How To Troubleshoot Your Garbage Disposal
The garbage disposal in your home is a convenient appliance to have. It helps to crush up the food left over on your dirty plates and other dishes after a meal has been devoured and makes it easier to clean up. A garbage disposal is not a necessary appliance, like most appliances in your home, but it makes things more convenient. If your disposal has stopped working, you may want to have it repaired to get it working properly again. Troubleshooting the problem is one of the things you can do in order to find the issue and either make the repair yourself or hire a professional to do this work for you. Read on for some troubleshooting tips you can use to help you.
Look For A Clog
You could have a clog in the disposal causing it to not work properly. If the disposal is clogged with something, you may be able to reach inside, and it may be clogged in the blades. Before you reach your disposal though, you need to be sure you have absolutely no power going to the disposal. This means shutting it off at the fuse, not just at the switch. Once you are sure there is no power, you can reach inside and gently remove whatever is causing the clog. If you have something wrapped around the blades, you will need to unwrap whatever it is. The clog may be somewhere that you cannot reach, in which case, you may need to use a drain snake to help remove the clog. Once the clog is removed completely, you can turn the fuse back on and test the appliance again.
Inspect The Blades
Your garbage disposal may not be working properly because the blades are too dull and cannot chop up the bits of food. If this is the case, you can attempt to sharpen them by using ice cubes in the drain and turning on the disposal. If the blades are just too dull, you may be able to replace them altogether. To do this, you'll again need to turn off the power, remove the blade assembly, and install the new assembly in the disposal. A new blade assembly may be found online or through an appliance parts supply dealer near you.
If your garbage disposal is not working properly, there could be a number of things causing this issue for you. Use the troubleshooting tips above to help you with minor repairs.
Contact a professional for more information about garbage disposal repair.