Earlier this year we had the disposal replaced. One of Toddler Mojos metal spoons had gotten jammed under the blades and had subsequently broken it. Recently we had a bit of a panic attack when we tried to turn on our almost new disposal and it didn’t dispose of anything.
Instead of neatly grinding up its contents, the disposal merely spun them around quickly without draining the water. I described it to my wife as a very aggressive whirlpool for a roach or mouse. As we’re not in the business of comforting wayward mice with a deadly, spinning bath, we were dispatched with the task of fixing the problem.
As with all things broken in the house, our compact critter whirlpool had reared its ugly head just three hours before company was coming over. Thankfully we had somebody in the house with lots of experience fixing things: a houseguest who quickly deduced what the problem was.
Are the disposal blades spinning? No
Access what the problem is with the disposal. Are the blades spinning? If the blades aren’t spinning then the problem is with the blades, perhaps something is jammed in there. Mommy Mojo has a fear of us sticking our hands in the disposal. The disposal is off, but she thinks that Casper the unfriendly ghost wants to take off one of our hands and will turn it on.
If the blades aren’t spinning, then (while the disposal is 0ff) stick an object or your hand in there. Move the blades or see if there is a foreign object in there. If your significant other has a fear of Casper the unfriendly ghost, then unplug the disposal first. With luck there will be a small spoon or rock in there that you can take out.
If there is no foreign object then reset the disposal and see if that does the trick. The reset button is usually on the bottom of the disposal; hold it down for a couple of seconds. Did that work?
It’s possible that you really have a jam in your disposal. Get an Allen wrench and put it in the middle of the underside of the disposal. It’s typically at ¼ inch Allen wrench and it will fit neatly into the device. Simply move it back and forth, with luck that will loosen whatever is jammed under the blades and allow you to remove it from the drain opening.
Are the disposal blades spinning? Yes
In our particular problem, the disposal was thrashing water from the sink like Mothra rising from the sea. Our disposal blades were spinning and ready to chew up stuff, but the water wasn’t draining. The water wasn’t draining.
Our houseguest quickly asked us “Do you have an extra plunger in the house, maybe one that wasn’t used in a toilet?” We did not have a totally clean plunger, but we did have one that was rarely used. After cleaning the plunger, he filled the disposal side with water and jammed the plunger over the hole. It took a couple aggressive plunges, but the jam finally cleared and allowed the water to pass.
Recap
The solution was quite easy, but in our panic we failed to get a broad overview of the situation and think logically about the
problem. Our houseguest told us that he keeps an extra plunger, used only for the disposal, just in case it gets clogged.
As a stay at home dad I miss having the spare time to fix things. Even though the child is my full time job, things still break or need a fix in the house. Sometimes the repair will be something that I can easily complete and other times it’s a repair that I simply should’ve paid to have it done. Regardless, I’ll write it up here in hopes that you may be able to gauge what you can do and when you need to call in for help. The series is called, DIY a Stay at Home Dad Can Do, but in some cases, you shouldn’t, because of difficulty, time involved or money. All dads aren’t equal. If you have plungers for hands, then bypass this series and go straight to the fart jokes, which should be in the next column.
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