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My in-sink disposal just broke.

A

AStar617

Diamond Member
So the disposal just stopped... disposing. All I get is a not-so-good sounding hum when I flip the wall switch.

I know the units themselves aren't too expensive, but in taking a glance under the sink it's hardwired into the wall. Any idea how much the labor costs on a typical replacement?
 
Omg I JUST had this happen today and i actually posted about it.

Calling the plumber and having them come do it is about 150 bucks not including the unit.

i replcae the thing myself and it cost be around 60 bucks , which was baically just the unit itself. Althgouh mine plugged in and was hanging off of the sink.
 
Originally posted by: neutralizer
Dunno, just don't try to stick your hand in there to fix it and turn it on.
Click to expand...

Just grab the blade and give it a whirl while turning the switch on and off. Might work. 😉
 
A new disposal is an easy 'do it yourself' project usually.. even if it's hardwired.

But, I would first recommend at least checking the disposal to see if it's stuck. A 'hum' usually means that it is stuck on something that was dropped into it. Just turn it off and reach your hand in it and feel around. If you can feel anything, go buy a disposal wrench and use that to turn it backwards and see if anything pops loose. If not, then it may be easier to get a new disposal.

A plumber would probby charge about $200 to install a disposal. But, it's seriously nothing to be intimidated about.
 
Do it yourself, it's really easy. Plumbers charge ridiculous rates.

But remember, any plumbing job always requires at least 3 trips to the hardware store, so start early in the day.

Do it yourself. E A S Y.
 
Originally posted by: Mo0o
Omg I JUST had this happen today and i actually posted about it.

Calling the plumber and having them come do it is about 150 bucks not including the unit.

i replcae the thing myself and it cost be around 60 bucks , which was baically just the unit itself. Althgouh mine plugged in and was hanging off of the sink.
Click to expand...
Mine hangs off the sink as an add-on as well, but the wire disappears into the wall.
Originally posted by: brxndxn
A new disposal is an easy 'do it yourself' project usually.. even if it's hardwired.

But, I would first recommend at least checking the disposal to see if it's stuck. A 'hum' usually means that it is stuck on something that was dropped into it. Just turn it off and reach your hand in it and feel around. If you can feel anything, go buy a disposal wrench and use that to turn it backwards and see if anything pops loose. If not, then it may be easier to get a new disposal.

A plumber would probby charge about $200 to install a disposal. But, it's seriously nothing to be intimidated about.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info... this one unit actually has some minor drippage which has been previously stopped with plumber's putty, so this is really as good an opportunity as any to just replace it...

Usually I'm fearless about diving into the DIY realm (the old furnace's thermocouple replacement was the definition of "non-stop cliffhanger excitement" 😛) but something tells me when there's blades AND electricity I better take a bit more caution. Not that a gas explosion couldn't have offed me just as easy before. 🙂
 
Before replacing the unit, you should first try two things:

1) If there's a circuit breaker on the unit, make sure that it didn't trip.

(Since your disposal is humming, that's not your problem.)

2) There might be something jammed inside. That prevents it from spinning, and you'll get the humming sound. Although I'm sure neutralizer's intentions are nothing but good, it's not likely you'll pry it loose by sticking your hand inside.

Instead, try using an allen wrench in that hexagonal hole that's on the bottom of the disposal unit. You'll get a lot more leverage... and that is why there's a hexagonal shaped hole on the bottom of the unit, and it's also why the unit originally came with an allen key!

Good luck.
 
Originally posted by: Rumpltzer
Before replacing the unit, you should first try two things:

1) If there's a circuit breaker on the unit, make sure that it didn't trip.

(Since your disposal is humming, that's not your problem.)

2) There might be something jammed inside. That prevents it from spinning, and you'll get the humming sound. Although I'm sure neutralizer's intentions are nothing but good, it's not likely you'll pry it loose by sticking your hand inside.

Instead, try using an allen wrench in that hexagonal hole that's on the bottom of the disposal unit. You'll get a lot more leverage... and that is why there's a hexagonal shaped hole on the bottom of the unit, and it's also why the unit originally came with an allen key!

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Though I'm not the OP... what if it didn't come with an allen key, or has a hex hole in the bottom of it? 😉
 
I replaced mine earlier this year. It wasn''t too hard but it was a major pain in the ass getting it to fit with the existing plumbing. Wiring was easy, black, white and green ground wire.

I got one of the stainless steel 5 year warranty units and so far it's been awesome.
 
When living with 2 other incompetent roommates I had a similar problem earlier this year. I could tell that it was jammed up because of the hum that it was making, and that it had worked earlier. I found the breaker for the kitchen/disposal and turned that off for safety.

I found that there was no way to turn the underside manually on my unit either, so I took a flat screw driver, a flashlight and a pair of long needle nose pliers and looked around inside from the drain to see what I could find, MIND YOU WITH THE BREAKER TURNED OFF!!!! Sure enough I found a peice of plastic, apparently a top to a liquor bottle or something of the sorts, that was completely jamming it up. I was able to break it free with the screw driver and pick it up with the pliers as I wasn't about to put my hand in there regardless. I removed the foreign object and turned it all back on and it worked like new again.

Damn roommates, they owe me bigtime for having some street smarts!
 
Originally posted by: brxndxn
A new disposal is an easy 'do it yourself' project usually.. even if it's hardwired.

But, I would first recommend at least checking the disposal to see if it's stuck. A 'hum' usually means that it is stuck on something that was dropped into it. Just turn it off and reach your hand in it and feel around. If you can feel anything, go buy a disposal wrench and use that to turn it backwards and see if anything pops loose. If not, then it may be easier to get a new disposal.

A plumber would probby charge about $200 to install a disposal. But, it's seriously nothing to be intimidated about.
Click to expand...

Absolutely right. It is simple to replace a disposal.
 
Yeah...should be an easy job even if it's hardwired....first, disconnect your disposal from the pipes so you can maneauver it and you might even be abel to use the same power cable if you buy the same brand...just turn the power off first.
 
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
Originally posted by: Rumpltzer
Before replacing the unit, you should first try two things:

1) If there's a circuit breaker on the unit, make sure that it didn't trip.

(Since your disposal is humming, that's not your problem.)

2) There might be something jammed inside. That prevents it from spinning, and you'll get the humming sound. Although I'm sure neutralizer's intentions are nothing but good, it's not likely you'll pry it loose by sticking your hand inside.

Instead, try using an allen wrench in that hexagonal hole that's on the bottom of the disposal unit. You'll get a lot more leverage... and that is why there's a hexagonal shaped hole on the bottom of the unit, and it's also why the unit originally came with an allen key!

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Though I'm not the OP... what if it didn't come with an allen key, or has a hex hole in the bottom of it? 😉
Click to expand...
The allen key that comes with the unit isn't special. Use your own allen key.

I've never dealt with a disposal unit that doesn't have a hex hole underneath it. I'm not sure many people are aware that there is one for this purpose, so I thought I'd let him (ya'll) know. I was just trying to offer another avenue before this guy starts putting money and effort into replacing what he's alredy got.
 
Originally posted by: Rumpltzer
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
Originally posted by: Rumpltzer
Before replacing the unit, you should first try two things:

1) If there's a circuit breaker on the unit, make sure that it didn't trip.

(Since your disposal is humming, that's not your problem.)

2) There might be something jammed inside. That prevents it from spinning, and you'll get the humming sound. Although I'm sure neutralizer's intentions are nothing but good, it's not likely you'll pry it loose by sticking your hand inside.

Instead, try using an allen wrench in that hexagonal hole that's on the bottom of the disposal unit. You'll get a lot more leverage... and that is why there's a hexagonal shaped hole on the bottom of the unit, and it's also why the unit originally came with an allen key!

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Though I'm not the OP... what if it didn't come with an allen key, or has a hex hole in the bottom of it? 😉
Click to expand...
The allen key that comes with the unit isn't special. Use your own allen key.

I've never dealt with a disposal unit that doesn't have a hex hole underneath it. I'm not sure many people are aware that there is one for this purpose, so I thought I'd let him (ya'll) know. I was just trying to offer another avenue before this guy starts putting money and effort into replacing what he's alredy got.
Click to expand...

Ah... I was just trying to point out that not all of them have hex holes on them. My biological parents' first garbage disposal (that just went bad a year or so ago) didn't, my adopted parents' current garbage disposal does not... 😉 I have no idea what brands they are, I can't remember.
 
The circuit breaker / reset switch is usually located on the bottom of the unit (instead of the side which would be too convenient to see). My wife told me that ours quit about a month ago. One press of the reset switch (breaker) on the bottom took care of it.

However, unlike yours which made a humming noise, mine was graveyard dead.
 
probably jammed on something . . . maybe some change went down and got stuck under the blade . . .

get a light and see if you can't see if there is anything jamming it . . .if there is, just use a long screwdriver to try to free it.
 
i replaced one "myself," hardwire and all, with little to no experience with that sort of thing. the part that screwed me was the pipes! I just couldn't get the stupid pipes to line back up afterwards, and I ended up having my dishwasher installer hook them up for $40 under the table.
 
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