DISPOSER
TROUBLE TOOL & MATERIAL CHECKLIST
Sink-mounted
garbage disposers are efficient and almost maintenance-free. Problems
usually are within a do-it-yourselfer's skills to solve--once the
problem has been diagnosed.
To help in the diagnosis, you need a little information and understand
how a disposer operates:
Garbage is dumped into the hopper of the disposer. The disposer
is the motor drives a flywheel, impeller, and cutters which pulverize
the tiny bits by throwing the garbage against a shredder device.
The tiny bits are now flushed down the drain/sewer pipe with water
from the kitchen sink.
What
can go wrong is detailed below:
Stuck
grinding wheel - This is probably the Number 1 disposer problem.
It almost is always caused by bones, silverware, bottle caps, or
other very hard objects becoming jammed between a cutter and the
shredder ring around the flywheel of the disposer.
First,
turn off the disposer, if the motor is running or making a humming
sound.
Most disposers have an automatic overload switch that shuts off
the power in the event the flywheel sticks or there is another malfunction
of the unit. The "switch" operates similarly to a circuit breaker.
At the bottom or along the side of the housing you will see (usually)
a red button marked "reset". By pushing this button down, the electricity
is reactivated to operate the disposer.
First,
turn off the disposer, if the motor is running or making a humming
sound. Most disposers have an automatic overload switch that shuts
off the power in the event the flywheel sticks or there is another
malfunction of the unit. The "switch" operates similar
to a circuit breaker. At the bottom or along the side of the housing
you will see (usually) a red button marked "reset." By
pushing this button down, the electricity is reactivated to operate
the disposer.
Look
down into the hopper of the disposer and see if you can spot any
object in the hopper that could be causing the stick-up. If you
can see this object, turn off the power to the disposer at the main
electrical service panel. Check to make sure this power is off by
turning on the disposer motor or pushing the reset button. You will
hear a humming sound from the motor if the power is not off. Once
you are sure that the power is off, use kitchen tongs or the hook
of a flattened wire coat hanger to remove the object for the hopper.
Never, under any circumstances, put your hand down into the hopper
of the disposer. They have been to restart.
Use tongs, pliers, or even a coat hanger/hook device to retrieve
ungrindable debris.
Then,
with a short length of broom handle or a rolling pin, go into the
hopper and try turning the flywheel in either direction. If it doesn't
turn, double-check the hopper for objects; you may not have removed
all the hard debris that's jamming the flywheel.
You
will feel (and sometimes hear) the flywheel break free. At this
point, turn on the power, run plenty of water into the hopper and
flick the disposer switch on/off in quick sequence. This jolt should
spin the flywheel and the water will flood away any loose debris
in and around the hopper component.
