Your garbage disposal is an important part of your plumbing system. With just a flick of a switch, you can dispose of food scraps in just seconds. However, like all appliances, your garbage disposal might have some moments where it malfunctions and is unable to do its job. There are various reasons your garbage disposal might not be working—keep reading this blog by the pros at Freedom Air to find out!

1. If There is A Clog and Your Disposal is Humming Only— Try This

If your garbage disposal is humming but not grinding the food, there is a chance that there is something stuck in the disposal drain, creating a clog. The humming sound indicates that the motor is working find but the disposal “blades” are unable to move. To solve this problem, there are a few things you can do. First, you use a flashlight to look in the mouth of the disposal and see if there are foreign items like utensils clogging the disposal blades. If you think the clog might be caused by a piece of food, you can pour a mixture of vinegar and baking soda down the drain and follow it up with boiling water. This mixture will dissolve the piece of food. Lastly, if none of those methods work, you can use a wrench to manually move the blades. Simply look for a hex nut at the bottom of your disposal and crank the wrench a few times.

2. If There is A Clog in the P-Trap—Try This

If the blockage has made its way all the way down to the P-trap (the pipe underneath your sink that ironically resembles a “U”), you might have to try other methods. You can either remove the P-trap and get ride of any clogs or you can use a sink-auger to force the blockage out, which can be a useful tool to unclog a sink.

3. If You Smell an Odor—Try This

Garbage disposals grind and drain away a variety of food scraps every day, so naturally, an unfortunate odor might emanate from the disposal occasionally. This is normally a sign that you haven’t kept your disposal as well-maintained and clean as it should be. To fix this problem, you can try a few things. First, cut up some lemon peels and grind them up in the disposal for a few seconds. Secondly, you can use baking soda as it is great odor eliminator and works for a variety of appliances. You can also use vinegar, especially if you are looking for a natural replacement for bleach.

Wondering why your garbage disposal isn’t working? Get in touch with the pros at Freedom Air and Heat! Our team of professionals are highly qualified for taking on a variety of plumbing problems and would be more than happy to assist you and answer your questions. Call us today at 321-631-6886 or schedule a service with us on our website.