When it rains, it pours--garbage disposal

[atgcpaul]

Two days ago I ran the garbage disposal and heard a metal clinking sound inside but not like a spoon or fork or even a peach pit. I stuck my hand in, felt around, and couldn't feel any foreign object. The little teeth didn't seem jammed.

We ran the dish washer last night and as I washed my hands in the sink, the water backed up a little (this is typical after running the washer--we clear it by running the disposal--is this normal?) so I flipped the disposal on. I hear a low motor hum but nothing moves. Doesn't even attempt to move. Again, I don't feel anything stuck inside and the teeth don't seem jammed up.

I haven't tried using the wrench to see if there's a jam. I don't know where it is, but it's just a standard large hex wrench, right? If it's not jammed, think it's busted?

[sailor55330]

Happens to ours fairly frequently. The blades will not move but the motor hums. The wrench should be a large allen wrench that goes into the bottom of the disposal and turns the whole assembly--it has always only taken fingertip pressure. When this happens I usually run water and use the wrench to turn the assembly about 1/2 rotation in both directions. The water flushes whatever is in there. It's probably not a big deal. Chances are you'll never know what what jamming it.

Good Luck

[atgcpaul]

1 for 2 today. The Allen wrench spun with little effort. Disposal ran fine but there was still something inside. I fished around some more and out came a metal screw. It probably fell in while I was installing cabinet doors or something.

[tfischer]

Glad you figured it out. We had something like that happen in the past, and I never could find an object... ended up replacing it.