Grease Cup and Drain Channel
| What it is | The trough the filters drain into, and the removable cup that catches what runs off. |
|---|---|
| Where it sits | The trough under the filters and the cup it drains into |
| How it fails | Overflows, or drips back onto the cooktop from the front lip |
| Checked with | Pulled and emptied, then water run down the channel |
| Price | Quoted after the $89 visit |
Where the grease is supposed to go
Air leaves the cooktop with oil in suspension. The baffles strip most of it out and gravity handles the rest: down the face of each panel, into the channel, along the fall built into it, out at the cup. The path is passive: nothing pumps it, so anything in the way stops it.
What happens when the channel stops draining
Cold sets the fall solid. The channel fills, backs up under the filters, finds the front lip and starts releasing onto the cooktop, a little at a time and always in the same place. A cup that nobody has emptied produces the same result from the other end of the run.
Emptied, flushed, checked
The cup comes out and is washed. Hot water and a soft brush go along the channel until it runs clear, and the underside of the canopy gets the same treatment. Then the filters go back in their own order. If it fills again quickly the hood is running under-filtered, and the filters become the next question.
What putting it right costs
This one has no published band. Wolf Repair Los Angeles puts a figure on it after the diagnosis, as one number covering the part and the labour, and nothing is ordered until you have agreed it — (310) 626-4008.
A flat $89 buys the call-out and a full diagnosis, and that $89 is deducted from the repair once you have approved it.
Follow-ups
What if there is no cup under my hood?
Then the drainage is handled inside the canopy and the tell is different: oil shows on the top face of the filters or along the front lip instead of in a tray. Pull one filter and look at the edge it drains into. Wolf Repair Los Angeles can say which yours is from the model.
Is a dripping hood dangerous?
Wipe what lands and stop cooking under a hood that is actively dripping, because oil on a hot cooktop deserves that much respect. It is rarely an emergency on its own, but it does mean the drain path has been full for some time and the duct above it is collecting.