if you could get the fan motor out, you might find a place that can repair motors. Or maybe it's the switch if the fan still works on 2 of the 3 speeds (there's no "speed" part of a motor).

Just because it's German doesn't mean it is problem-free. The philosophy if "why make it simple when you can make it complicated" has its drawbacks.

Well, how about Wolf?

BTW: The motor on my 18 year-old Thermador downdraft hasn’t burned out yet (I wish it would, though, so I won’t feel the slightest twinge of guilt when I go to replace it with an overhead ventilation system!)

Thank you, both! Zneret, the lowest "speed" of the fan does still work, it just makes tons of noise...tons more than the higher speeds, which sounds (if you'll forgive the pun) counterintuitive. Appliance Guy says bearing is starting to go. Thoughts?

Sammy, I'd take a look at Wolf itself, the only reason I went with Bosch was it was less expensive. I do hear that their electronic controls can be costly to replace when they go out. Elsewhere on the Gardenwebs, folks seem to wax poetic about the Best Cattura brand, but I think that's European. Glad to hear about your Thermador, maybe I'll go in that direction.

OP: No help to offer, except we have the same downdraft (30") version. DH wouldn't go for an overhead hood originally and he became enamored of the retractability function. Me? The retracting mechanism is just one more thing to worry about going kaput, which would render the entire unit useless. At least you have two more fan speeds. :) It ruins streamlined look, but I always leave our unit in the 'up' position (just as you have pictured).

It doesn't hurt to ask, definitely. Carve out time in your day, as you'll likely be on hold for quite a while. In my experience, Bosch reps are sticklers when it comes to their warranty period. Good luck.

OP: We posted at the same time, and I'm just reading your comment about the lowest setting. From Day 1, our Low has been very noisy -- kinda clunky sounding. We generally skip Low as it's pretty ineffective at exhausting odors.

Thanks, javiwa. I intend to keep using the DD until it goes kaput at all speeds. If it's likely to just go out again in a few years, why bother replacing until it's truly necessary? I thought it was worth pursuing with Bosch, since Appliance Guy said that sometimes they'll have a longer warranty on the blower motor. Since I once got Amex to give me $100 because they wasted my time, I'm prepared to do battle with Bosch ;))

And, yeah, using the higher speeds will probably be better for our air quality anway.

I'm sorry you're having issues with the motor. My thermador downdraft lasted for 18 years and was still working when we remodeled the kitchen. We replaced all our appliances and went with a Dacor cooktop and downdraft. That was still working when we moved last year - 12 years after install.

I'm glad to hear that you've had good luck with your Broan products. But that's not necessarily true of all of them. When we bought our house, it had a Broan hood that made a ton of noise, but it didn't feel as if it really moved air. I looked up the specs and it barely does more than 100cfm. In my opinion, that's borderline fraudulent to even call it a vent hood. It's essentially an ornament with a noise feature.

And when I finally removed it to replace it with a better product, I discovered it had a tiny plastic fan. Maybe 3" in diameter if want to be generous. No wonder that piece-of-**** never worked properly. That size fan is entirely inappropriate. For $10, I can buy a better fan from any computer store.

On top of that, the hood had mesh filters which are notorious for clogging. And it had a tiny square of carbon mesh so that the marketing department could claim having an activated charcoal filter.

I'm still bitter about the horribly ineffective and dumb design. And I see that very similar units are still being sold by Broan. That does not inspire confidence.

This is just how I personally feel about the brand, but that one really bad experience has permanently put me off of ever trying them again.

While Broan may have some quality units that actually work, the bulk of stuff that bears its name, not so much, as the previous poster found out. I guess that's why they have the Best brand now as the market perceives the Broan name as junk.

I think your service tech is possibly trying to rip you off... You didn't list the model of the blower but most of the motors are $120 - 300 dollars. I think the entire blower assembly is only about $400 - 600 Bosch Blower DHG601DUC $399.99. If you want to list your Blower model number (not the downdraft) I can look it up the part number and the price.

Well, there is always list price vs common selling price, and labour (+ travel time, etc.) Great motivation for DIY if one is capable.

I got quoted some prices for a few fixes to my heat pump. Despite asking them to come do the work (the owner even personally promised), they never showed up. Ended up doing the work myself for quite a bit (~80%) less.

If they buy the complete blower it's about a 30-40 minute job. No special tools required. If they buy just the motor it is about a 60 minute job. Probably one of the easier repairs you can do.

Did you buy it with the Amex? They add a one year warranty to appliance purchases made with the card. You will need the repair estimate and the receipt. Takes a few days.

@Jakvis I have the same Bosch downdraft and blower motor. Ours started screeching at any speed. I just removed it to take a closer look. The motor is shown below. Now that I took it out and messed with it, it doesn't want to turn any more. Can I buy one of these motors anywhere. The full blower motor unit doesn't seem to be available anywhere, though I just read about someone taking the DHG602DUC unit and making it work. I'd replace the whole thing if I could. Sick of Bosch right now. Microwave doesn't work any more either and it's only about 4 years old.

I've been looking at the Bosch downdraft and the DHG602DUC. Price for the blower was ridiculous. But then I found it's twin. Looks like BEST/Broan has exactly the same blower under the part number Best PF6. The manuals are identical. In Canada, the price of the Best blower is less than 50% of the Bosch branded blower. Hope that helps. Much cheaper and identical

Wow! I think that might actually work! Thanks a lot Dianajw!

Though that looks like a 4 speed internal blower. Bosch is 3 speed. So now I’m not sure again. :-( Need to enquire further.

You will need to check. But from what I could tell, the blower is passive and gets it's signals from the "electrical box" (their terminology) on the downdraft. The blower is likely a DC motor in the blower and doesn't care how many speeds. It is simply getting an analog control signal to indicate the speed to tune to. I am quite sure it has no smarts. That blower is also used for the Thermador downdraft which as 3 speeds. Thermador part number is: VTN630W. I noticed on the Bosch installation instructions that it was possible to use older blowers with the new Bosch downdraft. So any blower should work. It simply doesn't make sense to have an "intelligent" programmable blower unit. They are generic parts for all ventilation systems.

Thanks again. Should I be concerned this is for an 8” duct and mine is currently 6”? Wondering if I’ll have to rewire the cable or if the plug that goes into the downdraft assembly will be the same.

You should be able to get a 6" to 8" transition. Broan sells them Model T486. Since it is smaller to bigger that will work well. You will need to find the install manual for your bosch downdraft. The one I found for the new version of the bosch downdraft shows the downdraft cable (the one you are talking about) connects to the Bosch downdraft "electrical panel" (this is likely integrated in to your downdraft chassis. And then there is another wire for connecting from the bosch "electrical panel" to the actual blower. My instructions say a standard 14/4 Romex cable will do the job.

@Malcolm N. We're having the exact same issue/failure with our Bosch downdraft motor. It died in less than a year in a house we only go to on the weekends. We gave in and bought the DHG602. It's about 6" deeper, a square instead of flat housing. Now the drawer under our cooktop won't fit, and we'll have to reconfigure the ductwork. I'm still looking for a source for the motor.

Did you find a source for the fan motor? mine died too

@nmccarty77 No, they're no longer made or supplied by anyone. I spent a couple of months looking. We ended up having to use the Bosch unit that is a replacement for the earlier (and flatter/less deep) fan (2018 and earlier). It was a real pain dealing with Bosch. I will say that the newer fan is much better. The pull is stronger and the unit is quieter. Good luck.

Thank you waterdogx2. Bosch is not easy. It has been impossible to find the replacement motor, which will be my thrid one since they only last a year or two. Just to clarify - did you buy the dhg602duc blower unit to replace the older dhg601duc unit? If so, how did you deal with the 6" to 8" duct change? I appreciate any details you can provide.

I'm in the same boat as you all. Can't find a replacement motor either. Waterdogx2 what blower unit did you use.

the model number is DHG602DUC. It replaced DHG601DUC. The new fan is larger and deeper. It is admittedly a big improvement over the previous fan. It's quieter and has more pull.

This PDF has specs of the OLD motor DHG601DUC) see page 4.

https://media3.bosch-home.com/Documents/9000445343_B.pdf

Photos below are the new motor installed. You can see that it is in a larger square housing. And the outlet no longer aligns with the vent that was originally installed. Our cabinet installer fabricated the ductwork with a bend in it.

Last thing - I complained to Bosch and got a 'rebate' in the form of their sending me a new motor for less than half the price. It's worth complaining to them, especially if your failed motor is less than 2 years old. It was a pain; maybe not worth the time it took to deal with them. In part I had no choice because of the supply shortage during the pandemic. Good luck.

@nmccarty77 @Brian Mosher

see photos and explanation above.