My 2 year old InSinkErator garbage disposer stopped working. No spinning, grinding, no sound at all. I checked the voltage in the outlet it is connected to and it is OK. What can be a problem and what I should be looking at?
Many disposers have a built-in circuit breaker - a small button on the bottom of the unit.
This breaker can pop if the unit gets jammed. Look for the button and give it a press. Feel for a click as it resets. If it does, turn on the disposer. If it pops again, it could be jammed.
Turn off the disposer. Grab the allen wrench that should have come with the unit and insert it in the hole in the bottom of the unit. Try to turn the motor in the opposite direction of normal spin to free it up. You might have to turn it in both directions to free it up. I once got glass jammed in my unit and had to use the wrench to "jar" the motor back and forth until little by little until it broke up the glass and became free.
Good luck!
If the disposer is leaking water towards the bottom, the breaker can be shorted out. Replace the unit.
Without the tool, use a broom handle. Insert from the top and try to release the jam. A jaw (slicer/dicer) might be stuck. YMMV.
Look on the bottom of the disposal. You should see an allen socket, I believe 6mm is the common size. New disposals come with one.
Make absolutely sure that the power is off by unplugging the disposal, insert the appropriate allen wrench into the socket and turn the motor until it feels like it is turning freely.
Plug the unit back in and turn on the power.
Sometimes something gets stuck in between the rotor and the housing of the unit when it is powered down and the motor does not have enough force to begin spinning from a dead stop.
re: the motor does not have enough force to begin spinning from a dead stop.
As far as I know, every motortized appliance or tool that I own, including my garbage disposer, begins spinning from a dead stop.
As far as I know, every motortized appliance or tool that I own, including my garbage disposer, begins spinning from a dead stop.
Wiseguy :-)
I had to do this less than 6 months after installing an InSinkErator. I had doubts about the quality of the disposal at that point (the others I had owned in different homes had never stopped working like that before...)
It has worked flawlessly since (almost 2 and 1/2 years).
A soft drink tab jammed our disposer this summer. Fortunately the family with the children staying with us moved out into their own apartment.
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