at all - test the socket or fused spur with another appliance. If that appliance also fails to work, the problem is with the power supply, not the hood itself. Check that the fused spur switch on the wall is turned on if you have one.

Step 2: Check your consumer unit. Look for any tripped MCBs - they'll be in a different position to the rest or have a red indicator visible. Reset it by flicking it fully off and then back on. If it trips again immediately, stop resetting it. A repeatedly tripping MCB indicates a fault that needs investigation, not more resets.

Step 3: Check the fuse. If your hood is plug-in, replace the fuse in the plug - typically 3A or 5A, check your manual. If it's hardwired to a fused spur, the fuse inside that unit can be swapped with a screwdriver and a replacement from any hardware shop.

Step 4: Remove and inspect the grease filters. Most unclip or slide straight out from below the hood. Hold them up to the light - if you can't see light through the mesh, they need cleaning. Aluminium mesh filters go in the dishwasher on a hot cycle. While the filters are out, shine a torch up inside the hood and check for grease accumulation.

Step 5: Check carbon filters if it's a recirculating model. These sit behind or above the grease filters. If they're visibly dark, compressed, or you can't remember replacing them in the past year, they need changing. No amount of running the motor will compensate for saturated carbon filters.

Step 6: Check the external vent if you have a ducted model. Go outside and locate the wall or soffit vent. Make sure the flap isn't stuck closed and that there's no debris, bird nesting material, or plant growth blocking it. The flap should open freely when you push it with a finger.

Step 7: Note exactly what happens when you switch on. Does the light work but not the fan? Does the fan hum but not spin? Does it work on low speed but not high? These observations narrow the fault down considerably before an engineer visits and will save time when you describe the problem.

If you've worked through all of this and the hood still isn't working, or if you found an MCB that keeps tripping, it's time to call a professional.

DIY Fixes vs Calling a Professional - Knowing the Difference

There's a clear line between what's safe to handle yourself and what needs a qualified appliance engineer.

You can safely do yourself: Cleaning grease filters (or running them through the dishwasher), replacing carbon filters, resetting a tripped MCB, replacing a fuse in a plug or fused spur, and checking the external vent for blockages. None of these involve working inside the electrical components of the appliance.

Call a professional for: Any internal wiring faults, motor replacement, capacitor replacement, PCB faults, or if an MCB keeps tripping. Hardwired appliances - which includes most built-in chimney and integrated hoods - should not be opened up for internal repairs unless you're a qualified electrician or appliance engineer. The risk of electric shock is real, and an incorrectly reassembled appliance can create a fire hazard.

In Wigan, as across Greater Manchester, we regularly see hoods that have been partially disassembled at home using video guides, then reassembled incorrectly. What started as a 100 pound motor job has become a more complex repair because wiring wasn't reconnected properly or components were damaged during disassembly. The saving on labour rarely justifies the risk.

If the hood is under warranty, attempting internal DIY repairs will almost certainly void the manufacturer's cover. Check the terms before reaching for a screwdriver.

What a Qualified Appliance Engineer Will Do

When one of our engineers visits a Wigan property to diagnose a cooker hood fault, the visit follows a consistent process designed to identify the root cause efficiently rather than guess and replace parts until something works.

We start with a full check of the power supply and consumer unit, verifying with test equipment rather than just visual inspection. Even when homeowners have already checked this themselves, it's worth confirming - a weak connection can pass a visual check but fail under load. We then inspect the filters, the interior of the hood body, and the duct run and external vent where accessible.

If the fault isn't obvious from these checks, we isolate the power and open the hood to test the motor, capacitor, switches, and wiring with a multimeter. This tells us immediately whether the motor is getting power but not turning (pointing to a capacitor fault or seized bearings), or whether the fault lies upstream in the wiring or control circuitry. For hoods with PCBs, we check for visible damage - burnt components, cracked solder joints, swollen capacitors - that often reveals what's failed.

We'll always explain the diagnosis clearly and provide a repair quote before doing any paid work. If the repair cost is going to approach or exceed what a replacement hood would cost, we'll say so directly. There's no benefit to spending 200 to 250 pounds repairing a ten-year-old hood that's likely to develop another fault within a year.

For ducted hoods where the blockage sits within the duct run itself rather than at the filters or vent, we can often clear it during the visit. Where the blockage is extensive or the duct run is long and complex, a specialist duct cleaning service may be more appropriate.

Cooker Hood Repair Costs in Wigan

Repair costs vary depending on the fault, the brand, part availability, and the age of the appliance. Here's a realistic breakdown of what you're likely to pay in the Wigan area in 2026:

Diagnostic call-out: Typically 50 to 80 pounds for an engineer visit covering initial diagnosis. Many engineers will credit part or all of this against the repair cost if you go ahead with the work.

Filter replacement: Grease filters typically cost 15 to 40 pounds depending on the model. Carbon filters run 20 to 50 pounds. Genuine manufacturer parts cost more than compatible alternatives - for brands like Bosch or LG, genuine filters sit at the higher end of that range but tend to last longer.

Capacitor replacement: The capacitor component itself is inexpensive - usually under 10 pounds - but you're paying for diagnosis and labour. Total cost including an engineer visit commonly runs between 80 and 130 pounds.

Motor replacement: This is where costs become significant. Replacement motors for common brands like Hotpoint, Beko, and Bosch typically cost 60 to 150 pounds for the part. With labour, total repair costs commonly run between 150 and 300 pounds depending on how accessible the motor is and how long the job takes.

PCB replacement: Parts availability varies enormously by brand and model age. Where the PCB is obtainable, total repair costs including labour typically fall between 120 and 250 pounds. For older or discontinued models, the PCB may no longer be available, which makes repair impossible and pushes the decision firmly toward replacement.

New hood and installation: If repair isn't cost-effective, a decent replacement chimney hood for a typical Wigan kitchen starts at around 150 to 250 pounds for the unit, plus 100 to 200 pounds for professional fitting - more if duct modifications are needed or if the installation is particularly complex.

As a general guide, if a repair is going to cost more than half the price of a comparable new hood, replacement usually makes better financial sense - particularly if the appliance is already 7 or more years old.

How to Prevent Cooker Hood Problems

Most premature cooker hood failures come down to neglected maintenance. The good news is that keeping a hood running well doesn't take much time - just a bit of regularity.

Clean grease filters regularly. Monthly is a sensible baseline for most Wigan households that cook regularly. Aluminium mesh filters go straight in the dishwasher on a hot cycle. If you don't have a dishwasher, a soak in hot water with washing-up liquid or a degreaser followed by a rinse works just as well. Let them dry fully before refitting.

Replace carbon filters on schedule. Recirculating hoods depend on carbon filters to remove odours from the air they recirculate back into the kitchen. Running them past their useful life doesn't just kill performance - it causes the motor to work harder pushing air through a blocked medium, which shortens motor life. Every 3 to 6 months is the standard guidance, depending on cooking frequency.

Don't always run at maximum speed. Running at full extraction constantly puts unnecessary wear on the motor. Use lower speeds for everyday cooking and reserve the high setting for frying, heavy sauteing, or anything particularly smoky.

Check the external vent once a year. If you have a ducted hood, a quick annual check of the wall or soffit vent takes two minutes. Clear any debris, make sure the flap opens freely, and check that the cover is in good condition with no corrosion or damage that might restrict airflow or allow water into the duct.

Wipe down the interior periodically. Grease that gets past the filters builds up inside the hood body over time. A wipe-down with a kitchen degreaser every couple of months prevents accumulation that can eventually drip onto the hob below or, in more serious cases, become a fire hazard.

Act on warning signs early. Reduced suction, unusual noises, or intermittent operation don't resolve themselves. Catching a developing fault early - like a capacitor starting to fail - costs significantly less to fix than waiting for the motor to seize completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why has my cooker hood suddenly stopped working with no warning signs?

A sudden, complete failure with no prior symptoms is typically electrical rather than mechanical. Start by checking your consumer unit for a tripped MCB, then check the fuse in the plug or fused spur on the wall. If the power supply is fine, it could be a failed PCB or a blown thermal fuse inside the hood - some models have a thermal safety fuse that blows if the motor overheats, which can happen if filters have been neglected. An engineer can identify this quickly during a visit.

My cooker hood lights work but the fan won't start - what does that mean?

This symptom narrows things down considerably. If the lights work, power is reaching the unit. The fault is most likely with the fan motor, the start capacitor, or the switch and wiring that controls the fan circuit. In hoods over 5 years old, a failed start capacitor is the most common cause - the motor hums but won't rotate. It's generally one of the cheaper repairs available, and an engineer can confirm it quickly with a multimeter test.

How long should a cooker hood last before needing replacing?

A well-maintained cooker hood should last 10 to 15 years. Budget models and heavily used appliances tend to fall at the lower end of that range. Brands like Bosch and Siemens generally build to a higher standard than entry-level Beko or Hotpoint models, which usually shows in long-term reliability. Regular filter cleaning is the single biggest factor in whether a hood makes it to 12 years or starts having problems at 6.

Is it worth repairing an old cooker hood or should I just replace it?

It depends on the age and the repair cost. A hood under 5 years old with a fault that costs less than half the price of a replacement is almost always worth fixing. A hood that's 8 to 10 years old facing a motor or PCB replacement - where repair costs can reach 200 to 300 pounds - is a closer call, and replacement often wins. Wigan engineers working through Voltrade will give you an honest assessment of both options before you decide.

Can a blocked duct cause a cooker hood to cut out completely?

Yes, and this is more common than people realise. When a duct is severely blocked, the motor has to work extremely hard to push air through, causing it to overheat. Many hoods have a thermal cut-out that shuts the motor down to prevent damage when this happens. The hood appears to stop working, but the underlying cause is restricted airflow rather than a motor fault. Clearing the duct blockage resolves the problem - though in Greater Manchester older terraces, duct runs can be long and awkward to access properly.