Garbage disposal keeps getting hung up

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My garbage disposer just buzzes. It worked a couple times but it was really noisy and rough running. Then after that it just buzzes. I unstuck it with an Allen wrench, but it seems there is a stiff spot when you rotate it around where it's a little harder to spin with the wrench. Not too bad though, but apparently enough to keep it from spinning. So then I turn it on and it runs for a second until it hits that spot. I didn't put anything down there that I know of. Unless the last person who owned the place did.
 
Have you looked down inside for debris? Mine jammed on a very small bit of plastic. Hard to see at first but I pulled it out with some needle nose pliers. Keep it clean by running cups of ice through it once a month or more.
 
probably has been overworked over the years?

start it with the allen .

use some running water and ice

then some spent lemons

then more running water and ice

(to clean any sludge/restriction)

Probably it is right to budget for a new one?
 
It doesn't jam though, just a little harder to turn. I can keep turning past the tough spot and it will free again. Apparently it's enough to overcome the motor and stop it from spinning.
 
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My folks somehow got a small piece of steel wire in theirs, and it gave me fits until I finally found it. I was ready to simply replace it (had a new one bought) when I finally found it in there.
 
Get an impact wrench and a hex bit that fits the garbage disposal.

Spin it with the impact wrench until it turns freely.

I did this on a garbage disposal that was so jammed the sink was bending when using a breaker bar with a hex bit on it!

The impact wrench unjammed the disposal after almost 20 seconds of hammering away at it.

Protip: If you run your garbage disposal once in a while, it won't get jammed to the point of needing an impact wrench to unjam it...
 
It was a sliver of metal. Works great now. Lol I'm not really sure what it goes to though.possibly a fork at one point?
 
It was jammed on the outside part where those scissor looking things are along side the wall of the disposer. I used a knife to hold back the rubber so I could get a good look.
 
I think garbage disposals are gross. When we bought our house last year (a fixer upper) it had one and after a month or so it stopped working and had the grossest smell know to man. When we redid the kitchen we opted to not install a new one.
 
Originally Posted By: 2010Civic
I think garbage disposals are gross. When we bought our house last year (a fixer upper) it had one and after a month or so it stopped working and had the grossest smell know to man. When we redid the kitchen we opted to not install a new one.


So what do you do to unclog It? All it takes is a bowl of cereal to clogg it up.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: 2010Civic
I think garbage disposals are gross. When we bought our house last year (a fixer upper) it had one and after a month or so it stopped working and had the grossest smell know to man. When we redid the kitchen we opted to not install a new one.


So what do you do to unclog It? All it takes is a bowl of cereal to clogg it up.


Use the cereals in your belly, wash the bowl, and use a strainer/basket?

Or you can dump everything and anything and you wonder why it clogs and leaks from all joints....
 
I have had two places with disposers and never had an issue. The one in our house now is a Kenmore unit from the early 90s. It get used once a day at least.

We put ice down it once and a while to clean it and usually dont put much down it anyway we just scrape plates and such. I have run a lot down it before and it had no issues.

We compost in the summer, but cereal flakes, crumbs of meat ect... go in the disposer. And in the winter its to cold many time for me to go out to the compost pile.

I love our garbage disposal.
 
I had a badger that would work fine but if it would not be used for a couple days then it would just buzz. I would use a socket to break it free and then it would be fine until it sat a day or two again. Figured it was a bearing seizing up or something. Lasted 13 years, ordered a new one, exactly the same so it was an easy swap with no plumbing mods. I'm sure there is better disposers out there but I was happy with my Badger.
 
I believe undersink garbage disposal units are an outgrowth of the restaurant industry where they can save time.

Adapting them to home use was just another example of American consumerism born in the 1950's.

A little care and a drain throat strainer are all you need.

If you use and love yours, great!

My experience includes units depositing wads of fibrous material into drain pipes which might not be designed to carry it away.

I also feel that massive flushing with water is often used to keep 'em trouble free. I think that's a waste of water just so someone can skip emptying a strainer.
 
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