Bathroom Exhaust Fan won't turn off AND Microwave/Fan won't turn ON

[rsx]

As title suggested

My Bathroom exhaust fan won't turn off. The light can be turned on and off, I even tried playing with the switch but nothing worked. The only way to turn it off is through the circuit breaker.

Secondly.
My Microwave and exhaust fan combo in the kitchen won't turn on, it just turned off one day. I unplugged everything and plugged it back in and make sure everything is in the "on" position in the circuit breaker.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

[gdoh]

do you have one of those dials outside of your bathroom for humidity? maybe some one played with it?

[shantz]

new construction?
bathroom exhaust fan is common - switch is not wired correctly (this is code now as the exhaust fan is recommended to run within the first year on new construction). To fix simply remove the switch from the wall and re-install the wiring with the correct polarity.

As for the microwave, sorry - no answer

[Matlock]

Your bathroom fan might be tied onto a dehumidifier which overrides the switch. If you are willing to do some electrical work you could take apart the switch box and remove the dehumidifier switch leg... or take out the dehumidifier and blank it off... or just wait until the area is less humid.

If no dehumidifier, then the switch leg and feed could be touching.

For your microwave/fan combo you can meter out the receptacle or wires to make sure you have a hot and neutral.

[rsx]

Geezus, thanks for the heads up, I looked around for a fan switch/dehumid and found one tucked away in a closet. I fiddled with it and set it to manual. Now it works!

Thanks!

Still no luck fiddling around with the range/mwave though.

[GLOW]

you can check receptacles with a voltage detecting pens that cost like $5 at HD to see if you're getting 120V at your receptacle without having to bojangle anything.

if you checked your breaker maybe make sure it's fully in the 'on' position. i know sometimes the breaker trips and doesn't go fully in the 'off' position and looks like it's 'on'. i had that problem before and turned it off then on again after checking everything else. i just myself for not checking that first

[Matlock]

Originally Posted by rsx

Geezus, thanks for the heads up, I looked around for a fan switch/dehumid and found one tucked away in a closet. I fiddled with it and set it to manual. Now it works!

Thanks!

Still no luck fiddling around with the range/mwave though.

Cool, some of the dehumidifiers don't come with an off switch. It's nice to be able to turn the thing off without having to opening everything up.

Maybe make sure your microwave/hoodfan works by plugging in an extension cord before investigating the circuit.

Electrical meters can be as cheap as $5. You don't need a good one. Paying more just increases the accuracy of some things from maybe 10%(cheap) to maybe 2%(expensive). They do the same thing.

If it's a brand new place, maybe you can talk to your builder or whoever?

[blkgsr]

how old is the microwave/hood fan combo?

if you can confirm power at the receptable then you know it's the unit....there may be an internal fuse blown on the combo...or if it's old, it just may have died