It seems the disposal always stops working at the worst moments…right when you’ve put the stinkiest, nastiest items down the drain and you flip the switch – only to hear a hummmmmming sound rather than the loud grinding sound you expected.
The humming sound doesn’t mean it’s broken. It just means there is a stuck flywheel situation going on.
Let’s fix the humming disposal in literally 5 steps:
Tools You Will Need To Fix Your Garbage Disposal
- A long wooden dowel (or the long end of a wooden item that you don’t mind throwing away)
- A pair of pliers
- A 1/4 inch Allen Wrench or an “InSinkErator Wrenchette”
Save Money and Fix Your Garbage Disposal
1. Cut Off Electricity To The Disposal – Look under your sink and see if the garbage disposal is plugged into the wall or not. If plugged into the wall under the sink, unplug it. If it’s not plugged into the wall, then go to your electricity box and shut off the electricity to your kitchen area.
2. Grab Your Tools – Grab an “InSinkErator Wrenchette” (You can find it here on Amazon for about $6.) or a 1/4 inch Allen Wrench.
3. Use The Tools – Find the garbage disposal under the kitchen sink and look at the bottom of the disposal for the small opening. Put the “InSinkErator Wrenchette” or the 1/4 inch Allen Wrench in the hole and turn until you hear the disposal open and all of the contents going down the drain.
4. Use Your Wooden Stick or Wooden Dowel – to turn the flywheel which is the inside bottom part of the disposal through the sink. Then use the pliers to remove the item you may not want to go down the drain.
Pour Yourself A Glass Of Wine – because you just saved a couple of hundred dollars by NOT CALLING A PLUMBER!