Insinkerator Garbage Disposal Faq
Ruth asks…
Brand new Insinkerator garbage disposal hums but blades won’t turn. Any ideas?
I just installed a brand new Insinkerator Compact GD. The motor hums but the blades will not turn. I’ve hit the reset switch, tried turning the blades with the allen wrench, etc. to no avail. Not sure what else to try. Any ideas? My latest thought is there is an electrical issue.
Garbage Disposal Staff Says:
Since you already turned the blades with the allen wrench it has to be a disposal or an electrical issue. If you connected the AC cord hot lead (should be black) to the black lead of the garbage disposal and the AC cord neutral lead (should be white) to the white lead of the garbage disposal, then the AC cord ground lead (usually green) to a ground lug inside the disposal it should work. If it doesn’t work at this point, you have a bad disposal. Exchange it.
Betty asks…
Insinkerator Garbage Disposal?
Looking at Insinkerator‘s. Some sites say great and reliable others say junk. In my home is myself, my wife and our 2 yr old daughter. We don’t use the disposal very much at all but the one we have now has rusted through and must be replaced. I am looking for the best quality for the lowest amount. Im not looking for top of the line, just something that will grind food when I need to and not break/leak. Any advice? Should I go with Insinkerator?
Garbage Disposal Staff Says:
I install them all the time, and don’t have any problems with them.
Ken asks…
Badger 5 Plus Insinkerator garbage disposal stopped working ????
I tried hitting the reset button on the bottom side of the unit. I can’t seem to get it to work. Any ideas ???
It doesn’t seem like it’s lodged. When I flip the switch it doesn’t make any noise at all.
Garbage Disposal Staff Says:
You might have tripped the GFCI outlet supplying the disposal. A GFCI has two buttons on it, Test and Reset. Look around your kitchen, either around the sink or where your disposal is plugged in. If you find an outlet with these buttons, push the Test button. If the outlet trips, that wasn’t it. Push the Reset button to reset the outlet. If nothing happens, then this outlet has tripped. Push the reset button to reset it.
Note that there could be one GFCI outlet providing ground fault protection for multiple outlets. So, you might have to hunt around to find it. One way to check if this is even the case is to plug a known good electrical device into the outlet where the disposal is plugged in. If it works, then it’s not a GFCI or breaker trip fault.
If pushing the reset button on the disposal doesn’t restore operation, you have likely got something caught up in the mechanism. Unplug the unit and use something (like the broom handle someone mentioned) to try to free the rotating mechanism. If it rotates freely, there is good electricity at the outlet, and the reset button doesn’t make it come back to life, the unit is dead.
Courtesy of Y!Answers