How can I fix my garbage disposal? It makes the sound like it trying to work but doesn't?

FIRST READ THIS ANSWER.

DO NOT GO DIGGIN IN YOUR UNIT FOR FOOD OR ANYTHING.

Under most units there is a alan screw

When you get the unit installed they will give you a alan set wrench to unclog the unit.

all you have to do is make sure the power is off and put the wrench in the bottom (its next to the reset) and turn it back and forth this will losein what is in the unit. If you cant turn it and its stuck really good then you need to get all the water out of the sink use a shop vac- then look inside to see what it is. and go from there

The reason i say dont just put your hand in because Im a plumber and I have seen many people get cut really bad because a spoon or something got in the unit and they put there hand in to grab it and got cut. You have to remember there are a set of blades in the unit also They are n ot sharp per say but over time they could get that way.

Also a good thing to have on hand Is a Garbage disposal wrench ( it looks like the letter T with a moon shape pc on the bottom. What this does You insert it into the top of the unit and it fits between the blades and you move it back and forth. Just like the wrench under the unit but this 1 is alot more easy to use. And you could get this at and hardware store for 10 bucks.

1 Last thing if the unit is bad due to a spoon and it got ruined Go buy a ISE Unit at home depot they ahve about 6 differnt ones there you want to buy 1/2 horse it will set you back bout 100bucks. But the good thing about these units are they have auto reverse. What this means is when you turn the unit on it works normal but when you shut it off it spins in reverse (this is done to reduce the risk of a jam in the unit) and also ISE is the best out there for home use.

And I hate to say this but if you have a GD like a bone crusher or anything like that THEY ARE NOT WORTH 5 Bucks.

They might seem to work but they do not chop the food into very small pc they are alot bigger, And this in time will cause the line to get cloged And you dont need that.

First, make sure nothing is stuck it it. I've stuck my hand in the disposal NUMEROUS times and have had no problems (except for cramming the wrong stuff down it in the first place). There may just be something stuck in the holes, but not in the blades. Things I've learned not to put in there: flower stems, pineapple skins/peels, artichokes leaves...anything that's really fibrous.

You didn't say if there was standing water in that side of the drain, so I'm going to assume that there's not. With that said, I'd suggest a few things: Pour 2 tablespoons of a grease-cutting dish soap (like Dawn) down the disposal, followed by slowly pouring a gallon of scalding hot water. If that doesn't work you can also try a mixture of 1/2 cup baking soda and 2 cups of either vinegar or lemon juice (the cheapest thing to use is white vinegar). Pour the baking soda in first, then add the vinegar (or juice). That may clear out any gunk.

You can insert the handle of a toliet plunger and try to move the blades, but be careful not to break the disposal (obviously).

In the future, in addition to always running water when you put something down it, also make sure to run water AFTER you turn off the diposal (I use hot water, actually), to wash down any remains. And, whenever you think about it, throw an entire tray's worth of ice cubes into the disposal to keep the blades sharp.

Sounds like it's been jammed by something. When this happens to mine, I reach down the drain and feel around for the jam and try to clear it. It is dangerous to do this, though. If you try it, make absolutely certain that the switch to the unit remains in the off position the ENTIRE time you work on it. There's probably a safer way to do it (like taking the part under the sink apart) but I'm not aware of how to do that.

You could call a plumber, instead. But that costs money obviously.

On most garbage disposals there is a reset button on the very bottom of them. See if there is a jam by reaching down (be sure power is off), then push the reset button. If that doesn't work, try a handyman (they are less expensive than a plumber.)

This happened to me awhile ago. It turned out that I had accidentally washed a rubberband down the disposal and it got caught, winding around the blades. I taped the switch to the off position and just had to carefully pull the pieces of the rubberband out. Onion skin and leaves can also cause this problem.

I stick my hand in there dozens of times taping of switch off is a good idea. Glass chips is the worst I had to take it all apart to get that out but feel around the edges thats where it stops turning then try manually turning it to free it up if not then its time to do the full take apart thing

sounds jammed..probally with utensil

shut off breaker and start digging