Hum or silence: what's the difference?
New York Appliance Desk books garbage disposal repair and replacement across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, and the first question is what the disposal does when you flip the switch.
A hum means the motor has power but the flywheel can't turn. Something hard is wedged between the turntable and the grind ring: a bottle cap, a fruit pit, a chicken bone, a shard of glass. Keep flipping the switch and the motor overheats until its overload trips, and then the hum turns to silence. The tech frees the flywheel from below with a hex wrench in the socket on the bottom of the unit, then lifts the object out with pliers, not fingers.
Silence points to the red reset button on the bottom tripping, the wall switch or air switch failing, a dead outlet under the sink, or a burned-out motor. Press the reset once. If it trips again straight away, leave it off.
Why does the dishwasher matter here?
Most dishwashers drain through the disposal's side inlet. A jammed or clogged disposal backs dirty water into the dishwasher, and a brand-new disposal that still has its knockout plug in place blocks the dishwasher drain completely. If both are acting up at once, the disposal is the place to start. The dishwasher page covers the rest of that drain path.
Where is the leak coming from?
- Top, at the sink flange: plumber's putty or the mounting ring has loosened. Often fixable.
- Side, at the dishwasher hose: a loose clamp or a cracked hose. Fixable.
- Side, at the drain elbow: a worn gasket. Fixable.
- Bottom, from the body: the internal seal has failed. The unit gets replaced.
Say which spot looks wet when you call, and turn the disposal off at the switch until the tech has seen it.
What shouldn't go down an NYC disposal?
The disposal grinds food, but the building's drain line still has to carry it. Keep fats, coffee grounds, rice, pasta, eggshells and fibrous peels like celery and artichoke out of it, and run cold water before, during and after grinding.