There is a RESET button? DUH!!

Depending on how long you've reading this blog, you may know that we've had more than a few house issues since moving in two and a half years ago. Most of them occurred 6 months after moving in. It was frustrating and annoying, but we had them fixed, draining our savings account in the process, and moved on. One of the smaller annoyances was the garbage disposal. After a few months of use, kaput, it died. We decided not to fix it. I thought it was due to the fact that I may have accidentally let some rice go down the drain. I assumed the rice turned to sticky glue and ruined the disposal. I was sure of it. Maybe... maybe not.

For nearly two years, our sink has been a real pain. Clogging, and filling up with icky, stinky water when the dishwasher was run. Last week I begged and pleaded for Jaime to do something, anything... just please fix it. He agreed, he has had enough of sticking his hand down the drain, and plunging it.

Step one, research how to replace the disposal. While reading this article from Popular Mechanics, he learned of a RESET BUTTON. Yes, really it is true. After reading the paragraph below, he located our RESET BUTTON, and what do you know? It works. After two years, all we had to do was push the RESET BUTTON located at the bottom of the disposal. We got a good laugh out of this one.

Jamming is so common that every disposer comes with a wrench and an on-board circuit breaker, so don't assume your disposer has failed simply because it stops working. Use a flashlight to check for foreign objects lodged in the perimeter openings of the drum. Remove any obstruction with needle-nose pliers.
If you see nothing obvious, insert the wrench into the motor spline, found at the bottom of the unit, and twist right and left. If the motor spins freely, check that the circuit breaker hasn't tripped and then try the reset button. If these measures don't work, and your disposer's warranty has expired, it's time to replace it.