Another appliance · Waste disposal
Garbage disposal faults, and which ones you can clear yourself
Four symptoms cover nearly every disposal problem, and two of them take about ten minutes and a hex key to sort out. The fourth section says who to call for the rest, because this shop works on refrigeration rather than under the sink.
Flat $95 service call · line answered 24/7
Humming
It hums but nothing turns
A hum with no rotation means the motor is energised and the plate is stuck. Something hard has wedged between the impellers and the grind ring — a cherry stone, a bottle cap, a piece of cutlery that went in unnoticed — and the motor will sit there heating up until its overload trips.
Switch it off at the wall switch and, if there is one, at the breaker. Most units have a hex socket in the centre of the underside: put the key in, work the plate firmly both ways until it turns freely through a full revolution, then look down the throat with a torch and lift out whatever comes loose with tongs. Never a hand, even with the power off. Then press the reset button on the underside — it will have popped — restore power and run cold water while you test it.
Silence
Nothing at all when you flip the switch
Silence is an electrical story rather than a mechanical one, and it has a short list. The overload reset on the underside may have tripped after an earlier jam and never been pressed. The breaker may be off. The switch itself may have failed, which is common on a switch that has been flipped several times a day for a decade. Or the motor has finally gone, which on a unit of any age is the end of it.
Work through that list in order, because the first two cost nothing. If the reset holds for a few seconds and pops again as soon as it runs, the motor is drawing too much current and the unit is telling you clearly enough that it is finished.
Leaking
Where the water is coming from decides the price
A leak at the top, where the unit meets the sink, is the flange: the plumber's putty seal has dried out and shrunk. It is fixable, it needs the unit dropped and re-set, and it is not expensive. A leak at the side is usually the dishwasher inlet hose or its clamp, or the discharge tube gasket where the waste pipe joins — again, a part and an hour.
A leak from the bottom of the shell is different, and there is no good news in it. That is an internal seal, water is getting into the motor housing, and no gasket kit fixes it. A unit leaking from the base gets replaced.
Worth doing while you find out
- Dry everything, put paper towel underneath, run water and watch where it wets first.
- Check the dishwasher hose clamp before assuming the worst — it is the cheapest of the three and it loosens with heat cycling.
- Never use a chemical drain product in a disposal; it sits against the seals it is meant to be helping.
Scope
Who takes this call
A disposal is plumbing and electrical work at the point where the two meet, and it is not what this shop does. This is an independent Sub-Zero built-in refrigeration business covering Dover, Sherborn, Medfield and Westwood; a disposal belongs with a plumber, and replacing one is genuinely within reach of a competent homeowner who is comfortable isolating the circuit first.
The reason this page exists at all is that it used to, and people still arrive at it looking for an answer. So here is the honest version: clear the jam, press the reset, find the leak, and only then decide whether you are buying a repair or a new unit.
Asked often
Two short answers
The questions this page gets asked before anyone reads the rest of it.
- Do you repair garbage disposals in Dover?
- No. This is an independent Sub-Zero built-in refrigeration shop. A disposal is plumbing-side work and belongs with a plumber.
- My disposal hums but will not turn. What should I do?
- Switch it off at the wall and the breaker, free the plate with a hex key in the socket underneath, lift out the obstruction with tongs rather than by hand, then press the reset button on the underside and test it with cold water running.
Onward
What this shop does cover
Built-in refrigeration, in Dover, Sherborn, Medfield and Westwood.
Talk to someone
If the trouble is a Sub-Zero built-in instead, that one we can take.
The line is answered around the clock; a visit only gets booked once we agree on the phone that the appliance needs one.