garbage disposal question for all the handymen

woodstock

woodstock

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I think I killed my garbage disposal. :lightning:

I was pouring wine down the drain (opened the bottle a few weeks ago and never finished it) and it slipped out of my hands and fell straight down in. I grabbed it immediately but it was already being chewed and it snapped off at the neck. So now there is ground up glass in my garbage disposal. This literally happened in seconds. :wineglass:

The disposal just hums now. I found the red button underneath and pushed it - nothing. Still hums.

Will they have to replace the disposal? They can't very well clean broken glass out of it with their fingers. If he gets it running again will it grind up the rest and be down with it? Or is it new disposal time?
 
Sounds like a piece of glass may be stuck in the mechanism.

Once it dries, you may be able to vacuum out the glass. See if you have an "unstick tool" - most disposers come with one. You use it with the power off to turn the cutting blades backwards, hopefully dislodging the stuff that's stuck. Then remove the blockage.

Chances are, one of the pieces of glass got wedged between the blades and the wall.

If you can't clear it, it's probably cheaper to replace.
 
If it's jammed, most disposers have an allen slot (unstick thingy like Bill said) in the bottom which you can put a wrench in and unjam it. Then, push the thermal overload (red)button and try it again. When applying pressure to the base of the disposer, be sure not to loosen the attached plumbing by turning the whole machine. Also, when using a disposer, always run cold water and not hot. When you grind up fatty, oily stuff, hot water puts the fat in emulsion and it later adheres to the cool drainage pipe lines downstream and can cause nasty blockages. If you have a septic system in the yard, get rid of the disposer and use a compost pile.
I used to own a plumbing company years ago and we made lots of money installing and servicing garbage disposers.
 
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Edit - see what happens when I type too large a message? ^ Bill says it concisely above!

You should be able to see if any glass fragments are wedged between the blades and the wall with a good flashlight. Push the rubber fingers away to get a clear look inside. You might be able to fish the pieces out with a needle nose pliers.

Most disposals have a hex key socket in the bottom of the shaft to free a stuck shaft. Insert an allen wrench into the center of the shaft at the bottom of the motor and turn back and forth to free it up. You still will need to get those pieces of glass out of there.

As an alternative to replacement, pulling the disposal, turning upside down and shaking, combined with poking around to loosen the fragments should revive it.

Disposals fasten to the sink with a large camming nut and standard fittings to the drain pipes. It's not hard to remove it.
 
First, your disposal is probably fine. It is just jammed right now. Motors produce much less torque when they are trying to start than they do when they are running, plus they have the rotary inertial thing going when they are at full operating speed.

Certain brands of disposals (Insinkerator for one) have a metal allen key that usually lives in a small pouch nailed to the underside of your sink cabinet. This key can be inserted in the center bottom of the disposal (from the underside of the cabinet). Use the key to turn the disposal backwards or forwards to loosen it up Once it can move freely, even for a portion of a revolution, remove the key and turn it on. It will make a racket for a while but it should clear itself up in short order.

If yours doesn't have a key, use a broomstick or a big honking* screwdriver to pry and rotate the rotating disk from the top. Then remove the prybar and turn it on.

If that doesn't work, disposalls are pretty cheap and easy to install, so it is not like working on an airplane. There... we worked aviation into this thread!

-Skip

* cleaned up for publication. You know what I meant.... :rolleyes:

edit.... damn this crowd jumps on posts quickly!
 
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yu yu yu know, I aw aw awlways hate to he he hear about any wasted wha wha wha wine; so when yu yu you get it fixed cu cu cu could I come to your nex' puh puh puh parrrty?

HR(apologies to estate of Foster Brooks)
 
Lawreston said:
yu yu yu know, I aw aw awlways hate to he he hear about any wasted wha wha wha wine; so when yu yu you get it fixed cu cu cu could I come to your nex' puh puh puh parrrty?

HR(apologies to estate of Foster Brooks)
Click to expand...

I loved that guy. There was a whole class of comics during that era that we just can't match today. Any Dean Martin roast would provide more laughs than anything on today.
 
Pouring wine down the garbage disposal!!!!! No wonder it quit and refused to work. You're lucky that you didn't get struck by lightning!!!!
 
If you have ever heard the bob and tom radio show, you could call Mr obvious
Joe
 
thanks everyone! I just got in and don't feel like dealing with it tonight. I'll try it tomorrow. I have a plumber coming in for an unrelated leak so I think I'll have him risk his own fingers. (joking - but no way am I sticking my hand into a disposal).
 
Ya know, you could have just avoided the whole mess if you simply put the remaining wine in the bottle in your car. Then, the next time you come across some "urban outdoors-man," you hand him the bottle. You make him smile and your disposal is spared! :D
 
gkainz said:
google remove and replace garbage disposal - the first few links will tell you everything you need to know.

one example - http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ha_installation/article/0,2037,DIY_13868_2268445,00.html

re: aviation related ...
- treat the disposal prop as a live prop and believe it could start at any time
- yell "clear" before flipping the switch on
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Yeah. Like when I was a clearing the disposal and was staring at the OFF power switch....and the ex-wife went to hold her hand on the switch. :hairraise:

I gently told her to get away.

It wans't like there was a need to jump on the power ASAP.
 
Plumber is here. All fixed. He didn't even see pieces - that's how powerful those damn thing are. He got it going, flipped the switch, it ground up the rest of it and it's done.

He's now fixing the leak.
 
Lawreston said:
In your wallet?
Click to expand...

:rofl:

All 3 of my toilets need work. I went to look for American Standard parts and found that their web site didn't show parts or part numbers, just "Contact your licensed plumber." No thanks, I don't need to drop $100 for something I can fix myself.

I found the parts online and ordered them.
 
woodstock said:
I think I killed my garbage disposal. :lightning:

I was pouring wine down the drain (opened the bottle a few weeks ago and never finished it) and it slipped out of my hands and fell straight down in. I grabbed it immediately but it was already being chewed and it snapped off at the neck. So now there is ground up glass in my garbage disposal. This literally happened in seconds. :wineglass:
Click to expand...


What kind of wine do you drink that you need the garbage disposal on to pour it down the drain?! :)
 
LeonardMack said:
What kind of wine do you drink that you need the garbage disposal on to pour it down the drain?! :)
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I had opened it quite some time ago - didn't finish it and thought I'd get around to cooking something with wine. I didn't, and I felt like opening a fresh bottle of wine and didn't want several half-empty wine bottles on my counter. sheesh!

the plumber was only 100 bucks guys. I have a home warranty.
 
jesse said:
Tony, How much is $100 to you?
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difference between paying bills and tapping into savings?

between ramen and mac and cheese?

5 glider flights?

-taking donations, send checks to:

Thirty Two Sixteen Frederiksen Ct.
Ames, Iowa 50010
 
Hey, if either of you want to come over and stick your hand down my garbage disposal next time, I'd be happy to pay you 100 bucks.
 
woodstock said:
Hey, if either of you want to come over and stick your hand down my garbage disposal next time, I'd be happy to pay you 100 bucks.
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No problem. Although you'll need to pay for me to fly there. I would also just use the manual override on the bottom of the garbage disposal as per the above instructions. If there wasn't one--I'd use something like...a broom. If that didn't work I'd make sure that it was no longer hooked up to electricity by either disconnection or turning the breaker off.

But yeah. I'll need you to pay for me to fly there.
 
Sorry! No travel expenses included. I can get a local plumber for 100 bucks. And oh yeah, as mentioned above, you'd also have to fix the leak under my sink, included in the same 100 bucks - bring your tools!
 
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