Garbage Disposal Repair and Replacement

American Rooter Plumbing is here to meet your garbage disposal repair needs. American Rooter Plumbing will first inspect your garbage disposal to see if it can be repaired or not. Sometimes garbage disposals will get solid objects lodged in the blades, causing the disposal to make a buzzing sound, or possible kick the breaker switch on the disposal. Other times motors burn out in garbage disposals, and must be replaced.

For the do-it-yourselfer, you can sometimes fix the problem before calling a plumber. See the tip below for more informaiton.

TIP: CAUTION: Wear proper eye protection before working on any plumbing project!

1) CAUTION: Unplug the garbage disposal!

2) With a long screwdriver and a flashlight, look down into the disposal by using the screwdriver to move the rubber drain gard out of the way so you can see the disposal blades. Look for foreign objects. Very small and hard objects can jam the blades. Clear obstacles by using a long-handled needle-nose pliers or similar.

3) If you can see an object, but can reach it, or don’t have the proper pliers, you can typically remove the disposal by loosing one circle ring bolt that secures the disposal to the drain flange. However, this takes some strength, agility, and know-how to do a proper re-install. You can’t have any water leaks! We recommend you call a plumber in this case. If you are able to remove the object, look for other broken pieces before proceeding.

4) Plug in the disposal and test it to make sure it works properly. CAUTION: Never look down in the drain hole while operating the disposal, as objects can fly out.

6) If the disposal still doesn’t work, press  the reset button on the bottom of the disposal and try it again.