I just googled to this site for help on my garbage disposal that would not drain. With the solution right here; I was compelled to send my thanks! I tried the first suggestion listed--"plunge it". I covered the drain opposite the disposal and plunged the drain with the disposal. So easy, quick and I am sure-saved me $ and stress! Thanks for your helpful hints on Thrifty Fun.
Hubby peeled the carrots for dinner, bless his heart, but then before I caught him, he turned on the disposal. Oh no! We fussed around for an hour, ground up carrots and water everywhere. Then I googled it, while he was looking for wrenches. Five seconds later...no more clog! Block the plain drain and plunge the disposal side, so simple and so effective! Thank you so much for sharing this tip! It's probably a plumbers' best kept secret.
Sept. 2009 and the plug-one-side, run-the-disposal trick is still working. My husband was sure I had put something untoward down that hole and said I could fix it. Well, I did - thanks to this dandy sight. Thanks, you saved my bacon! Hubby was duly impressed!
Here's a piece of advice: Don't run pineapple cores through the disposal. Even the plunger won't help you. I learned this the hard way. This morning I had to take the trap apart to drain it.
Excellent! I read through the responses, and the method that advised to plug up one side of the drain and plunge the side with the garbage disposal worked fantastically. Thanks!
The trick to plug one side of the sink then plunge the disposal side worked wonders. I loved it! I had been working on it all day and then this took literally 20 seconds. I am so grateful thanks so much!
AWESOME - - you guys are LIFESAVERS - - dishwasher is working right now. Thank you, thank you! cover the one side and plunge the other. saved me a plumber visit. THANKS YOU!
Using a plunger is good, as long as you haven't put a chemical cleanser in there first. Don't want splash back.
Taking the pipes apart, under the sink, and clearing them out can also help. My husband has used a straightened wire hanger to help pull out the clogs.
When my daughter moved into her new house, it was within a week her kitchen sink stopped up and she/her husband tried everything. Finally, they had to call the Roto-Rooter guy. Of course, with all their tools, he cleared it in no time.
The guy did tell them to NOT put old pasta (of any kind) down the sink/garbage. The starch in it makes the pasta, spaghetti is the worst, stick to the sides of the pipes like glue and eventually, closes off the pipes. Don't put any cucumber or similar veggie peels down there either.
Make sure after turning off the disposal, continue to run water to make sure whatever you ground up, goes down.
Once you get your disposer unclogged, once a day or more run a gallon of water into the disposer, this will constantly keep solids moving. What I do is cut the top off of a gallon milk jug, leave on the handle. I put this jug in the sink under the faucet and let it catch water from rinsing things, washing hands, etc. When it gets full, I pour it in the disposer.
I have never had good luck with a garbage disposal. In 2 separate kitchen sinks, we simply took them out. Toss the garbage in the trash. The septic tank does not need garbage.
Seriously before you call the repair man. My friend had this same problem and she did call the repair guy he came out unscrewed the drain part that connects into the disposal and out rolled a mangled whole radish, a $70.00 radish mind you! Just turn the power off and unscrew that part of the drain, maybe you have a radish or something similar to that lodged in there. Good luck.
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Archives:
Request: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Archived on 01/08/2009
My garbage disposal is stuck. When I turn it on it works fine, it grinds and everything. However, when the water is running and the disposal is not on, the water doesn't go down. I tried drain-o, and the little thing on the bottom of the disposal but it still gets stuck when it's not on.
Please help.
Thanks
Answers:
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Hello,
I have a disposal that will NOT run if I put even the peel of even one carrot down it! When my disposal gets stuck we use a plunger. Good Luck.(03/12/2005)
By Lisa
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
First, never use Drain O in a garbage disposal. Chemical drain cleaners cause lots of disposal problems. Doesn't sound like your disposer is stuck, rather it (or the related drain) is clogged. There are products available for cleaning your garbage disposal and the drain, which you should use every 1 to 2 months to keep things running smoothly. You can often find these at your local grocery or even at Walmart. Make sure they are for disposals.
(03/13/2005)
Is your sink a double one? If it is, plug the side without the disposal, turn the water on, and run your disposal. This has worked for me. (03/13/2005)
By Audrey
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
I just compost my food scraps and rarely have to use my garbage disposal any more! My plants love the compost. (03/13/2005)
By guest
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Audrey's post on 2005-03-13 worked like a charm! I had first made a mess taking the pipes apart, and also sticking my hand down the drain trying to move the blades, etc. I hooked it all back up and still that side of the sink would not drain. I put a stopper on the other sink's drain and then ran the disposal. The water bubbled a bit and then I pushed on the stopper a few times and then the disposal side sucked right down, and now it works like it's supposed to. Thanks! (06/05/2006)
By Trina
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Putting a stopper in the other sink running the water and the garbage disposal, then removing the stopper while the water is still running worked perfectly. Thanks! Wish I would've done it 3 days ago. (12/23/2006)
By Remy
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
I can't believe it worked. I was getting ready to take the whole sink apart until I read this post. I put the plunger over the sink side to block it and turned on the disposal. It gurgled and then drained. Mine also was not grinding. Once the water started to drain the blades started working as well. (07/12/2007)
By Shandamanmorgan
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Wow, I can't it worked. Closing the other drain did the trick! Thanks everyone. Having company for dinner tomorrow night, one less thing I have to worry about now! (01/01/2008)
By Jan
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
It is valentine's day and I have been quite stressed because our disposal was clogged causing havoc in the kitchen. As I started getting ready to go out to dinner, I decided to do another quick search, ran across this suggestion (to close the other sink and plunge), and it worked. Thank you. (02/14/2008)
By Njackson-Davis
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Wow, plugging the other side of the sink and then running the water really does work. My husband thinks I am so smart. Thanks! (02/17/2008)
By LaSonja
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Oh my, it actually worked! I assumed, like everything else, this would not work for me. That I would have a complicated problem that would require a plumber at $1,000 per hour, but this worked. I closed the other side and plunged the disposal side (several times) and down it went (leaving a yucky sink). Amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you! (03/18/2008)
By PflugervilleMOM
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
That thing about plugging the drain side and then plunging the disposal side is genius. I thought I was going to have to pay for a plumber to come fix it, but I tried this trick and it worked. Thanks so much! (04/18/2008)
By Liz
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Wow, thanks so much. I just tried plugging up the other drain, running the disposal, and plunging it. It worked! (05/02/2008)
By Vicki
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Wow... I've spent over 9 hours total on everything from Drano to snaking and could not get the water to go down. I found this solution, of course, after all that time and decided, what the heck..I'll try it.
Sure enough, 30 seconds later, it worked. The force was enough to blast through the clog and needless to say, all that hard work was for nothing and this saved me hundreds. Thanks so much! (05/25/2008)
By Randy
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
It took lots of plunging, but it worked. Thanks much! (06/09/2008)
By renfrue
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Thanks so much everyone! The water was just swirling around and not draining. It took a lot of plunging in the other sink before the water started to go down and stay down. Actually after the water started filling up in the sink, I just turned the water off and kept plunging the other side while the disposal kept running. The water finally got down to the bottom of the disposal and when I turned the water back on it was draining again! This website is a blessing! (06/12/2008)
By Ira vH
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
WOW! This actually works, and quickly. Thanks so much. Saved me money! What did we do before the internet? Spent money I guess. (06/26/2008)
By Elyse
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Thank you a million times. I am renting this house and I didn't want to call the landlord nor put damper on my husband's Saturday. I didn't know if this was going to work because it's 2 sinks and a garbage disposal sink. I plugged up the 2 sinks and started plunging. Then I closed the garbage disposal and plunged, first one sink, then the other. It became obvious which sink was plugged. Now it's working, the sink is clean and I've got a Saturday back and I didn't have to spend the security lease money dealing with this. I am so impressed. Just google it! (08/09/2008)
By Karen
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
This works! Saved me quite a few bucks paying a plumber, too. All I did was cover the opposite drain, plunge the drain to the disposal for maybe 10 seconds, then ran it and voila. Afterward I used some disposal cleaner which I left in overnight to help remove the smell and hopefully some grime. (08/16/2008)
By Shaun
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Seriously, if you need to go out to the store and buy a plunger, do it. This works miracles. My husband tried everything and then I found this, ran to get a plunger, came back, tried this once and TA DA! No more clog. (08/18/2008)
By Ashlee
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
You're advice was awesome! It worked immediately. Now my girlfriend can buy the pants she was going to get before the disposal broke. Giggity Giggity Goo! (09/01/2008)
By Happy Camper.
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Bless all of your hearts. We are retired and on a fixed income and I thought we were going to have to pay a plumber to come out. I tried your instructions and it worked like a CHARM! Thank you so very much! (09/07/2008)
By Donna
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Thanks everyone for the great advice! Took some elbow grease (lots of bailing water from one sink to another and many reps on the plunger) but all those clogging carrot bits were finally freed up and the sink with the garbage disposal unit is draining once again. Best of all, no money for a plumber. How thrifty is that! Word of caution - don't run your dishwasher if your sink isn't draining or you'll have flooded floors - (caught that one just in time). Thanks again all. (10/26/2008)
By Doing It Myself
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Closing the other drain worked for me too! I've been trying to fix my disposal all afternoon. I took the whole thing apart, had water everywhere, and all I had to do was close the other side to get it to drain. THANKS! What a huge relief after so much aggravation. (10/27/2008)
By MG
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Yeah, it worked! I put a plug in the non-disposal side of the sink, filled the disposal side with water (this was the side that was clogged) and plunged like crazy. It took a lot of plunging but I cleared the clog. The key was plugging up the other drain. (10/28/2008)
By HAC
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
We bought a plunger, plugged the other side of the sink, and it worked. Thanks! (11/01/2008)
It worked! Cover the overflow valve with an upside down cup (it will squirt out water all over the kitchen). Plug the non-disposal side with a plug, and plunge out the disposal. You may have to plunge pretty hard - but it works. (11/10/2008)
By super mom
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Just talked my wife through it over the phone, now she's a plumber :) (11/26/2008)
By Tom
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
I have one sink, how do I get the water to flow down? (12/07/2008)
By Claudia
RE: Garbage Disposal Won't Drain
Awesome. Did what you said and it worked great. Thanks. (12/22/2008)
