How to fix a garbage disposal

[kingofnerf]

I used the Allen wrench thing on the bottom to free up mine tonight.  Not sure what was wedged in there but it's gone now.

I thought for sure the thing had died a while back, but nope.

 

[TKE226]

Allen wrenches are not just for putting together ikea furniture!

 

[etowngangsta]

You'd be amazed at how many times over the years as a property manager I've hit the reset button on garbage disposals to "fix them".  Allen wrench is second step.

 

[Spur's Addiction]

my FIL installed ours and I love the man but when you use it in the one sink bay if you dont physically hold down the stopper in the other sink bay it will shoot up all this water and gunk like a geyser!!! 

any idea what he did wrong and how I can fix that? thanks  

1) It's installed upside down (I think this would be hard to do). 

2) your drain is clogged downstream, after it joins with the other sink - does your sink have any normal draining issues?

Not sure what else it could be. 

 

[JimG]

Thank you for your help. Idk that it is clogged cause everything is new. All the pipes and everything under there are new cause we completely renovated the kitchen. But there could be an issue where it joins with the other sink cause thats where the dishwasher drains too and even sometimes when I use the dishwasher it will come back up in the opposite.... other... sink bay  

You'd have to show a picture of the drains. It may be possible to put a p-trap after the regular drain, which may minimize the back pressure blowing up through the drain. 

 

[JimG]

You'd be amazed at how many times over the years as a property manager I've hit the reset button on garbage disposals to "fix them".  Allen wrench is second step.

Yup....as a maintenance guy, I used to stick my hand into them and find things like screws and other objects that wouldn't go away. Sometimes a magnet worked. 

 

[STS]

Allen wrenches are not just for putting together ikea furniture!

I use them everyday to put in dental implants

 

[STS]

Thank you for your help. Idk that it is clogged cause everything is new. All the pipes and everything under there are new cause we completely renovated the kitchen. But there could be an issue where it joins with the other sink cause thats where the dishwasher drains too and even sometimes when I use the dishwasher it will come back up in the opposite.... other... sink bay  

maybe its clogged like way down under the sink. we didn't change any of those

ours used to do this as well!  almost always means a clogged drain line...you can use a sink plunger to help (not a toilet plunger in the sink)....I would put some water in the non-disposal sink and then seal off the disposal and use the plunger...when we redid our kitchen we went to a large farmhouse sink to get rid of the second sink...good luck!

 

[JimG]

I use them everyday to put in dental implants

 

[STS]

is that for real or is that a joke? 

sort of...a majority of dental implants have an internal hex at the top as an antirotation device so what we use to screw them in looks just like an allen wrench attached to a torque wrench lol

 

[STS]

oh God. 

in all honesty it is no big deal...patient rarely complain of post op discomfort

 

[TKE226]

my FIL installed ours and I love the man but when you use it in the one sink bay if you dont physically hold down the stopper in the other sink bay it will shoot up all this water and gunk like a geyser!!! 

any idea what he did wrong and how I can fix that? thanks  

is there a check valve between the two sink lines. If not the force will push the waste up the other line. It’s really just a flap to prevent just what is happening 

we have dual sinks and where the two drains come together there is a flap on one side

 

[SwampFox]

I had one that was gummed up and vibrated like mad. I fixed it by pouring very hot water down the train until the gunk on the impeller was dissolved. From experience, never use a disposal that does not have stainless steel blades and use it regularly.