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My garbage disposal is running but not draining. Why is that?
Do the blades spin?
I think so. How would I know without looking down into a scene better suited to a horror
movie?
If the garbage disposal makes that awful loud grinding but not gurgling, it’s probably
clogged. If it only hums, the motor is dead or the blades are jammed.
It’s louder than a hum.
If the water is spinning in there or the sink water is agitated, you know the blades are
going. That means the drain is clogged, and that the motor is running.
I know you shouldn’t put your fingers down there to clear it if you want to keep them.
First, turn off the power to the disposal. Then you need to clear the drain.
I think my mother used wooden spoons. Dad considered the broom handle safer.
You can actually use a plunger to try to clear it.
It feels weird using a toilet plunger in a sink.
What’s stuck in the garbage disposal is no worse than what’s stuck in the kitchen
sink. Oh, and if you have a dual sink, you need to plunge both sides.
What do I do next?
Run cold water through the sink to wash down what you’ve tried to loosen up. Then run
the disposal.
I have a feeling that might not work.
Plunging should push the gunk back and forth, breaking some of it up. You may need to plunge
it more while the water runs to clear it all.
This sounds like a lot of work.
In the future, don’t put stuff like egg shells, large chunks of food and grease down
the drain.
That's a lot of work.
Is it harder than unclogging a garbage disposal?