Commercial kitchen Hood question.

[Electricalartist]

I'm not familiar with commercial kitchens too much. I had a service call today . Inside of a commercial kitchen all the vapor proof fixtures under the hood had water in them and needed to be replaced.
I couldn't find any switch to shut off the lighting circuit anywhere. I took one fixture off live and I put my tracer on and traced it to a panel. Found the breaker and shut it off. Only to find out and confuse the hell out of myself I didn't know that there's some kind of system that when somebody pulls the pull station, the hood fan stays on and all the power underneath that hood even if it's equipment on the ground gets shut off.
So when I shut off that breaker all the equipment shut off with it. My first question is how do I just get the lights off and my second question is what did I shut off. Last question is if I shut that circuit off again to replace the rest of the lights that we got the parts for today is that going to cause any issue. Planning on doing it when they are closing so if I have to I can shut that breaker and the equipment being off won't be a problem.

 

[hillbilly1]

There is always a switch on the hood itself, usually next to the fan switch.

 

[augie47]

They have the fire suppression shut down contactor on the same circuit as the lighting (fairly common in this area). Most of the hoods here have the light switch grouped with the fan switches but there is no 'standard"

 

[AC\DC]

The one I just did had the switch for lights, on the ansul digital control board.

 

[romex jockey]

They have the fire suppression shut down contactor on the same circuit as the lighting (fairly common in this area). Most of the hoods here have the light switch grouped with the fan switches but there is no 'standard"

it could be a shunt trip breaker Augie, the 'standard' being everything under the hood shuts down when the fire suppression calls in

~RJ~

 

[hillbilly1]

Publix has a bad design on their hoods, they have a relay that must be constantly energized, or all of the shunt trips activate. Can’t remember the brand, but they have been the only ones I’ve worked on that did that that way. Get a service call every time the power blips.

 

[augie47]

it could be a shunt trip breaker Augie, the 'standard' being everything under the hood shuts down when the fire suppression calls in

~RJ~

I agree. But since his equipment shut down on opening the breaker I assume it was a contactor as hillbilly1 noted. I see both but, as you note, the shunt trip is more common,.

 

[farmantenna]

you should have asked a kitchen worker how they turn on/off the lights. Some of hoods I've wired had a user digital control screen with only a CAT5 rj45 to it from the master control panel. this Screen controlled and displayed everything

 

[Seven-Delta-FortyOne]

All the ones I’ve worked on, or installed, had a switch for the lights.

As far as the water in the fixtures, it’s very common, and a Code violation, to install standard jar fixtures.

But if the hood gets cleaned, which is a fire dept requirement, you need to install wet location fixtures.

 

[Electricalartist]

The one I just did had the switch for lights, on the ansul digital control board.

Yes that's what it was. There's a digital board with a button that controls the lights.

 

[mopowr steve]

My question is, how are they getting water in them?

Is the silicone gasket bad/missing that the jar seats against or is there a leak around the ducting going thru the roof that is allowing water to accumulate on top of the hood?

 

[brantmacga]

Yes that's what it was. There's a digital board with a button that controls the lights.

That Cat5 cable goes to a cabinet with the relays. Sometimes its under a panel on the side of the hood. Can also be remote mounted. But the installer obviously tapped the control circuit to feed lights. You could use the switch to turn the lights off, then remove the circuit conductors from the relay.


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[Seven-Delta-FortyOne]

My question is, how are they getting water in them?

Is the silicone gasket bad/missing that the jar seats against or is there a leak around the ducting going thru the roof that is allowing water to accumulate on top of the hood?

Commercial hood vents get pressure washed regularly. Fire code.

Ive seen quite a few where indoor rated fixtures were used and they fill up pretty quick.

 

[mopowr steve]

Commercial hood vents get pressure washed regularly. Fire code.

Ive seen quite a few where indoor rated fixtures were used and they fill up pretty quick.

Pressure washed?
I guess I never heard of that, washing the grates once a week with only soapy water.....yes. And maybe a periodic inspection of the ducting itself for grease build-up and a cleaning of some sort there.
Most all the hoods I’ve dealt with have the vapor/wet proof jar lights already installed by the hood manufacturer, although on the top side of the hood it’s usually a 3” hole drilled through the stainless with just a 4” square box extension welded over-top. I have seen water accumulate on the top of a hood and could see how that would get into the fixture.

 

[hillbilly1]

Yeah, they have a specialized company that comes in on a schedule (don’t know if it’s quarterly or annually) that deep cleans the ducts and grills, usually pressure washed.

 

[Seven-Delta-FortyOne]

Yes pressure washed.

The fan on top, the entire ducting, and the entire underside of the hood, usually every 6 months.

Filters get cleaned weekly I think in house.

Family has owned multiple restaurants for the past 20+ years, so I know more than I should about it.

Done more commercial kitchen service work than I can remember, and built some commercial kitchens.

 

[AC\DC]

You guys must be talking strictly under the hood. In my next of the woods every restaurant I have been In has 3” of old nasty grease on top and around the hood. Won’t eat at a restaurant I have been in the kitchen!

 

[kwired]

it could be a shunt trip breaker Augie, the 'standard' being everything under the hood shuts down when the fire suppression calls in

~RJ~

The fact that everything went down and the fan came on seems to indicate OP's unit uses relays/contactors to shut down the equipment under hood. Some may prefer to use shunt trip breakers but there is more than one way to do this.

 

[kwired]

You guys must be talking strictly under the hood. In my next of the woods every restaurant I have been In has 3” of old nasty grease on top and around the hood. Won’t eat at a restaurant I have been in the kitchen!

They don't cook on top the hood though. yes it is nasty, but so are many kitchens in dwellings. What I trust less is potluck dinners at a church event or similar, though I do eat at those anyway I do trust them less. At least those restaurants do have the health department to check up on them once in a while.

Also have done work in food manufacturing plants, yes they are inspected, but things still happen when nobody is looking.

 

[LarryFine]

Won’t eat at a restaurant I have been in the kitchen!

Same here, for some of them. In one, my 6' stepladder kept sliding if it was leaning against a wall.