# Forum Home Renovation Electrical  rangehood fan not working

## AJ85

Hi Guys, 
My canopy rangehood fan has stopped working. The light globes inside the range hood work and the LED on the switch panel also lights up when I choose any fan settings. Hence I'm assuming the switch is not faulty. 
I removed the mesh filters to find the motor and what I think is a start capacitor. See picture provided. I read online somewhere that if the start capacitor is damaged then the motor should still work if you manual start the motor( spin it manually). This did not work in my case. Hence I'm assuming the problem is the motor and am hoping to replace the motor myself. 
I found the spare parts online for the motor under the following link: BigWarehouse WESTINGHOUSE RANGE HOODS WRF900CS Appliance Spare Parts 
The installation tips on the link above say to note down which wires connect where. 
So if i was to buy this part online, then is it just as simple as cutting off the mains power, unscrewing/cut out wiring/removing the old assembly, wire up the new assembly and screw back in? 
The white power cord goes into the canopy where it is plugged in and i don't have access to that. I'm assuming it's not an issue if I can't unplug the device, as long as the power is isolated at the mains? 
Could the capacitor still have some stored energy which I could get exposed too?
Any other safety precautions that I need to consider?     
Thanks.

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## Bros

A couple of things to clarify is the capacitor is not a start capacitor it is there to run and spinning it will not do anything as the motor will not be wound such that they will keep running. If a capacitor fails totally it is usually obvious with bulging and bursting of the can but this is not so so it may be OK.
You could go and replace the fan and achieve nothing as it may not be the fault.
As for the capacitor having a charge no as it is on A/C but with any capacitor it is always a good idea to short out the terminals with a screwdriver.
Now as for some expert to look at it don't go and ring up your local electrician as they hate working on white goods and with some appliances you have to have a bit more knowledge in service manuals and circuit diagrams so the best person is someone who works on appliances.
Sorry I can't help.

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## AJ85

Thanks for your response Bros, much appreciated. 
Happy to report that I managed to get this job done myself. Steps involved: 
- Ordered the motor assembly from the website, it was easy to find the spare part and ordering was simple.  - Disconnected the main power, unscrewing the old assembly and disconnected the wiring. 
- Removed the globe holder and the capacitor/terminal block from the old and installed on the new. I made sure I took photo's of the wiring and also noted them down on paper. - Screwed everything back up once the new wiring was connected. 
Just for fun, I still have the old motor so I might open that up and see whats going in there....

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## justonething

> Thanks for your response Bros, much appreciated. 
> Happy to report that I managed to get this job done myself. Steps involved: 
> - Ordered the motor assembly from the website, it was easy to find the spare part and ordering was simple.  - Disconnected the main power, unscrewing the old assembly and disconnected the wiring. 
> - Removed the globe holder and the capacitor/terminal block from the old and installed on the new. I made sure I took photo's of the wiring and also noted them down on paper. - Screwed everything back up once the new wiring was connected. 
> Just for fun, I still have the old motor so I might open that up and see whats going in there....

  is it working now? Did you change both the capacitor and the motor or just the motor?
.

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## AJ85

Yes, it's working now. Just changed the motor and re-used the capacitor.

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## justonething

> Yes, it's working now. Just changed the motor and re-used the capacitor.

    :2thumbsup:

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