Problems of a Noisy Garbage Disposal

Normal Noise

• A garbage disposal is a noisy device. It’s not something you want to use during the baby’s naptime or in the middle of the night while members of the family are in bed. The motor is loud, and when you put foods into the grind chamber it only gets louder. But even when you need to run it during the day it is usually only for a very short time – perhaps 10 seconds or less. Unless the noise is unusually loud, then noise is not an indicator of a problem with the disposal.

Noise Insulators

• Some brands of garbage disposals are designed with more noise control in mind than others. If you go for a bargain disposal, it may not have the same noise insulators as a better model. The noise insulators include the rubber flaps that partially block the sink drain going into the garbage disposal, and some brands use a plastic casing that encloses the device under the sink to help muffle the sound and keep your kitchen a little quieter.

Humming

• The real problems concerning noise in your garbage disposal are pretty easy to detect. While the violent grinding noise is loud, it is normal. But a quieter yet powerful humming sound coming from the sink drain is a sure sign your disposal is jammed. Instead of hearing the usual grinding and slurping of water going down the pipes, there is no vibration from the spinning blades and only a motor hum and no movement. Something is keeping the blades from spinning. Turn it off immediately. If your disposal has an Allen wrench port in the bottom, you can adjust it to move the masher plate to dislodge whatever is jamming the blades. If it does not have an Allen wrench port, you might be able to use a broom handle to push down into the drain opening and twist the plate to release the jammed item.

Foreign Objects

• The most obvious noise in your garbage disposal will be when it gets something in the grind chamber that doesn’t belong there, such as coins or flatware. The noise will usually be very loud and will usually involve clanging and snapping sounds. Turn off the device immediately. You will have to fish the foreign object out of the disposal yourself, or hire a repairperson to do it. If you decide to try this yourself, make sure the device is unplugged from power. Although it isn’t likely to come on accidentally, you would have major injuries if it did.