How to Fix a Stuck or Jammed Garbage Disposal
A garbage disposal allows you to empty food from the dishes into the sink and down the drain where it can easily be disposed of using a garbage disposal. Occasionally food can become wrapped around the flywheel of the motor of the garbage disposal causing it to become stuck or jammed. This problem can easily be fixed with a little know-how.
- Make sure that garbage disposal is in fact jammed by turning on the garbage disposal for a few seconds to see if you can hear the motor running.
- Turn off the garbage disposal by shutting off the fuse within the breaker box to ensure that no power is running to the unit.
- Inspect the inside of the garbage disposal with a flashlight to see if you can spot what is jammed inside.
- Use standard kitchen tongs to reach down inside of the garbage disposal unit to pull out any food or debris that may be lodged within the flywheel of the unit.
- Turn the power back on by flipping the breaker within the fuse box back on.
- Turn on the unit to see if you have successfully fixed the problem.
- Turn the power back off at the breaker box if the garbage disposal is still not working correctly.
- Insert a long object into the garbage disposal and manually turn the flywheel to help dislodge any food that maybe wrapped around it causing it to malfunction.
- Repeat this process until all of the food and debris has been removed from the flywheel of the garbage disposal motor and it is able to spin freely.
- Turn the power back on at the breaker box and test it out to see if it is working correctly.
- Call out a professional if you cannot dislodge the jammed material successfully.