Only after you have tried to unclog the garbage disposal on your own doing the following steps should you call in help because the problem could be an easy fix and doing it yourself will save you money.
One: Make sure the motor is not jammed – Try turning on the switch for the garbage disposal and if it hums without doing anything else, then it is locked up. If that is the problem then you need to turn off the switch, wait for a little bit and then hit the reset button under the sink on the garbage disposal to see if that corrects this issue.
Clogged Garbage Disposal
You can also manually free the motor by turning the shaft of the garbage disposal, which is also under the sink. Use a wrench to do this, which you can get at any hardware store if you don’t have one.
Two: Make sure there are no clogs in the pipe – You can easily take off the S or P shaped pipe under the garbage disposal using a wrench so you can check for any obstructions in it. If you find food obstructions stuck in it, then take them out and put the pipe back together.
Many times that alone will clear up any clog that you are dealing with, but not always. Don’t forget to check in the trap of the disposal to see if the clog is in there because this is one area that many people forget about, but often times is where the clog is happening.
Three: Make sure the disposal is plugged in correctly – There are many times that the disposal may not be plugged in right and that is why it is not working. If that is the case then plug it in right and check to make sure it is working correctly.
