Why is My Garbage Disposal Jammed?

Hello World!  Welcome Friends!  Your garbage disposal is designed to prevent clogs and blockages in the pipes by pulverizing food into smaller pieces. Given the nature of the device, It may seem a little bit ironic that the machine is able to jam, but it is a common issue that a lot of homeowners are going to have to deal with at one point or another. Understanding the problem is going to help you to prevent it, ensuring that the garbage disposal is going to last for as long as possible.

There are a lot of different reasons why your garbage disposal is going to get jammed up and not work the way that you would like. Some of the most common reasons why the garbage disposal may be jamming up on you include:

 

A Metal Object Gets Stuck

Metal is going to be one of the worst enemies of a garbage disposal. If there is some metal that will get into the disposal, then the mechanism is not going to be able to deal with it, which will cause the grinding plates inside of it to jam. Even worse, you may notice that the metal object will clatter around inside of the disposal, which not only creates a lot of noise, it will cause the disposal to jam up as well.

The best thing that you can do here is to keep metal out of the garbage disposal and as far away as possible. Unfortunately, metal is able to get into the disposal too easily, which is when many of the problems are going to occur. You need to check the disposal before using it to see if things like nails, screws, bottle caps, and silverware happen to get lost down the sink before they cause any damage.

Too Much Waste in the Sink

There are two different types of garbage disposals that you can choose for your home, the batch and the continuous. Batch disposals are going to work when they fill up the grinding chamber and then they turn on, so that it can do all of the work in one go. On the other hand, you could also end up with a continuous disposal, which is going to work continuously, allowing you to feed some waste into the disposal as needed.

Most of the disposals in homes right now are continuous because these are more convenient to use. However, if you end up feeding too much waste into the machine too quickly, the disposal is going to run into trouble handling it. Eventually, the mechanism is going to get clogged and it may jam up. You need to understand the power and the size of the disposal so that you know the amount of waste it can handle at a time.

Bones and Hard Food

The type of waste that you send down the sink is going to make a difference as well. While the garbage disposal can be strong and will handle quite a bit, if you are sending bones and other hard items of food down it, then you could be causing the disposal to work too hard and causing a lot of damage as well.

Putting the wrong types of food down the garbage disposal can be just as bad as putting too much food down. Bones can be a big struggle for the disposal to crunch up at any given time and it may be enough to jam up the whole machine. Some smaller bones on occasion aren’t as bad, but it is always best if you are able to avoid these completely if possible because of the potential for them to ruin the garbage disposal.

Fatty and Fibrous Foods

Another thing that you need to worry about when it comes to the health and use of your garbage disposal will be the greasy and fatty foods. These are going to work hard to clog up the garbage disposal and will be enough to impact the mechanism. This may be enough, if you are not careful, to cause some long-term damage to the disposal. If you do not keep it in check and get it fixed, or stop sending that kind of food down the disposal, then it means that you would need to look at replacing the device.

Starchy and fibrous foods tend to have the same effect. This means that you need to avoid some of those foods going down the sink as well. Do not put celery or potato skins down the sink if you want to let the garbage disposal last for a long time.

Keeping the Garbage Disposal Safe

One of the best things that you can do for your garbage disposal is use caution when it comes to the types and amounts of food that you send down the drain. While it may seem like your disposal is going to be able to handle any of the foods you would like to send down, this is just not the truth. You need to be careful and avoid some of the foods that we listed above. Sending them down can get the whole machine jammed up and may be enough to cause it to break. And when that happens, you will need to call in the plumbing professionals to get it fixed for you.

When your garbage disposal gets jammed, it is important to call in the professionals and have them take a look at it. It is easy for items to get stuck in the garbage disposal, and then. You will end up with a mess that is hard to clean on your own. While some homeowners may try to do some of the work on their own, they will find that this can turn into a bigger mess than they would like to do on their own.

Whether you need help with your garbage disposal or you have another major issues with the plumbing in your home, trust our team at John Padilla Plumbing to help you get things done and to ensure that your garbage disposal is going to work the way that you expect. Our team has the knowledge and experience to get any of your plumbing issues handled in no time. Give us a call and see how we can help you!

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