Garbage Disposal Jammed? Clear It, Reset It, Clean It

Master plumber Brent Clifford of Eco Plumbers in Hilliard, Ohio, walked Ethan James of The Honest Carpenter through several quick fixes for a jammed garbage disposal. His central point: a disposal that seems dead is often not broken.

How the disposal works

A disposal sits beneath one of the sink basins and receives food particles and water through a big gasket. When it is switched on, a grind plate inside spins. Little brass impellers on the plate swivel and channel food toward the outer wall, where it grates against slots at the base. The macerated food is washed down with water and swept out through a drain valve into the plumbing waste line.

Usually a disposal stops because a foreign object has fallen into the grind chamber. These units are not designed to macerate anything stiffer than small wet bits of food. Spoons, glass or ceramic will jam them, and a badly jammed unit may stop spinning and shut off altogether.

Safety first

The first step is to turn the unit off and keep it off until the problem is solved. The video suggests considering throwing the appropriate breaker, so a live unit can't spin up during the work. It also says not to use Drano or any clog-clearing chemicals. They can destroy the disposal's walls and components, and they can burn a technician who has to fix it later.

Clearing the jam

Sometimes an object can be fished out from above with tongs or long needle-nose pliers. If that fails, the unit can be dismounted and emptied:

• Remove the dishwasher drain line by squeezing its spring clamp.
• Disconnect the drain waste line from the sweep arm by backspinning the tubular connector.
• On a three-prong cleat mount, rotate the lock ring counterclockwise so the unit drops or slides away.
• Take off the rubber baffle on top, look into the disposal and turn it over to toss out the jammed items.

The thermal reset

After the jam is cleared, the unit may still not start. It has probably overheated during the jam. Many units have a thermal lockout switch that breaks a small circuit when they sense a lot of resistance, much like a breaker. On most units a little square button on the underside of the canister can be pressed with a finger to reopen the circuit. The disposal is then remounted on its cleats and reconnected to its plumbing lines.

Freeing it without removal

With the unit off, an Allen key turns a socket on the underside. Rotating it back and forth several times can dislodge an obstruction. Then press the reset button and run water so the macerator clears the waste. Between these two methods, the video says, you will resolve 90 percent of clogs.

Prevention and cleaning

Brent advises not putting anything larger than a dime down the disposal and scraping larger food waste into the trash. Pasta or potato water should also stay out, since starchy foods can coagulate and clog a drain almost as fast as grease. To clean the unit, put in a scoop of ice, douse it with liquid dish soap, run the disposal and wash the mixture down with cold water. The ice chops and clears macerated food particles, and the soap cleans and slightly lubricates the unit. Hot water afterward clears the line.