How to Repair Garbage Disposals: Jam, Clogs & All

How to Repair Garbage Disposals: Jam, Clogs & Others In this article, we would like to consider the main reasons for the failure of food waste disposers and how to repair them before contacting a service center. So, garbage disposals were invented back in 1927 by InSinkErator and today hundreds of millions of garbage disposals are installed worldwide. The average life of the disposer is 8-10 years.

Let’s look at the main causes of failure and how to fix them:

Contents

1 1. Garbage Disposal switch failure
2 2. Garbage Disposal got Clogged
- 2.1 How to Unclog a Garbage Disposal Step by Step
- 2.2 Don’t forget to clean the P-Trap pipe connected to your disposer
3 3. Overheating or hit of a metal object
4 4. Garbage Disposal Flywheel Repair + Video
5 5. Maintenance

1. Garbage Disposal switch failure

The pneumatic button or a switch of the disposer is in a fairly aggressive environment when:

chemicals and water get into its case – it is necessary to disassemble the button, using a knife to remove the decorative cover, remove the membrane and remove water from the case of the pneumatic button with a napkin, assemble in the reverse order
the inner membrane may break – it is necessary to replace the button completely
the plastic tube is damaged – it is necessary to find the place of damage by blowing the tube under water, air bubbles will indicate the place of rupture

2. Garbage Disposal got Clogged

The most common breakdown of waste disposers is clogging. It can be caused by metal objects accidentally falling into the hole, large bones, tissue fibers, or a plastic bag caught in the drain. To eliminate clogging, inspect the drain hole and try using forceps to remove jammed objects or fibers. If you cannot pull it out, try pushing the item further. If the clog is removed, try turning on the device. If not, you will have to go below and unscrew the hoses leading to the sewer. Perhaps the interference can be removed from this side. Does not exceed? Do not waste time and call a plumber.

Caution:

Do not use any chemicals, it may cause a corrosion of the metal parts of the disposer, or “eat” the plastic parts.

After removing the clog — press the red Reset button at the bottom of the disposer, which resets the processor memory, it will work again.

If your disposer started to leak – be sure to check our material on this matter.

How to Unclog a Garbage Disposal Step by Step

The step-by-step illustrations to unclog a garbage disposal

Press the switch button to turn off the disposal

Turn off the electricity to your garbage disposal Use a flashlight to find out what causing the clog Turn your blades with a hex wrench to manually break the clogs Try using pliers to get the clogged materials

Try using a plunger to get to the smallest clogged materials Run some water, turn on the electricity and your garbage disposal

Don’t forget to clean the P-Trap pipe connected to your disposer

Demount the p-trap pipe

Put some towels or a bucket under the pipe

Unscrew the connectors of the pipe Clean the scrap inside the unmounted trap pipe

3. Overheating or hit of a metal object

When a metal object gets into the grinding chamber, the auto-stop system also turns on. In both cases, it is necessary to press the red reset button at the bottom of the garbage disposal so that it turns on again (depends on the model and brand).

4. Garbage Disposal Flywheel Repair + Video

There is no blockage, but the disposer still does not work? Perhaps the problem lies in the flywheel.

First, use the hex wrench to loosen the flywheel and try to remove the fibers or the remnants of the plastic bags that could jam the wheel.

Then you should unscrew the bolts and check the impellers – sometimes the flywheel stops if debris has accumulated on them.

5. Maintenance

Learn the fundamentals and keep your disposer well operational for a long time. Here is the list of Do’s and Don’ts:

Waste that can be processed in the disposer:

vegetables
fruits
watermelon and melon peels
eggshell
chicken, fish and small meat bones
pasta
cereals
bread products
fruit seeds
nutshell
cigarette butts
napkins and disposable paper towels

In order to avoid damage to the device, we would not advise trying to feed objects such as:

non-food waste (with the exception of the waste listed above)
large bones
fibrous and sinewy waste (meat veins, celery stalks, peel of bananas, ears of corn)
plastic bags
steamed onion peel
hot fat (or melted butter)

If a large bone accidentally gets into the chopper, the mechanism will be disabled using the locking system. The bone can be removed using a special device attached to the disposer.

Resinous and fibrous wastes are not crushed in the dispenser, but only impede the process of its operation, enveloping the grinding elements.

Threads or tea bags that accidentally fall into the dispenser are wound on the axis of the chopping mechanism and bring it into a stopper state. But this is not the most dangerous. Now, if the threads are wound on the working shaft, the engine is overloaded, its rotation speed decreases and thermal protection is triggered. In this case, the mechanism will have to be disassembled to remove the threads.

Hot grease adheres to grinding elements and can clog sewer pipes.

If you really tried everything to fix and repair your old garbage disposal, and it still doesn’t work properly — it is time to think about the new model from a well-known and trusted brand. Check our list of best garbage disposals available in 2020, it will definitely help you to make a smart choice.