An in-sink garbage disposal can provide a convenient and hygienic means of disposing of foods scraps. For many homeowners, using this appliance quickly becomes a necessary part of their daily routine. Consequently, when this appliance stops working, these homeowners will often be in a hurry to get it back up and running. The good news is, accomplishing this task can often be much easier than you may realize. In fact, by following the simple steps below, you will likely be able to troubleshoot this problem on your own.

Step 1: Check The Power Supply

The first thing you will need to do is to ensure your garbage disposal is getting the power it needs to turn on. While this may seem like an obvious statement, you may be surprised to learn just how many people ultimately discover that their garbage disposal problems are the result of a power cord that was unplugged or a fuse that was blown.

Begin by checking under your sink to ensure the power cord is securely plugged into the outlet. You may also wish to run an extension cord from another outlet so that you can rule out the possibility of problems with the electrical outlet beneath your sink. If this does not resolve your problem, you will need to check your fuse box in order to ensure the circuit has not been tripped.

Step 2: Reset The Garbage Disposal

If you have determined that power is being delivered to your garbage disposal, the problem may be with the internal circuit. If this circuit was tripped due to a power surge, you will need to reset the appliance before power to the unit can be restored. In order to do this, look for the red reset button on the bottom of your garbage disposal. Once you have located this button, press the button in and wait for the button to pop back out on its own. Once the button is up, this means that the appliance has been reset. If this was the source of your problems, your garbage disposal should be ready to use once again.

Step 3: Replace On/Off Switch

If you still have been unable to restore power to your garbage disposal, your problem may be a faulty on/off switch. In order to correct this problem, you will need to replace this switch in its entirety. If you are not familiar with this repair process, it is best to leave this particular job to a trained professional, like Oscar Disposal Ltd, as electricity can be quite dangerous if not handled properly.

If your garbage disposal will not turn on after completing all three of these steps, chances are the unit will need to be replaced.