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I dropped a corn cob holder down the drain and my wife turned on the disposal and now it's jammed. It was plastic with 2 nails poking out of it to stick into the end of an ear of corn. It hums for a few seconds then pops its breaker on its bottom. Resetting it does not help. If I remove the disposal is there a chance I will be able to remove the pieces jamming it, or is it destroyed?
It's not very likely that you have destroyed it, those things are tough. It just has something in it that is to tough for it to grind. Remove it and retrieve your corn holder and everything should be fine.
Col. Dana Gillespie
Testimonial: "I used a flashlight and could not see anything.
Home Depot sold me a $10 tool to stick inside through the sink to allow me to use force to make it spin. It seems to have worked, but the disposal seems quieter than before. Dropped a banana skin down there and sure enough, it was ground up and disappeared. Thank God for old knowledgeable guys at Home Depot! Now i can return the other disposal I bought there just in case!"
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A garbage disposal can be either installed from scratch or instead of an older disposal.
First of all you need to shop for the disposal that best matches your needs.
For example you should consider whether a noisy disposal would be a problem in your household, what kind of plumbing you have, or if you have kids or not.
Here are some guidelines:
- Choose a motor suitable for your household. There are models with lower or higher horsepower, for smaller households with small amounts of food waste, or larger households with more food waste.
- Consider the features that you need. Like a quieter disposal, or one made of stainless steel, or one that connects to the dishwasher. There is a vast variety of options and prices.
- If you have kids you might want to consider getting a batch feed disposal rather than a continuous feed one. The batch feed disposal is a bit more expensive but it is also safer for kids, as it requires the use of a stopper prior operation. While the continuous feed disposal starts running when you flip the switch on and will continue running a bit also after you switch it off. This can be dangerous if someone drops utensils down the drain or sticks a hand inside the disposal.
- If your plumbing connects to a septic tank you need a disposal made for septic tanks.
After shopping for the right disposal, you need to get hold of these tools you'll be needing for the installation:
- Electrical cord
- Disposer wrench
- Hacksaw
- Screwdriver
- Water pump pliers
- Plumber's putty
- Safety supplies: goggles, dust mask, gloves
When you are ready, the first thing to do before installing the new disposal is to turn off power and make sure nobody turns it back on while you work.
Now you can proceed removing the old disposal.
If the old disposal is attached to a dishwasher, loosen and detach the dishwasher hose with a screwdriver.
Then with the wrench unscrew the slip-nut connecting the disposal to the "P" trap waste line, putting a bucket under the trap to catch any waste water sitting at the bottom of the trap.
Remove the old disposal with the screwdriver and take apart the rest of the mounting assembly, including the ring on the sink sleeve, the sink sleeve, the flange, the fiber gasket and the old plumber's putty. Make sure to clean well the sink, the sleeve, the flange and sink opening from old putty and grime before installing the new disposal.
You are now ready to wire your disposal, whether it came with appliance wires attached or if you need to attach them yourself following carefully the manufacturer's instructions (after unscrewing the cover plate beneath the disposal and then screwing it back in).
The next step is installing the drain flange and mounting ring by rolling some plumber's putty between your hands to form a snake about half inch thick and 10 inches long and applying it to the underside of the drain flange. Insert the flange into the drain hole and press down to attach it. You can then snap on the backup ring, fiber gasket and mounting ring.
Use a knife to cut away the extra plumber's putty that will have squeezed out around the flange.
At this point you can place the disposal into the mounting ring making sure that the disposal's outlet is facing the drain pipe connection, and tighten it until it stays in place.
Connect the P-trap, using the hacksaw to cut the discharge pipe to size if too long, and attach it to the outlet of the disposal. Make sure to connect it properly by reading carefully the manufacturer's instructions. If your disposal connects to the dishwasher attach the discharge tube to the disposal as well.
You can now turn the power back on and run cold water into the sink, turning on the disposal to make sure it's working and to check if there are any leaks, and running some food through the disposal to make sure it grinds and disposes properly.
Make sure to mantain your garbage disposal in good shape by avoiding grinding certain items like hard shells from shrimps, crabs or other shellfish, unpopped popcorn kernels and hard bones, by avoiding fibrous or starchy foods like banana peels, celery, potato peels, corn cobs, artichokes, fruit pits and hard seeds like avocados or peaches, onion skins and egg shells, as they create clogs and membranes that will ruin the disposal, and by cutting down big pieces of food into smaller pieces.
It is also best to run cold water while the disposal is on, keeping both water and disposer running for about a minute after the sink is cleared. Cold water helps push food down, avoid overheating of the system and unlike hot water, doesn't melt fat, that would re-solidify as a blockage further down the drain.
It is jammed the way to fix it is to use wooden broom stick and place the handle side in disposal and let it engage on the side pull stick back and forth till you free up the cutting blades. Then test it to see if it works. This happens a lot with disposals.
Are the blades actually turning or is just the motor running? First, turn off the power to the disposal at the circuit breaker. Do not put your hand in until you do this.
If you hear the motor running, but not the blades, then the blades are jammed. On most disposers you can put an allen wrench in an opening under the unit and move the blades. If the blades move freely, then your drain line is probably plugged. If the motor runs, but the blades don't and they will move freely by hand, then the disposal needs repair. If the blades are jammed with food, you can clear the jam with your hand and the allen wrench trick from underneath. Once the disposer is freed up, run cold water down the drain for a few minutes to harden any grease build up inside. Then running the disposer should get rid of the hardened grease. By the way, most disposers have a reset button on the bottom of the motor should your disposer jam and turn off or trip your breaker.
Orange peels, etc. will not harm your disposer. A good way to keep it clear is to put egg shells down it periodically. The shell action will scrape junk off the inside of the disposer.
You can also keep the disposer clean of grease buildup by pouring some baking soda in the disposer followed by a mix of hot water and vinegar.
Hope this helps. If it does, I'd appreciate a 4 thumbs up. Thanks,
Disposal is jammed or has gone off on reset. There is a red reset button on the bottom of the unit. If jammed, turn off breaker and switch.Clean out any debris so that you can get a good visual, most common problem is small piece of bone or a coin (dime or penny) stuck between the blades. Garbae disposals are hard on plumbing pipes-best solution is remove all together.
Hi,
No, but the blades wear out after a while...
Here is a tip that I wrote that will help you to figure out what is going onwith your garbage disposal and why it is not working.
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