Fixing a jammed Garbage Disposal
Garbage disposals are simple machines with basically a motor and a flywheel with impeller arms that spin and shred whatever they strike. Sometimes, though, disposals can jam on bones and other debris, or trip a circuit breaker when it’s overloaded. If that happens, you just need to take a quick step or two to repair it:
1. Turn the garbage disposal on and off quickly and check to see if it has power. If it hums, the power is on but the impeller is jammed. Move on to step 3. If it doesn’t hum, it may have overheated and tripped a circuit breaker. Move on to step 2.
2. Restore power to the machine.
Most disposals have an overload switch that trips when the motor starts to overheat. To reset the switch, look for a small red button on the bottom of the housing, and if it’s there, push it in (see A). If your disposal doesn’t have an overload switch or the machine still won’t run after you reset the switch, reset the circuit breaker that serves the disposal. If this works on to step 6.
3. Clear the jam from underneath.
On many disposals, you can insert a 1/4-inch (6-mm) Allen (hex) wrench into the bottom of the housing and manually move the motor shaft and flywheel to dislodge the jam. If your disposal has an opening for an Allen (hex) wrench, insert the wrench and move it back and forth until the motor and flywheel turn freely. If this works on to step 6
4. 
Clear the jam from above. Take a broom handle, put the handle part (not the brush part) down into the drain. Turn the handle counter clockwise and then take out the handle and turn on switch. If it still does not work, try the same thing but turn clockwise. Do this a few times and it usually works. If this works on to step 6
5.Remove the debris. Turn off the circuit breaker that controls the garbage disposal. Reach inside with a pair of long-nose pliers and pull out whatever jammed the machine.
6. Turn on the cold water–this hardens any grease inside and helps the disposal chop it up–and while water is still on, run the disposal until all the remaining garbage is gone.
Hopefully by following these steps you can fix the jam/overload quite quickly and at the same time save yourself the expense and time of having to call the plumber.
