How to Troubleshoot a Food Waste Disposal

Most modern kitchens have an appliance called a food waste disposal, also known as a garbage disposal. Basically, you place certain types of scrap food items in the disposal, and rotating blades pulverize the scraps so that they can be washed away without clogging your pipes. While a garbage disposal can be very convenient, from time to time problems may arise that require some basic troubleshooting. Once you try a few troubleshooting techniques, your food waste disposal should be up and running again.

Allen wrench
Tongs
Ice
Rock salt
Lemon juice

Instructions

- 1
  Disconnect your food waste disposal from the power source for your own safety.
- 2
  Turn the masher plate inside the food waste disposal if you think something might be jamming it. To turn the masher plate, insert a ¼-inch Allen wrench into the port on the part of the disposal that's located under your kitchen sink. Move the wrench to turn the masher plate.
- 3
  Use metal tongs to reach inside your food waste disposal from above the sink and retrieve the jammed object that has been loosened.
- 4
  Connect your food waste disposal to the power source, and turn it on. If there's still an issue, continue to the next step.
- 5
  Reset the food waste disposal. This can help if nothing happens when you try to run the disposal. Press the small red button on the disposal under the sink to reset the unit.
- 6
  Clean your food waste disposal if it has an excessive buildup of debris. Add a few handfuls of ice and approximately 1 cup of rock salt. Turn on the disposal and let it run for several seconds. This will clean out the debris.
- 7
  Deodorize the food waste disposal if it has a foul smell. Turn on the disposal and the warm water, and squeeze lemon juice directly over the sink. Do this for about a minute to deodorize the disposal.

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