my garbage disposal suddenly stopped working. I checked the breaker and it's still plugged in. the switch just doesn't work anymore. how can I fix it or at least clear all of the partially blendered vegetables currently rotting away inside it? I'd like to keep all of my fingers attached if I can.
pic not mine but it looks basically the same
Cycle the breaker first. Next, there’s usually a reset button on the bottom of a garbage disposal. Try that. They are annoying to replace but not that hard. Watch some YT videos. Then it’s just a couple hours on your back under the sink.
I already tried flipping the breaker back and forth and unplugging it and plugging it back in. I will try looking for a reset button. do these things have some kind of failsafe or cutoff that can trip and make them stop working? I'm in an apartment but it's always a pain in the ass getting maintenance scheduled so I'd rather fix it myself if I can as long as it doesn't cost money.
Yes there is a button on the bottom that needs to be pressed. If that doesn’t work there is a place for you to put a large Allen wrench on the bottom and force it to spin. That will fix it if it’s jammed. They sell it in the garbage disposal section of lowes and they call it a chuck.
listen to this man
the button is usually just a plastic stick that pops up somewhere near the bottom
like one of those chicken thermometers
its just a circuit breaker to prevent the motor from burning itself up while jammed with too many amps
turn off the switch (or off the breaker if you're really afraid)
try resetting the on-unit breaker by pushing in the stick (gently, it's just a switch)
I'd recommend putting in that big allen key giving it a manual turn before trying it with power again
'cause if whatever jammed it is still in there, it'll just pop again
>allen key
it's literally just recessed into the shaft at the base of the motor
you should be able to turn it in either direction without a ridiculous amount of force
(it's why its an Allen key instead of, like, a hex but which you could really get a crescent wrench down there and give it a metric fricktonne of torque)
kinda jiggle it back and forth a bit to get whatever chunk of bone might be binding it up broken
ultimately, watch a couple youtube videos to get a handle on how the work (basically a spinning collender inside a drum with a couple little hammers)
it'll tamp down your fear of them when they're off and disconnected from power
soon enough you'll just pull up that rubber cone (it's just held in there on a lip) and be pulling out stupid shit with tongs or pliars like a pro sewage worker
>large Allen wrench on the bottom and force it to spin
>They sell it in the garbage disposal section of lowes and they call it a chuck.
so they sell a standard allen wrench as a specialty tool for this? wow morons gonna moron. if anyone actually falls for this scam they deserve to pay 3x for a shitty allen wrench that most people should already have in a toolbox or you can go buy a set at the dollar store which are good enough to use as a garbage disposal "chuck"
lol. unbelievable
one comes in the box with every garbage disposal that's ever been bought. It's also uniquely angled to install the disposal easier. It might even be sitting under your sink or taped to your disposal at this very moment.
tldr you know nothing and have no place being as crotchety as you are.
One time mine quit working and the button did not do anything. I just pulled it out, took it apart, and hosed off the parts because they were gross. When I put it back together it worked for some reason and continues to work to this day. Does this help? Probably not but if it failed to work I'd do that again.
First thing to check - When you hit the wall switch for the garbage disposal, does it make a humming sound or does it do nothing?
If the disposal makes a humming sound when you turn the switch on, then it means the motor is getting power but it's jammed and can't turn. This can be fixed by inserting an allen wrench in the hole on the underside and turning it. Most disposals come with a tool for this, so one already might be left somewhere under the sink from when it was installed. If not, any allen wrench of the correct size should do. If you can't turn it with that, it's also possible to free up a disposal by inserting something like the end of a broom handle into the top, wedging it against the blades, and trying to manually turn it that way.
If when you hit the switch the disposal doesn't make any sound, first try hitting the breaker reset button on the underside of the disposal. If it still doesn't work after that, see if the outlet that the disposal is in is a GFCI, and check to see if that has tripped. If it's not a GFCI, or if it is but it hasn't been tripped, unplug the disposal from the outlet under the sink and test that outlet for power. If you don't have an outlet tester, you can use something like a table lamp to test the outlet for power. If the outlet doesn't have power, check to make sure that the breaker in your electrical panel for that circuit is not tripped. Also, the outlet for the disposal could be on a circuit which is protected by another GFCI outlet somewhere else on the circuit, so check all the GFCI outlets in the vicinity to make sure none of those are tripped.
If you've done and check all of these things and it's still not working, then it's probably just fricked.
>it's probably just fricked
bought a house
had a disposal
it was completely rusted inoperative
"free" 3.5HP AC motor!
thank you, circuit breaker, for preventing it from burning itself to death
I hit the reset switch and now it makes a buzz sound when I flip the on switch when it was completely dead before. I tried sticking a wrench in the bottom but I couldn't get it to budge. I guess it's jammed but I don't know on what since all I ever put down it is vegetable peels. the wrench I was using had the short end ground down so I could use it as an offset screwdriver though so I will try to get another one so I can put some more torque on it.
Yep. It got jammed, then it tripped it's breaker because the motor was trying to run while seized.
If you can't get it to budge, you'll need to remove the disposal. Either to replace it, or to remove whatever is jamming it. Removing it is incredibly easy. A couple screws hold the drain on to the side of the disposal, and a turnable flange holds it to the sink drain.
should I still try to turn it with the wrench? now I am paranoid that I dropped a fork down or something. I stuck a spoon handle down the drain and managed to spin something but I don't think it was the entire gizmo.
>should I still try to turn it with the wrench?
You said you already did.
>I stuck a spoon handle down the drain and managed to spin something
You probably just spun one of the "blades".
Take it off and look inside, it will only take a couple of minutes. The video I posted covers everything.
Get a flashlight and look down the hole... Im thinking that you might have something like a fork that slipped down there when you weren't looking, and now it's jammed up your grinder.
Also, if it's not that, try moving your wrench in both directions... Maybe you can unjam it that way.
You can also try to fit the box end of a wrench over the end of the allen wrench, to pry on it and give you more force.
Don't worry about breaking the grinder... It's a tough b***h... And if it breaks, then it was time to replace it anyway!
Have fun!
I checked my silverware drawer and don't seem to be missing anything. when I cranked on it with a more substantial wrench there was some resistance but then it broke loose with about 4 ft-lbs and started to turn freely. I don't know what the insides of these things look like but I am assuming there was some kind of plastic part that was seized up and cracked when I broke it loose.
I am in an apartment so I am sure I can get it replaced for free. I was trying to fix it myself though because it is a pain in the ass trying to schedule a guy to come fix things.
>I am in an apartment
jesus frick. you went through all that just to tell us that you could've had the maint. guy unfrick it the next day?
if it still drained, then what was the issue? if it didnt drain, then the landlord should have the on-call guy out there immediately or at worst, first thing in the morning. But now you made a trivial issue a potential deposit erasing, credit troubling issue.
I said I was in an apartment in the second post in the thread. I hate having to deal with the apartment management because they always want to schedule shit for when I can't be at home.
Those maintenance idiots could have probably repaired it faster and better than you just based on experience.
All you're doing is opening yourself up to liability since you're too inept for this simple job. Stop working on this before it gets even further fricked.
>I hate having to deal with the apartment management
then dont rent.
>cant afford house
then learn to deal with trade-offs for the lower cost of living
>lower cost of living
what ? bad at math ?
>I guess it's jammed but I don't know on what since all I ever put down it is vegetable peels.
Don't treat your sink like a garbage can, anon.
Put solid waste into the trash.
The disposal is great for breaking up and clearing out the stuff that's left in the sink after you rinse a dish or pan.
But that doesn't mean your sink is a place to throw away solid waste. Use your garbage can for your garbage.
op here I managed to get it unstuck by spinning it with a wrench but that seems to have broken something because now it is leaking. I will try to take it apart to see what I fricked up later tonight.
Just go get a new one. They are cheaper than cleaning up your kitchen and a trip to the ER after it grenades itself all over your legs and stuff!
I just removed my penis
dont hurt yourself! thee's too much horror about people losing their arm to the disposal (~_~;)
I got it replaced but as soon as the maintenance guy left my dishwasher stopped working. just fricking kill me.
Thats because chucklefrick didnt remove the knockout before putting the drain hose on the disposal.
Pop the hose off, feel inside and there will be a wall. Use a flat head to pry it out. Reinstall hose. Call maintenance and tell him hes a moron plumber.
no I watched him do that. it lets water in and opens the soap door but then just sits there completely silent until it gets to the end of the cycle and drains. according to some page I found on whirlpool diagnostic codes there's something wrong with the pump.