How-To
Garbage Disposal Humming or Won't Turn On? Start Here
By Mike Mackin, Owner ·
Two fixes solve most dead disposals, and both are free. First, if the unit is silent, press the red reset button on the bottom. Or, if it hums but will not spin, free the jammed flywheel with a hex key in the slot on the bottom of the unit. And never, ever put your hand in the chamber. Here is how to do both safely, and how to tell when the disposal is actually done for.
First, figure out which problem you have
Flip the wall switch and listen.
Humming but not spinning means the motor has power but something is physically jamming the flywheel. A bone shard, a fruit pit, a stray spoon wedged between the spinning plate and the grind ring. The motor is trying, and if you leave the switch on it will overheat and trip its overload in a few seconds. Turn it off.
Completely silent means no power is reaching the motor, or the internal overload already tripped to protect itself. That is what the reset button is for.
Trips the breaker the moment it starts means a seized motor or an electrical fault, and that one is past DIY.
The reset button
Every disposal has a small button on the bottom of the unit, usually red. When the motor overheats or jams, this overload pops out and cuts power so the motor does not burn up.
Turn the wall switch off. Reach under the unit and press the button until it clicks and stays in. If it will not stay in, wait ten minutes, the motor may still be hot, and try again. Then run cold water and flip the switch. If the disposal spins up, you are done. If it hums instead, you have a jam, keep reading. And check the obvious while you are down there: the unit is plugged in (they unplug themselves with vibration more often than you would think), and the outlet works.
The hex key trick for a jammed flywheel
The bottom of most disposals has a hexagonal socket in the center, and most units shipped with a little L-shaped wrench for it that is probably in your junk drawer. A 1/4-inch hex key works too.
Kill the power first, and actually kill it: wall switch off and the unit unplugged, or the breaker off if it is hardwired. Insert the hex key into the bottom socket and work it back and forth. You are manually rotating the flywheel to walk it off whatever it is wedged against. When it suddenly turns freely through full rotations, the jam is broken. Use tongs or pliers, never your hand, to pull the offending object out of the chamber. Press the reset button, restore power, run cold water, and test.
That sequence clears the huge majority of jams. If the flywheel will not budge with steady pressure, stop before you snap something. It needs a plumber’s eyes. And if it beats you, the price is friendly: unjamming a disposal with the wrench, and leaving the wrench with you, is literally a no-charge line item on our price book.
One thing not to do while you are under there: do not pour chemical drain cleaner into a disposal. It does not clear a mechanical jam, it just sits in the chamber and turns the next step into a chemistry experiment. If the disposal spins fine but the sink still backs up, the problem is a clog in the drain line past the disposal, which is a different fix entirely.
What killed it in the first place
Disposals do not last forever. The cheapest builder-grade models rust out on the inside and leak or fail once water reaches the motor. Celery and other fibrous foods wrap around the moving parts in the grinding chamber and stall the motor. Coffee grounds pack into a sludge. Large bones jam the chamber and burn out the motor. So scrape plates into the trash, run cold water the whole time the unit grinds, and most of this article becomes theoretical for you. The same habits prevent a good share of kitchen drain clogs too.
When the disposal is actually done
Some symptoms are not jams. Water leaking from the bottom of the unit means the internal seals or the chamber itself failed, and there is no repair for that. It is a replacement. Repeated breaker trips, smoke, a burning smell, or a unit that jams over and over after clearing all point the same direction. And age counts: around 5 to 10 years is a fair run for a basic disposal, so putting repairs into a unit that old rarely makes sense.
When it is time, our trucks carry InSinkErator models, including the super quiet Evolution series and the everyday Badger 5, so most swaps happen in a single visit. Bought your own unit at the box store? We will install it. Never had a disposal? We can add the plumbing to your sink. Either way you get the price in writing before we start, and our kitchen plumbing page covers what a visit looks like.
Disposal still humming at you? Book online or call 330-825-3686 and we will sort it.