--- title: "Hood suction has faded" description: "La Cornue hood suction has faded: faded extraction with a motor that still sounds healthy is almost never the motor." url: "https://la-cornuemiami.support/symptoms/hood-suction-has-faded/" date_modified: "2026-09-03" Appliance type: "Range hoods" --- # La Cornue hood suction has faded ### Pull the baffles out and look Two dishwasher-safe baffle filters with a grease capture system. If they are heavy, tacky, or the channels behind them are filled, that is your answer and a dishwasher cycle is the repair. While they are out, look up into the duct with a torch: a visible film is normal, a lining you could scrape is not. Then run the hood on full with the baffles out and see whether the air moves — if it does, the filters were the problem; if it does not, the problem is beyond them. ### What it usually means, by the kind of La Cornue appliance La Cornue sells one appliance in several forms, and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A built-in side-by-side and an integrated column are not the same service situation, and a dual-fuel range and an induction range fail in different halves. - **Château motorized hoods** — H11TOM through H20TOM, 1100 mm to 2000 mm wide, one 600 CFM blower on a four-speed variable motor, six-inch duct. - **Château hood inserts** — 150LCI, 135LCI and 120LCI in 18- and 22-inch depths — 600 CFM, eight-inch duct, LED lights. - **CornuFé hood collection** — Cascade, Euclid, Loge and Marquee, plus the 90 and 110 hoods. Same principles, different canopies. - **Two-motor hoods** — On the larger canopies one blower can fail silently while the other carries the room — the only symptom is a kitchen that clears slowly. ### Why this happens faster over a La Cornue than over most ranges Look at what is underneath. A power burner at 22,000 BTU, a lava-rock grill at 14,500, a French top holding heat across a whole cast-iron plate and, on the larger ranges, a gas oven venting into the same room. That is a great deal of grease-laden air, in a climate where the windows stay shut and the air conditioning runs. Baffles over this range saturate faster than baffles over an ordinary hob, and the honest maintenance interval is shorter than the one in most people’s heads. ### What an under-performing hood costs you elsewhere Grease that the hood does not catch goes onto the cabinets, the ceiling and eventually into the range’s own electronics — and on this make the one documented error code, E2, is about electronics getting too hot. A hood at half its rated flow is therefore not only a comfort problem; it shortens the life of the induction generator sitting in the cabinet below. Servicing the hood is part of looking after the range, which is why it appears in the annual maintenance visit rather than only when somebody complains. Saturated baffle filters The commonest cause on this appliance and the cheapest to fix. A greased or restricted duct run Length, crushes and elbows added at some point after installation. A seized backdraft damper It no longer opens fully, so the fan works against itself. A blocked termination cap Salt, grease and a decade of weather on a coastal roof or wall. A failing blower or capacitor Where the air path is genuinely clear. Measured rather than assumed. Take the baffles out and weigh them in your hand Saturated ones are unmistakable once you have felt a clean one. Test with the baffles out If suction returns, the diagnosis is done. Look up the duct with a torch A film is normal. A lining is not. Hold a tissue to each speed Four speeds should be four clearly different flows. If they are not, it is the control rather than the path. The motor runs and the air does not move What it usually means Saturated baffles first, because they cost nothing to rule out 600 CFM assumes an unobstructed duct — most losses are in the run A coastal termination cap is a salt and grease trap Pull the baffles out and look Two dishwasher-safe baffle filters with a grease capture system. If they are heavy, tacky, or the channels behind them are filled, that is your answer and a dishwasher cycle is the repair. While they are out, look up into the duct with a torch: a visible film is normal, a lining you could scrape is not. Then run the hood on full with the baffles out and see whether the air moves — if it does, the filters were the problem; if it does not, the problem is beyond them. What it usually means, by the kind of La Cornue appliance La Cornue sells one appliance in several forms, and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A built-in side-by-side and an integrated column are not the same service situation, and a dual-fuel range and an induction range fail in different halves. Château motorized hoods — H11TOM through H20TOM, 1100 mm to 2000 mm wide, one 600 CFM blower on a four-speed variable motor, six-inch duct. Château hood inserts — 150LCI, 135LCI and 120LCI in 18- and 22-inch depths — 600 CFM, eight-inch duct, LED lights. CornuFé hood collection — Cascade, Euclid, Loge and Marquee, plus the 90 and 110 hoods. Same principles, different canopies. Two-motor hoods — On the larger canopies one blower can fail silently while the other carries the room — the only symptom is a kitchen that clears slowly. Why this happens faster over a La Cornue than over most ranges Look at what is underneath. A power burner at 22,000 BTU, a lava-rock grill at 14,500, a French top holding heat across a whole cast-iron plate and, on the larger ranges, a gas oven venting into the same room. That is a great deal of grease-laden air, in a climate where the windows stay shut and the air conditioning runs. Baffles over this range saturate faster than baffles over an ordinary hob, and the honest maintenance interval is shorter than the one in most people’s heads. What an under-performing hood costs you elsewhere Grease that the hood does not catch goes onto the cabinets, the ceiling and eventually into the range’s own electronics — and on this make the one documented error code, E2, is about electronics getting too hot. A hood at half its rated flow is therefore not only a comfort problem; it shortens the life of the induction generator sitting in the cabinet below. Servicing the hood is part of looking after the range, which is why it appears in the annual maintenance visit rather than only when somebody complains. ### How often should the baffles actually be cleaned? Over this range, and cooking as people cook on one: every four to six weeks if you use it properly, and monthly if you grill or use the plaque regularly. They go in the dishwasher, which is the whole point of baffles over mesh. The channels and the capture tray behind them want doing a few times a year, and that is a slightly messier job. If somebody has been cleaning them twice a year, the hood has probably been running well below its rating for most of its life and will feel like a different appliance afterwards. ### Would a more powerful blower fix it? Rarely, and it is usually the wrong money. A 600 CFM blower on a restricted duct does not become effective by being replaced with a bigger one — the restriction is what limits the flow, and a bigger fan against the same restriction is louder rather than stronger. Fix the path first and measure it. On the larger canopies there are genuinely two-motor configurations, but that is a specification chosen at order time for a big range, not a retrofit cure for a blocked duct. --- **[Read full article: Hood suction has faded](https://la-cornuemiami.support/symptoms/hood-suction-has-faded/)**