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Monterey, CA
Plumbing Services

Garbage Disposal Repair

No more dealing with foul smells or clogged drains!

Garbage Disposal Repair

Garbage disposals are the epitome of kitchen convenience. They eat the food you can’t so that you don’t have to worry about it rotting in the garbage and causing your home to smell like a dump. They also save you from having to fish disgusting food remains out of a clogged drain that isn’t equipped to deal with such a workload.

This convenience makes your sink disposal not working that much more annoying to contend with. When garbage disposal problems happen and you don’t want to risk your fingers, there’s no one more qualified than the professionals here at After Hour Plumbing & Drain. In the early morning or the middle of the night, no disposal issue is too small for our plumbers to address with urgency. We’ll be at your house fixing the problem before you know it so that you can get back to getting rid of last week’s take-out you never got around to throwing out.

potatoes being pushed down sink drain by hand, causing a drain clog

How Does A Garbage Disposal Work?

At After Hour Plumbing & Drain, we understand the importance of knowledge. We strive to provide our customers with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions about any services we may provide. With that in mind, here’s a brief rundown on how a garbage disposal works, along with a list of parts it will be helpful to be familiar with.

Most disposals are housed in a plastic casing and located directly under your sink. Rather than using blades to shred waste products, disposals work by using a rotating base called a “flywheel”, which uses centrifugal force to push food to the outside walls of the unit. With the help of two objects on the flywheel called “impellers”, the food is then forced to drag along a “shredder” attached to the outside walls of the disposal.

Troubleshooting Garbage Disposal Problems

Firstly, and most important, never stick your hand into a garbage disposal. With a little bit of knowledge and know-how, most garbage disposal issues can be fixed without having to risk injury to your fingers.

While it’s a slight misconception that garbage disposals are capable of immediately shredding your hand to pieces, they are capable of causing injury — and the risk is rarely necessary. Even in instances when something like a fork falls into the disposal, most objects can be easily retrieved with a pair of tongs.

Now that we’ve done our due diligence to save your fingers, here’s a quick guide to troubleshooting the most common garbage disposal problems:

  • The disposal won’t turn on and isn’t making any noise.
    • If your disposal is refusing to do anything at all, this generally indicates an electrical problem. With a jammed flywheel, the unit will usually at least hum. Most disposals have a button on the bottom that acts as a circuit breaker for the unit. If pressing that doesn’t resolve the issue, the next step would be to check your circuit-breaker to see if that has tripped.
  • Disposal is making noise but not running
    • If your disposal is humming but not actually working, this usually means that the flywheel has been jammed. Most flywheels can be manually turned with an Allen wrench through a bolt located at the bottom of the unit. Manually turning the flywheel with this will generally resolve most jams.

These are the most common issues disposals deal with that can be easily fixed by the average homeowner. As stated above, it’s never necessary to actually insert your hand into the disposal! Whatever the problem, it isn’t worth your fingers.

When the issue can’t be fixed with a press of a button or with a simple Allen wrench, the professionals here at After Hour Plumbing & Drain are here 24/7 to deal with whatever disposal issue you can throw at us!

Our employees are committed to providing the most consistent Monterey garbage disposal clog repair possible! If a simple repair won’t do it, we also offer full replacement and installation services that will be done to the highest standards possible.

Let After Hour Plumbing & Drain Dispose Of Your Plumbing Problems!

After Hour Plumbing & Drain is here 24/7 to address all of your plumbing needs. We’re dedicated to providing the most consistent plumbing services possible. When you call, we answer. Whether it’s a jammed garbage disposal or a disastrously clogged toilet, we’re here to do the dirty work to make sure that your home’s plumbing system is working at its best.

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Monterey, CA
5 Harris Court, Bldg N6
Monterey, CA 93940