--- title: "Range hood not extracting" description: "Samsung range hood not extracting: filters, duct, damper — in that order, and usually the first." url: "https://samsungmiami.support/symptoms/range-hood-not-extracting/" date_modified: "2026-09-04" Appliance type: "Microwaves, Range hoods" --- # Samsung range hood not extracting ### Take both filters out and look The mesh or baffle filters underneath come out by hand and go in a dishwasher. Then, if the installation recirculates, look behind the top grille for a charcoal filter — it has a life measured in months and almost nobody replaces it. Between them those two account for most of these calls. ### What it usually means, by the kind of Samsung appliance Samsung 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. - **Ducted** — Air goes outside. The duct run and the outside damper are part of the appliance. - **Recirculating** — Air is filtered and returned to the room, which will never move as much air as a ducted installation. A great many complaints are this working as designed. - **Over-the-range microwave** — The same job done by a different appliance, with the same filters and the same charcoal filter behind the grille. ### Ducted and recirculating are different appliances A ducted hood moves kitchen air outside. A recirculating hood filters it and puts it back into the room — it can take grease and some odor out, but the steam and the heat stay where they were. It will never perform like a ducted installation and it was never going to. Establishing which one you have is the first thing we do, because on a recirculating hood the honest answer to some of these complaints is that nothing is broken. ### The filter that hides Charcoal filters sit behind the top grille, not underneath with the grease filters, and they are a consumable with a life of a few months in a kitchen that cooks. Samsung publishes a replacement procedure for the ones in over-the-range microwaves. In our experience a large majority of recirculating installations have the original one still fitted. Saturated grease filters The most common cause and the cheapest. The charcoal filter On recirculating installations only, and rarely replaced. The duct or the outside damper A flap painted shut, or a nest. Tested after the filters, because the filters are usually the answer. A recirculating installation working normally Not a repair. Worth knowing before anybody is paid. Take the grease filters out and wash them They go in a dishwasher. Look at the water afterwards. Look behind the top grille A charcoal filter means recirculating, and it needs replacing. Go outside while it runs The damper should be open and you should feel air. Hold a tissue to the intake It should be held there firmly. If it barely holds, airflow is the problem. The fan runs and the steam still fills the kitchen What it usually means A saturated grease filter looks clean and passes almost no air Recirculating hoods have a charcoal filter behind the grille Samsung publishes no codes for hoods, so this is diagnosed by hand Take both filters out and look The mesh or baffle filters underneath come out by hand and go in a dishwasher. Then, if the installation recirculates, look behind the top grille for a charcoal filter — it has a life measured in months and almost nobody replaces it. Between them those two account for most of these calls. What it usually means, by the kind of Samsung appliance Samsung 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. Ducted — Air goes outside. The duct run and the outside damper are part of the appliance. Recirculating — Air is filtered and returned to the room, which will never move as much air as a ducted installation. A great many complaints are this working as designed. Over-the-range microwave — The same job done by a different appliance, with the same filters and the same charcoal filter behind the grille. Ducted and recirculating are different appliances A ducted hood moves kitchen air outside. A recirculating hood filters it and puts it back into the room — it can take grease and some odor out, but the steam and the heat stay where they were. It will never perform like a ducted installation and it was never going to. Establishing which one you have is the first thing we do, because on a recirculating hood the honest answer to some of these complaints is that nothing is broken. The filter that hides Charcoal filters sit behind the top grille, not underneath with the grease filters, and they are a consumable with a life of a few months in a kitchen that cooks. Samsung publishes a replacement procedure for the ones in over-the-range microwaves. In our experience a large majority of recirculating installations have the original one still fitted. ### It was fine and now it is not, with no other change. Filters degrade gradually, so 'suddenly' is often a threshold being crossed rather than a failure. Wash them and see. If nothing changes, then it is the blower or the duct. ### There is no duct at all above my hood. Then it recirculates, and it is doing what it was installed to do. Fresh charcoal will improve it. Converting to ducted is construction rather than repair. --- **[Read full article: Range hood not extracting](https://samsungmiami.support/symptoms/range-hood-not-extracting/)**