My downdraft vent no longer removes cooking fumes and smells for days after cooking. We have changed the screens, but still have residue coming from the vent inside the cabinet. Does this vent need to

Dont say that...thers a leak somewher...fixit befor u git sick

could be a couple of reasons. if it is a new oven, it will smell for the first few times, they all do. If you have cleaned the oven recently it could be the residue burning off.

I emphasize with you on this problem. If you are smelling fumes you are inhaling car "exhaust" which is extremely dangerous as you know. I have a 1999 Passat that had a "fume" issue that baffled me for over a year. Your description of the conditions that you smell the fumes may not be complete enough for me to definitively say what your problem is but I will tell you what I experienced and discovered on my car. I only smelled the fumes when my heat or AC was on and the car was NOT moving forward. Also, if the AC recirculate button was on I didn't smell the problem as bad. So, what I found was that the car's emission control piping was leaking the exhaust fumes that bypass the pistons and go into the crankcase. These fumes are normally piped back into the intake manifold to be re-burned to reduce emissions. With a completed disintegrated rubber emissions pipe coming off the engine block, the fumes entered into the engine compartment which is sealed from the interior of the car. So, how did the fumes get in my car? Well, when waiting at a red light and with the heat or AC on (no recirculate) the fumes would fill the engine compartment and overflow out the wheel wells and wrap over the hood to the intake vents (near the wiper blades) of the car's interior air system. If the recirculate button is pressed with the AC on, the car's interior air (no exterior air) is recirculated inside the car to cool it faster and I didn't smell the fumes as bad. Also on windy days the fumes didn't get a chance to wrap over the hood and get into the intake vents. Because of the unique conditions that had to occur in order to smell or not smell the fumes it was a difficult problem to solve. By the way, the disintegrated rubber pipe was almost impossible to see and there is no real reference material to read that describes the location and depiction of the emissions plumbing. I hope this helps you!

I wish I could offer some help but I am trying to solve the same question. There are almost NO reviews out there on the internet for any downdraft vents. There are also NO noise ratings on the fans (though ceiling fans all have ratings). It would seem that the taller the vent, the better positioned it is to draw off cooking fumes but other than that and the power of the motor (and perhaps ease of cleaning), I've no idea how to select a unit. HELP!

Hello dedunwoodie.
Your heater core is beginning to leak coolant.
As the fan blows through it it is picking up the liquid and depositing it on your windshield.
It will need to be replaced to solve your problem.

You'll have to remove it and manually reverse the drive gear. Hopefully, it didn't get stripped.

well it could be a clog but i doubt it. sounds like you will have to replace the heater core and it takes all day as the entire dash and steering column has to come out.

sears labor is 137 plus parts. that is something that would need to be looked at. it could be a few different things. if he is handy he can open it up to see if anything is misaligned or broken. the vent may even just be a little crooked and once straight may go up and down like normal

just the switch should be replacable. My vent has a screw at each end (philips flatheads - accessible only when vent is up) just under the top cap. Removing the screws and cap should give you access to the switch. Just make sure you cut your breaker off first.

there won't be any noticable suction like with a vacuum unless the cfm rating is very high. the distance of the hood from the cooking surface is a factor too as you are sucking in room air besides the stove fumes and steam.