Broan Range Hood Fix

I am the unhappy owner of a Broan range hood and was a family member.  

We own different models... however we have both had the same problem.  The light bulbs for the hood are basically the exact same size as the hole they fit into. 

  

Not a problem putting IN the bulb.

  

BUT it can be a huge problem when you are trying to replace the bulb.  Essentially you can't get your fingers around the edge of the bulb to unscrew it.  Not enough space.  So you have to apply a wee bit of pressure to create some friction to get the bulb started...

... which causes the extremely weak connection holding the socket inside the hood to pop loose. 

Now you have the bulb and socket rattling around INSIDE your hood with no way to get to it outside of major hood surgery.

Both myself and the family member had a 'one eyed' stove hood for several years.  Customer service advised calling a repair man.  The family member got sick of it and bought a new range hood... NOT a Broan.  I can't afford that option.

So I fixed it myself.

I worked a piece of thin string around the light (it had to be thin so it would fit thru the hole at the same time the bulb was there).  The string had two long tails hanging down.  I used the string to apply downward traction while I pushed up (VERY CAREFULLY) on the bulb to get that friction to make it turn.

It worked!!  Took a few tries and a bit of time, but it worked.

To keep it from happening again, I put in LED lights with the cooling fins so it sticks BELOW the hole.

Below... where I can easily unscrew them!