home repair rob on 09 Nov 2008 11:14 am
Fixing a Broken Badger 5 Plus Insinkerator Garbage Disposal
My Badger 5 Plus garbage disposal seized up a few weeks ago after some mango peels made their way down into the drain. The disposal simply made this humming noise when it was on. It sounded like the motor was going but the blades were not turning.At first, I was ambivalent. “Maybe it will fix itself” I thought. But it didn’t. And then the sink stopped draining. So, I did the horror-movie thing and reached down into the bog of coffee grounds, lettuce and bloated cereal flakes to check if the blades were moving.
Apparently, you’re supposed to use a broom handle to do this, but that doesn’t get the same adrenaline rush of wondering if a freak accident will cause the fingers on your right hand to be appropriately diced up.
The blades did move freely down there, so I sort of just shifted the food particles around and the water drained a little less slowly, but no less disgustingly from my sink. And then mid-terms hit so I didn’t do anything about it for a few weeks. I tried it again at one point and noticed that even the hum of the motor had gone away. The problem with the disposal had progressed to the death of the machine.
This morning I emptied out some old rice milk, (who knew rice milk could congeal?) and headed to the grocery. On my return, I found the rice milk peices still floating in my sink and decided enough was enough, it was time for action.
Download Rock Show, the Concert Posters app for the iPhone and iPad
I put my serious game face on and googled until I found people with my same problem. This guy Ryan at the Daily Ping had a post with a ton of responses that were similar to my situation. I distilled a lot of posts down to the following steps to troubleshoot and fix the Badger 5 Garbage Disposal when it stops working for you:
- When you flip the switch, does it hum?
- If it doesn’t hum:
- Check is it plugged in?
- If it is plugged in, feel around on the bottom of the disposal for the reset button. More info on that button here.
- Hit the button and test it again. Humming now?
- If it hums:
- Are the blades moving freely?
- If not, use a broom handle or a long wooden spoon to try and spin the blades.
- You can also try sticking your hand down there, but you are risking your career as a hand model. (Turn off your circuit breaker for safety!)
- If they are spinning freely when you touch them, but they won’t engage when you turn the disposal on::
- Go to your local hardware store and buy a 1/4 inch sized Allen wrench also called a Hex key or Hex tool. It is an L-shaped, six sided tool. These usually come in a small set for about $4.
- Look under the disposal for a mysterious hole at the center. Place the short end of the hex tool into this hole and rotate it around a few times, back and forth. If you have a small bog of eternal stench in your sink like I did, and you’re lucky, you should see/hear the water immediatly drain.
- Try the switch again. With luck, your disposal will be back to hacking up your food bits.
Note: In the comments some folks have said it can take more vigorous repetition in some cases. All I’m saying is you may have to show that drain who’s boss.
- Are the blades moving freely?
- If it doesn’t hum:
I hope that these steps help a few people fix their sink. If you have any other questions, or these instructions helped you you’re welcome to post about your victory here.
Update: I’m so pumped at how many people this helped and posted in the comments. You’re welcome. I couldn’t have done it without the mango peel that got me into this mess. That was an important mango.
on 10 Nov 2008 at 9:00 am 1.rrb said …
You could have also called Joe the Plumber. I hear he has lots of free time now…
on 10 Nov 2008 at 2:35 pm 2.Mary said …
But Joe the Plumber is woefully unlicensed, so using him would be as risky as sticking your hand into the garbage disposal.
on 11 Nov 2008 at 12:35 pm 3.Israeli said …
We don’t have garbage disposals in Israel! Lucky you!
on 23 Nov 2008 at 12:05 pm 4.Des said …
Rob,
Great troubleshooting tips! My disposal just broke in the middle of the football game. After cursing for a while, I read your blog. Your blog both gave me some laughs as well as helping me fix the problem. Didn’t help my team win but thanks a lot for the tips!
on 27 Nov 2008 at 8:59 pm 5.Young said …
Thank you so much!!!!!!
I made it. Wow.
on 20 Dec 2008 at 1:36 pm 6.NotSoHandyGirl said …
Thank you! You saved me from having to call my landlord. I never thought I would be so happy to hear the growl of my grinder.
on 02 Jan 2009 at 8:27 am 7.Deely said …
Thanks for the tips. I was debating buying a new one or calling for service. You just saved me ~$100 by being able to free it up with the hex wrench.
on 03 Jan 2009 at 10:18 am 8.Connecticut said …
Thank yom, thank you. I went to a local store, bought a 1/4″ Allen wrench and hey presto it worked. Two small pieces of bone had lodged in the disposal unit. I sucked them out with a wet/dry vac.
on 06 Jan 2009 at 6:23 pm 9.Tim said …
Thank you–worked perfectly!
on 13 Jan 2009 at 5:14 pm 10.Andy said …
Awsome Thanks
on 21 Jan 2009 at 5:52 pm 11.Anita said …
Yes!! Just when I was ready to throw in the towel and call for help for our 3 year old disposal, I googled and found your post. The sweet sound of rotating, grinding blades fills my kitchen again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
on 26 Jan 2009 at 6:48 pm 12.Josh said …
OMG!! Was ready to call Landlord and Joe the Plumber to be without a garbage disposal for a few days. Worked like a charm!!
Rob, thank you so much for this!
J
on 11 Feb 2009 at 6:54 pm 13.Lauren said …
Thank you Rob! You are the best for saving me from being in the dog house with my husband because I somehow got our dish rag got caught in there.
Your instructions worked great! Thanks again.
on 16 Feb 2009 at 10:40 am 14.Chad said …
Rob, your the best. I thought I was going to have to install a new unit. After reading your post I got it fixed. Thanks…
on 20 Feb 2009 at 6:49 pm 15.Anna said …
Thanks for the info on the Badger 5 unit. I also thought I was going to have to replace mine, but after reading your post, I was able to fix it. It saved me the time and effort to replace it and the money as well. Keep up the good work!!!
on 24 Feb 2009 at 10:18 am 16.Steve said …
Wow,
Thanks really thought my wife did it this time.. Busted vase or something was in there. Reset button has worked in the past, but I never knew about the allen wrench deal. Had one in the garage and it solved it (after vacuuming out a bunch of glass) Thank You! I thought I was about to buy a new one and was deciding between calling a plumber or do it myself!
on 27 Feb 2009 at 4:48 pm 17.sharon said …
You are my hero!!! Thank you so much. A metal clip had wedged down in there and I could not get it out. That manuver worked and I was able to pull it out. I could not afford a new one and pay the plumber to install it. It is a beautiful sound, the ole garbage disposal.
on 27 Feb 2009 at 7:46 pm 18.Steve said …
I have had this machine apart in the past, and I still did not realize there was a reset switch on it! Thanks!
on 06 Mar 2009 at 9:18 am 19.Laura said …
Thank you!!!!!!!
on 08 Mar 2009 at 12:14 pm 20.Otto said …
So I am following your instructions. What if after 1-3: Hit the button and test it again. Humming now? It still is not humming. Because part 2 goes into: Its humming but blades are not turning.
So I turn it on, I checked to make sure it is plugged in, I hit the reset button, it still is not humming, but one of the blades feels stuck. Should it still be humming?
on 08 Mar 2009 at 1:26 pm 21.rob said …
I’m glad this seems to have helped so many people, thank you for the replies!
otto: It looks like you uncovered a hole in my guide. I can only assume that the humming sound is the motor trying to spin engage the disposal blades. If you can’t hear the motor trying to work at all, I would guess the stuck blade isn’t what’s preventing that. Though, I’m not sure.
Please post what you end up having to do.
on 11 Mar 2009 at 1:11 pm 22.fixit girl said …
Ok, I have tried the reset button, flipped switch on, it’s hummming, used the hex wrench that came with the disposal (about ten times in both directions), unplugged and checked for obstructions, and it still won’t work.
What now?
on 11 Mar 2009 at 1:48 pm 23.rob said …
I’m not sure, fixit. Please post what happens!
on 19 Mar 2009 at 1:04 pm 24.Cliff said …
The allen wrench did the trick. Sure saved me a lot of hassle. THANX!
on 20 Mar 2009 at 4:05 pm 25.Jim said …
Humming, loose grinders, not draining. Have done the hex but it still won’t drain, just bubbles. Can’t find a reset button…felt all around and cut my thumb. Can someone tell me where it is?
on 21 Mar 2009 at 9:05 pm 26.Justin said …
Great article! I too was sticking my hand into the abyss just picturing the blades somehow turning themselves on taking my fingers off. Thankfully that didn’t happen, but the blades never did start moving. I did a Google search and came upon this article.
I had a bunch of small pieces of gravel fall into the disposal and it caused the blades to stop, water to stop draining, and terrible smell to develop.
I tried your tips but my Badger 5 doesn’t seem to have a place for the allen key where you say to put it. Right in the center of the disposal where you say to put the allen key is only like a big nut with no place for an allen key. I’d it’s say just over 1/2″. I tried using my socket wrench to loosen it, but couldn’t get enough leverage because the disposal is a bit too far down from the sink.
Anyway, I did see a couple pieces of gravel in the crevices of the base the blades sit on so I used a fork to force them all the down as they wouldn’t come up. Now my blades move, but I think something else should be occurring. It sounds much softer than I remember when it worked fully. Am I correct or just mistaken?
If the blades move but there should be another piece moving as well, any further tips based on the above description?
Thanks so much!
on 24 Mar 2009 at 11:19 am 27.kate said …
Thank you! I followed your steps and presto, all good. And you are entertaining too, which is a nice plus.
on 07 Apr 2009 at 5:35 am 28.ab said …
Hey thanks a lot i had a guy come out a few years ago and do this and after reading your article i did the same thing without the $50 surcharge and 4 hour wait. Much appreciated!!
on 07 Apr 2009 at 6:13 pm 29.Dubya said …
Rob you Rock! Thanks this was way easier than my plan of action, which was to take it apart and test/replace etc. Thanks for you Blog!
Jim – The reset button is on the bottom of the disposal and is red, it isn’t very conspicous, but it’s there. If you hear no noise then it is probably tripped. I reset mine and it worked fine. When tripped it actually sticks out just a little bit, when reset it is flush with the bottom of the diposal.
Justin – I tried the same as you initially guessing that the 1/4 hex key slot was inside the disposal, but it is actually underneath it, smack dab in the center. Mine turned easily back and forth, the water drained, and disposal worked.
Beautiful!
on 12 Apr 2009 at 6:12 pm 30.David said …
David – I just used this on my Badger 5. The allen wrench underneath the disposal did the trick. Works great…..all good. Thankyou so much:-).
on 12 Apr 2009 at 8:57 pm 31.Sean said …
Thank you! Your information helped us greatly. Our disposal is working again, like a charm!
on 15 Apr 2009 at 3:11 pm 32.Leslie Sr said …
Great tips, broom handle and reset button worked perfectly. The wife is happy again.
Thanks
on 16 Apr 2009 at 5:52 pm 33.mutch said …
LOL! hilarious writing, and fantastic tips. my sister panicked before googling. ive cleared a clogged insinkerator before and when hers stopped working, i was on your blog to perform the checks on the badger 5 when it spat out the veggies and started working again
on 02 May 2009 at 4:03 pm 34.Victoria said …
Brilliant! Thanks bunches!
on 02 May 2009 at 8:38 pm 35.gareth said …
Wish I’d read this *before* doing the dinner party dishes tonight without a disposal.
Rob, thanks!! I’m about to be underemployed and thought I’d be dropping much needed bucks for repairs or replacement. More ice cream to celebrate!
on 04 May 2009 at 9:12 pm 36.Jojm said …
Blades move freely and we get the buzzing noise but the motor does not move the blades only humm. Any ideas ? I have detached and cleaned out this Stinky thing re installed and still only buzzing yet no engaging of the blades, eventhough they are not stuck…
Appreciate any tips…
on 06 May 2009 at 5:00 pm 37.Mary said …
Thanks. I just fixed my garbage disposal. It broke once before and we called a repairman. He took about ten second to fix it and charged us 125 bucks. We just couldn’t remember what he did. Thanks a million.
on 16 May 2009 at 7:16 am 38.Nelson said …
Rob, Thanks for the info. Grinder had the buzzing sound, blades would not turn. Tried the reset button a couple of times to no avail. Read your article, got the wrench and loosen the blades. Works great. Thanks…
on 18 May 2009 at 11:18 am 39.j said …
Okay, easy fix but obviously an optimal piece of equipment if so many of us have trouble, or do we all just have that many kids?
on 19 May 2009 at 5:21 pm 40.Dawn said …
I was this close to calling a plumber. The allen wrench under the disposal worked perfectly. I had washed some sanded grout down the drain…
on 21 May 2009 at 4:11 pm 41.Annie said …
Thanks you so much for the tip! Got the Allen Wrench and it did the thing. I used a vacuum to suck out whatever was lodged in there and got loosened. It’s working like normal now! I only spent $8 on the wrench, and you probably saved me a lot more than that.
on 22 May 2009 at 10:33 am 42.Deana said …
The sweet sound of success. Thank you Thank you Thank you. It worked like a charm and now I feel like Super Woman Thanks again!
on 23 May 2009 at 1:00 pm 43.brett said …
Dude- the allen wrench trick worked like a charm! Actually, I don’t have a 1/4″ allen wrench, so I just used a flat head screwdriver. Thanks for the help!
on 24 May 2009 at 2:59 pm 44.Betsy said …
Hi, Rob,
Did the reset thing, turned the blades with the wrench, even turned the reset switch on the electrical control panel as well as the reset switch on the bottom of the In sink erator which happens to be a Badger from Home Depot, 1/2 horsepower. Still no motor sound. What will happen if I turn the dishwasher on? If it floods, then I will really need a plumber, or sign up for an appliance policy. Hope I am not the last to write.
Think I may just use the drain cup, and make believe I don’t have a disposal unit. ( :
Betsy
on 24 May 2009 at 3:02 pm 45.Betsy said …
Which company has the better home appliance policy? Total? Service America? Sears? Other?
on 25 May 2009 at 8:55 am 46.KC said …
You’re my HERO! I was headed to the local home repair store to buy a new disposal and thought it couldn’t hurt to Google first. I would have spent much, MUCH more than the paltry amount my already idle Allen wrench would have cost me. If I had been offering a reward, it would have gone to you! Thanks much!!!
on 25 May 2009 at 7:26 pm 47.Ed said …
my badger 5 is pissing water through the power cord on the bottom is it fairly simple to get a seal and replace it or should i just dispose of it and buy a new one
on 27 May 2009 at 12:05 pm 48.Philip said …
I too have used all the advice given but my Badger B1-79 disposal will only hum when I turn on the power switch. The cutting blades move freely, the allen wrench moves it freely and the reset button button doesn’t help it. The reset button will not go into a set/stationery position. It moves freely when I push or move it side-to-side.Could this be the problem? HELP!
on 28 May 2009 at 2:38 pm 49.Saundra said …
Thank you. Its been broken for two months. Called in a Handyman. He said I needed to buy a new unit. I went on line to check warranty and prices and found your blog. Voila, I fixed it!!!!!! all by my lonesome.
on 31 May 2009 at 9:08 am 50.Anthony said …
Thanks for the tips – worked awesome. Popped breaker and it was jammed. The hex broke it loose and now my wife is free to clog it once more!
on 31 May 2009 at 10:40 am 51.Kaye said …
Awesome, concise answer, thanks!
on 01 Jun 2009 at 9:18 pm 52.Rohan said …
Thanks for the suggestions! I didn’t realize neither that there is (1) reset switch on the underside nor (2) that the hexagonal driver that came with the unit can be used to manually propel the motor to remove the obstacle preventing it from rotating freely. Surely saved me a call to the plumber. Thanks again!
on 06 Jun 2009 at 6:01 pm 53.Martha said …
Still having problems after I use the hex tool. The blades are moving freely, not much garbage in the disposal. Still hearing the humming, just can’t figure out what the problem is. Can you help me.
Thanks
Martha
on 08 Jun 2009 at 4:29 pm 54.Cory said …
You are the man. I did exactly what you told me and it fixed it. I thought I was going to have to call a plumber. Thank you so much
on 09 Jun 2009 at 3:37 pm 55.Bobby said …
Thank you! I thought I was going to have to call for support, but your trick worked like a charm. I thought I remembered reading about something like this in the manual, but Iwouldn’t find it anywhere.
on 15 Jun 2009 at 4:59 pm 56.Robert-s said …
Hi folks,
This might be helpful for those of you who have the hum, free blades, but no start condition on the Badger series GD. I had the same problem and found replacing the start switch in the bottom of the unit solved the problem. The switch is a white plastic assembly with a brass finger. You have to remove the bottom plate of the disposer (by removing the four long screws on the top of the unit) and carefully pry off the bottom plate. Check the motor windings, they should be copper color, if not the motor may have burned out. Next check the centrifugal governor (on the motor shaft) to see of it moves down freely. If that’s OK take a look at the switch. There is a white lever that makes contact with the governor plate, gently lift it up and verify the brass switch finger makes contact and there is no corrosion. If not it’s possible to bend it a bit but replacement is the permanent fix. You can find the part here:
http://www.repairclinic.com/SSPartDetail.aspx?s=a2b99c276i868785&PartID=868785
on 17 Jun 2009 at 5:56 am 57.Angela said …
Thanks!!!! I used the hex key and then pushed the little red button on the bottom and it now works!! This was very important because we have a party this weekend and the garbage disposal is very important. Thank you so much!
on 21 Jun 2009 at 6:57 pm 58.Spook said …
Whooohoooo…Roommate shoved a shot glass down there that shattered. This fixed it!!! You da’ man!!!
on 23 Jun 2009 at 4:21 pm 59.kryssy said …
MANNNNNNNNNNNN…i appreciate this post soooo much. I was about to call the plumber…just had something jammed in the blades. never thought to actually get a flashlight and take a look…i just was putting my hands in and moving things around…i really appreciate your posts…I LOVE THE INTERNET…what would we do without it…
on 23 Jun 2009 at 5:28 pm 60.Bill said …
WOW, I like many others on here was to the point of calling the landlord and I stumbled on to your site. THANK YOU !!!!! I kinda feel stupid though, you had great instructions. It was so simple….
Thanks again!!
on 25 Jun 2009 at 7:03 pm 61.Annie said …
You are awesome. Asked my boyfriend if he could fix it, said needs to be replaced. Googled and found you post, did exactly what you said and she’s grinding again! Thank you so much!
on 28 Jun 2009 at 5:29 pm 62.cb said …
yea-sss! that allen wrench was hard to turn but i didn’t give up. i wasn’t letting the machine or the plumber win this time. thanks for your post!
on 06 Jul 2009 at 1:29 pm 63.Marie said …
Thanks very much. I pressed the reset button (I didn’t even know there was one), and I did hear a whirring noise. When I did what you said and used a wooden spoon handle to try and move the blades I saw it was very clogged. I cut up some debris and removed it with some tongs. Then I saw a huge chunk of watermelon laying right on top of the blades. I cut it in half and removed it with the tongs. When I ran the H20 and pressed the start switch, the disposal started to GO! I felt like I was a plumber! Thanks to your blog.
on 06 Jul 2009 at 7:37 pm 64.Mike said …
Amazing! I was about to call a service tech. Worked like a charm!
on 07 Jul 2009 at 12:53 pm 65.Eric Reyna said …
You are the man! I used a paintstick handle moved the blades around until the water started to drain and tried again ..started to worked noisily until I removed a tiny metal spoon that was all bent up…..You just saved me $250 ….!!!!
on 09 Jul 2009 at 4:23 pm 66.Alicia said …
Thank you so much! Had a problem tonight and decided to use google. Your page was first. Thanks for the help!
on 13 Jul 2009 at 7:08 am 67.Orna said …
Youv’e just fixed mine! Brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew coming to stay tomorrow, so I needed it to work. Thanks for sharing.
on 14 Jul 2009 at 4:17 pm 68.Andrew said …
The allen key goes in the bottom of the disposal on the underside (for those looking for it). A slight turn and bingo!
Thanks a million….
on 14 Jul 2009 at 10:38 pm 69.chb said …
Thought it was going to be a long road to fix it. Googled and found your post, did exactly what you said with the broom handled and it worked. Thank you so much. Loved your humor as well.
on 18 Jul 2009 at 5:02 pm 70.wescac said …
You’re funny, I’ll give you that. But absolutely no help to me. Thanks anyway.
on 21 Jul 2009 at 6:10 am 71.Now look like a hero said …
Rob,
I mirror everyone else sentiments here. First a humming, then no worky. Started gearing up for the image of me, standing there in front of garbage disposals in HD. Thought “Let me google this before I leave…” and BLAM! Here you are. Saved the day man, thanks again.
on 22 Jul 2009 at 3:46 pm 72.ed savage said …
Disposal quit working – reset the reset button but as soon as the disposal turns on the reset button goes off. What now?
on 22 Jul 2009 at 5:04 pm 73.Anjanika Walker said …
Thank you so much for posting this information. I am lousy at stuff like this, but have a really good neighbor, who came over and read this post. He went and got his Alan key and voila – its running again. Saved a heap of money, I would have had to pay a handyman to come and breathe under the sink.
on 01 Aug 2009 at 9:02 am 74.Gary said …
Thanks for the tips , blades are moving again. Have a great day!
on 01 Aug 2009 at 7:09 pm 75.mtc said …
Thanks for the amazingly accurate and concise “how to”….
Obviously, it worked for me as well.
Just a clarification, b4 I fixed it, I too was not sure about the allen wrench instruction part of it.
My situation was:
1. blades turning
2. Motor humming
But disposal would not “turn on”…
So the allen wrench part is applied to the bottom of the disposal and the allen wrench actually enables you to forcefully “lodge free” whatever is preventing the base that holds the blade from turning.
So forcefully turning the allen wrench allows you to forcefully turn the disposal base to dislodge whatever is stuck in between.
Great instructions and thanks again!
on 02 Aug 2009 at 10:24 am 76.Ryan said …
Summary: if it hums but doesn’t move, you might try a drill’s power to move the hex portion rather than your hand’s strength on the wrench.
This blog was very helpful but after many tries, I was completely stumped. The reset button was fine. The engine hummed. The blades turned fine or so I thought. After feeling around for a while, I wondered why there was a weird cylindrical object as part of the disposal. Well, it turns out it was the cap to a martini shaker and it was STUCK. I tried pliers, wrenches, etc. to no avail. I couldn’t get the hex wrench thing on the bottom of the disposal to budge and was getting ready to start taking the disposal apart when I had one last thought. A drill. So, I attached the hex attachment where a screwdriver part would go in my drill, and it popped the shaker lid out of the stuck part of the disposal. I had to use it on the most intense setting, though. I’d say use this approach with caution so that you don’t cause a bigger problem than you started with, but if a hex wrench and broom handle don’t do the trick, a drive with a hex attachment might be the ticket.
Again, the only substitution I made was to use the drill’s power instead of that of my hand.
Thanks for the helpful blog!
on 03 Aug 2009 at 8:27 am 77.Jean said …
This information was great!! We used the hex tool in the slot under the unit and it released and works fine again. No repair bill or new disposal needed at this time. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
on 04 Aug 2009 at 5:03 pm 78.Ray Said said …
Hey, I had the “hummmm” in the disposal… went on line and read what to do….it was tough so we did this…took an electrician pliers handel end down in the hole. Used a plummers pliers to turn the electrician pliers and gaboom..it ran and not hummed… the blades moved and the electrican and plummer went home. Sorry, my husband told me what to write, I have not a clue what he was talking about. Thanks, Rays wife.
on 06 Aug 2009 at 7:59 pm 79.Kelly said …
Thank you so much. My disposer has not been working for months now, but we have been getting by until the sink recently started getting backed up when using the dishwasher. I couldn’t stand the full sink of dirty water anymore so I looked up repair tips and found your info. Pushed the reset button and heard the humming. Used the broom handle to spin the blades then tried to turn it on, but only humming. Then tried the hex tool trick and afterwards the blades were spinning freely. No repair costs and no new disposer. Thank you so much for your help!
on 06 Aug 2009 at 10:02 pm 80.Marcus said …
After several days of just letting the problem go, and then a couple days of half hearted attempts at actually fixing the problem (based on an initial read of this blog), I finally buckled down and read the blog from top to bottom. And then went to the original source entry and read that too.
So, after trying the broom (in my case a wooden spatula handle) and the hex tool with no avail, I finally went Indiana Jones on it and explored every inch of that disposal with my hands…looking for the secret lever, switch, or pulley.
None of those things were found, but what I did find was something securely lodged (we’re talking fort knox secure) into the outer edge of the blade base, and after a good 20 minutes (not counting the 40 before that, and the days before that) of slashing at it back and forth with a screwdriver I was finally able to dislodge, what ended up being the pebble of doom, from the inner workings of the disposal. And presto, back in action!
on 14 Aug 2009 at 6:06 pm 81.DaEx said …
Hey ladies and gents!
I’ve read this thread before, and it worked like a charm when a little rock slipped from the fish bowl and the Allen wrench helped release it.
But now I come back with a new problem. There’s a poodle where the bottom of the sink is, and I’m positive that the wheels are spinning (the allen wrench moves the socket freely, and the poodle flows when the disposer is on). I even dipped my hand in that hole and manually spun the blades. Yes, I had to wash my hand before typing this. But the point is, the blades are not stuck.
Nevertheless, the water level does not move. It’s been 45 minutes. Anybody with some info on this will earn my good graces.
Please hurry. Saturday mornings are not as enjoyable with a bad smell in the kitchen.
on 17 Aug 2009 at 7:50 am 82.Jackie said …
Great info for grandmother who can do it herself with the right information. Thanks! Disposal working fine.
on 18 Aug 2009 at 12:25 pm 83.rogers said …
worked perfectly, thanks for the write up. had 4 beer caps in there and some broken glass…drain stopper goes in now when we have parties!
on 19 Aug 2009 at 1:42 pm 84.Joe said …
Tried everything – Allen wrench, wooden spoon handle, ice – but the disposal still hums defiantly. It did start once spinning the wooden spoon, but didn’t sound right. Turned it off, waited a few minutes, turned it back on. HMMMMMMM. Won’t restart without spinning the spoon handle.
I’m stumped. Can anyone suggest an answer?
on 20 Aug 2009 at 1:01 pm 85.Hallie said …
Hysterical story and VERY helpful! Your info (esp the Allen wrench size) got my Badger running again!
on 22 Aug 2009 at 10:06 am 86.Al Gu said …
Thanks Rob. My erator became dead about two months ago. First we were thinking that we didn’t need it. Then the bad odor changed my mind. I had to install a new one.
When I was checking the prices online, I saw your blog.
I tried the link you posted. Press the reset button, heard a short hum then quiet again. Rotated the blades. Reset again and it turned!
Thanks!
on 24 Aug 2009 at 6:48 am 87.Rod Said said …
great save this disposal started to stink and was just in the way under the sink. Now its back on the job.
on 26 Aug 2009 at 6:01 pm 88.Todd Godfrey said …
Success for the ignorant masses. I was a hero tonight.
on 29 Aug 2009 at 9:16 am 89.Bob P said …
I’m another satisfied customer.
I knew how how to find the reset button to turn my non-humming Badger into a humming, but non functioning Badger … but other than risking my fingers by clearing it from inside the drain … I couldn’t for the life of me find a way to get it to turn. A simple allen wrench turn later and voila.
THANKS!
on 29 Aug 2009 at 3:05 pm 90.Ben said …
THANK YOU! You have saved my marriage and the future of handymankind! OK thats a stretch but I _AM_ looking at a happy wife, an empty sink, and a closed yellow pages that had been open to P for plumber.
on 31 Aug 2009 at 8:39 pm 91.Dharmesh said …
Thank a bunch Rob, your steps were really helpful in fixing my garbage disposer problem
on 17 Sep 2009 at 11:43 pm 92.Brent said …
Thanks…worked like a charm. Now I have to figure out what is the hard stuff that is not getting ground up. I think I’ll use the wet/dry vac idea posted by another satisfied customer.
on 26 Sep 2009 at 5:27 pm 93.craig said …
thanks a lot. quick and easy fix
on 10 Oct 2009 at 1:07 pm 94.greatlion said …
help!!! i have pressed the reset button forcefully. however, it disappeared from my eyesight and sucked into the erator. oh, jesus, what should i do? who can help me
on 24 Oct 2009 at 8:26 am 95.Lin said …
I can’t believe it but I did it. Thank you for posting the simple directions.
on 25 Oct 2009 at 2:58 pm 96.Seth Russell said …
Your instructions worked like a charm. First with the reset button to get it humming, then again with the Allen Wrench to get it spinning freely. Many thanks for taking the time to post this.
on 16 Nov 2009 at 3:50 pm 97.Elizabeth said …
Your directions were a godsend. Thanks!
on 25 Nov 2009 at 3:49 pm 98.Joe said …
You saved me a lot of time. Thank you very much!
on 29 Dec 2009 at 2:00 pm 99.Big Al said …
Thanks for the walk-through Rob! Like others who have posted, I spent the better part of an hour cranking an Allen Key around and around (to the point that I thought the whole machine was going to explode) only to have it cough up a small handful of artichoke fibres. Note: garborators do not like artichoke leaves. However, while extracting the fibres I noticed that my wrist made a plunger-like seal with the rubber flaps that protect the drain, so i simply pumped up and down until I was blue in the face and presto! The water drained! Now I do not recommend people just start sticking their hands down their garborators, use a plunger if you have one, but if not, before you start wagering your digits make sure you first FLIP YOUR GARBORATOR’S BREAKER TO OFF then go to town! I Hope this helps.
on 31 Dec 2009 at 8:12 am 100.Patty59 said …
Thank You! New Year’s Eve and the disposal decided to take a break. The hex tool did the trick:)
on 31 Dec 2009 at 11:19 am 101.rob said …
Big al, you have a very good point. I’ve added a note for people to turn off their circuit breaker first!
on 02 Jan 2010 at 9:00 am 102.LaNette Diaz said …
Thanks! I was about ready to go buy a new one! It worked, go figure a small “just a pinch” measuring spoon was caught in the blades. Now it works great. Mine is also much more quite than normal, but it’s working.
on 05 Jan 2010 at 11:36 am 103.Evelyn said …
My disposal quit working yesterday after I put some eggshells down it. Now I know eggshells are was too fragile to jam the disposal. I took the rubber drain off the sink and was able to see a broken plastic measuring spoon jammed in the blades. I couldn’t get it to dislodge so I took a screwdrive and a hammer and broke it up. Wala…disposal now working like a charm. Thanks for all the tips. Probably would have been an pricy plumber’s visit!
on 06 Jan 2010 at 11:50 am 104.Teddy Novak said …
Reset works like a champ, I will never know what caused the disposal to trip. At least you saved me some monies. Thanks!
on 08 Jan 2010 at 3:08 pm 105.Larry said …
Worked perfectly! Thank you very much. As a handy guy, I knew nothing about disposals…until now. I was all set to buy a new one until I did exactly as you recommended. Thanks again!
on 09 Jan 2010 at 10:31 am 106.Jonesey said …
Wow. All hail the power of the good internet neighbor. Thanks a million, Rob. Your little guide got us up and running again in no time. The thought of reinstalling (let alone buying) a new disposal unit was making me sick, but the allen wrench did the trick.
on 09 Jan 2010 at 11:01 am 107.Scott said …
I couldn’t find my user’s manual (the disposal was installed when we bought the house). After 45 minutes of trying to find it and hitting reset multiple times, I finally google’d, found this site, when out to shed for my alan wrenches and 30 seconds later I was back in business – thanks for the tip!!!!
on 09 Jan 2010 at 3:29 pm 108.Fernando said …
Thank you so much!!! I was ready to go to home depot to buy a new one, you save me few hundred dollars !
on 19 Jan 2010 at 7:04 pm 109.Ray said …
Awesome..It worked…
on 30 Jan 2010 at 5:27 pm 110.Vinita said …
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
You saved me big trip to the store. I had everything at home but did not know it can be fixed. I thought I will have to buy a new one. I can’t thankyou enough
on 04 Feb 2010 at 5:00 pm 111.Ryan said …
Wow, great tip, thanks a million for posting this tip. I also learned how to fix my furnace and my dryer from google, gotta love it.
on 07 Feb 2010 at 8:00 pm 112.Josh said …
A couple of olive pits jammed my Badger 5 up, I thought it was dead. You saved me $100 and a whole lot of frustration. THANK YOU!
on 10 Feb 2010 at 8:43 am 113.Ron said …
thank you Rob- Allen wrench worked but needed a little more leverage,used bottom of cresent wrench hole over allen wrench freed it up and is back working.again thank you for the tips.
on 11 Feb 2010 at 4:13 pm 114.Trista said …
It worked! Thanks for saving me lots of $$$$!!
on 13 Feb 2010 at 6:02 am 115.Chris said …
Another success: reset button and wooden spoon. Thanks!
on 14 Feb 2010 at 8:10 am 116.Steve said …
Thanks for the info!
Jiggling the Allen wrench on the bottom did the trick.
on 14 Feb 2010 at 1:50 pm 117.Lisa said …
Let me add my thanks to the 100s already posted. I read several sites, but none were as clear to this female as the detailed instructions you posted! Most other sites just referenced a hex tool and I had no idea that that was simply an allen wrench, which I already had in my tool box.
Armed with this information, it took all of 5 minutes to resolve my months-old problem.
on 15 Feb 2010 at 9:28 am 118.Kyle said …
Thanks for the straightforward tips — worked like a charm!
on 03 Mar 2010 at 5:42 pm 119.Bubba said …
All I have to say is “you the man!!!!!”
on 03 Mar 2010 at 8:46 pm 120.Nate said …
Thank you!!!! worked great!
on 07 Mar 2010 at 8:36 am 121.Dan said …
Rob,
1. Like so many others, I gotta thank you for posting this.
2. I’m amazed at the number of others who had the same problem! Makes me wish I was a plumber in pre-Google days!
on 12 Mar 2010 at 9:54 pm 122.Louis said …
The reset button did it. I wouldn’t have known to look for that button if I hadn’t read this.
on 14 Mar 2010 at 5:01 pm 123.Sue said …
Hi
thanks for the tip — I had called Mr. Swirl to come in and fix it as we use it a lot. He quoted $350 before parts and labour to fix it as he said the motor had burnt out.
I said i would think about it and call back the next day. Then I went straight to the internet, did a google search, and found this blog.
I followed the steps in the post and got it fixed in about 5 minutes as I have a nice set of tools in the garage. Most of the time was spent moving things out from under the sink.
the guy came back to the house 20 minutes later and offered to fix it for $150 – I also declined.
Thank you so much!
on 15 Mar 2010 at 3:28 pm 124.heather said …
You Rock! My husband and I almost went out and bought a new garbage disposal today, but I found you blog and the Hex Key worked!
on 26 Mar 2010 at 5:05 pm 125.Kevan said …
Thank you very much! Used the 1/4″ wrench and got my humming disposer working again.
on 28 Mar 2010 at 10:06 am 126.Beth said …
Thank you thank you! You saved my Sunday. I was thinking about throwing this thing through the window @ the home improvement store like they did in the discount tire commercial! It’s only 3 yrs old!
on 30 Mar 2010 at 1:11 pm 127.Lisa said …
The single mom in Illinois thanks you profusely. Saved me a call to the plumber. At $50 a visit, it all adds up.
on 03 Apr 2010 at 11:27 pm 128.Kenny said …
I knew about making sure the blades moved freely. I knew about the reset button. Didn’t know about the hex hole under the bottom. Cranked it around a few times, reset the the button and works like a charm now. Thanks for taking the time to post the distructions. You just saved me a hundred bucks and a Sunday afternoon.
on 05 Apr 2010 at 9:53 pm 129.Leslie said …
Thank you a million times over! We just tried this minutes ago and it worked instantly and completely. Wonderful!
on 11 Apr 2010 at 7:15 am 130.Ronnie said …
Ya this little trick fixed the problem, Thanks Rob
on 12 Apr 2010 at 7:54 pm 131.danny said …
the allen wrench works like a charm!! I wasted 30 mins
trying clean up the disposer, but its the allen wrench
to the rescue.
on 13 Apr 2010 at 11:47 am 132.Chris said …
Thank you for your blog. I went from thinking the dishwasher was broken, to it being the garbage disposal and this fixed everything. Thanks again for sharing.
on 13 Apr 2010 at 7:05 pm 133.Spiderman said …
Thank you so much for your instructions. It worked!(:
on 14 Apr 2010 at 8:49 pm 134.Dave said …
Thanks that worked perfectly. Saved me from buying a brand new one. I thought for sure mine was toast.
I also had the same line of thinking. I was hoping it would fix it self, but I got the floating bits of food tonight. That was enough for me, nasty.
on 24 Apr 2010 at 5:23 pm 135.Michael said …
It worked!!!!!
Praise the Lord!!!!!
on 29 Apr 2010 at 7:12 pm 136.kang said …
Thank you so much, worked just fine!
on 30 Apr 2010 at 6:39 pm 137.Anna Moody said …
what if when you push the reset button up it goes up inside the unit….?
on 01 May 2010 at 5:52 am 138.Don said …
Rob,
My badger 5 works but is dripping from the bottom. Any suggestions?
Don
on 05 May 2010 at 5:57 pm 139.Feedback in East Cobb said …
Yes! It didn’t work at first. Had to read some more comments. Then I went back and wiggled my hex wrench back and forth close to 10 times. Somewhere in all of that it started turning really easy. I was scared that the socket had popped out and a hole in the bottom of the unit had materialized. Nope. That was the feeling of cleared blades spinning freely. Now the unit works again! Happy Cinco de Mayo everybody – especially you Rob!!!
on 16 May 2010 at 9:17 am 140.SD said …
I figured I’d be buying a replacement disposal this week, until google showed me your hex wrench remedy. Thank you!
on 26 May 2010 at 2:23 pm 141.Sean said …
THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!!!
on 30 May 2010 at 3:58 pm 142.Dee said …
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had found other troubleshooting on the web but you nail it step by step and save me a lot of money. The Hex tool did the trick for me. Unfortunately one of my 2 boys drop a shot glass in the disposal and it broke inside. But thanks to you and your post that is all behind us now except the punishment for not telling me the glass was in the disposal. Your fix took 2 to 3 minutes. Thanks again
on 03 Jun 2010 at 12:47 pm 143.Dan Garcia said …
You probably already know this, but it’s worth saying again. You’re pretty awesome! Thanks for the advice!
on 04 Jun 2010 at 8:02 am 144.Brandon said …
I was looking online to see how much a new one would cost when I found your post. Who knew these things had a reset button?! Thanks man, you saved me a lot of money!
on 05 Jun 2010 at 12:34 pm 145.Jim said …
You’re the best – worked like a charm.
I had tried everything but the allen wrench.
It was magic and saved a $100.
on 08 Jun 2010 at 4:40 pm 146.Ramiro said …
Thanks for the tip…worked like a charm..and runs smoothly
on 15 Jun 2010 at 10:16 am 147.Tianry said …
Thank you for saving me the cost of a new food waste disposer. Thank you again
on 15 Jun 2010 at 8:49 pm 148.JP said …
Had the exact same problem and this fixed it completely in less than 60 seconds. Thanks!
on 16 Jun 2010 at 3:32 pm 149.Michelle said …
This was the first site I came to when my husband gave up and was ready to call a plumber. It worked like a charm and we actually already had the hex wrench (it must’ve came with the disposal system) that was left here when we bought the house! I’m so excited! No more nasty fish smell!!
on 18 Jun 2010 at 8:08 am 150.Lynda said …
Thank you very much! Do you write other helpful hints? You are a lifesaver.
on 22 Jun 2010 at 4:42 pm 151.Joe (not the Plumber) said …
Worked like a charm…you just saved me at least $100 from having it replaced!! Appreciate the help!
on 22 Jun 2010 at 11:08 pm 152.Rick from olympia wa said …
Thank you, you is da man. saved my ass alot of guess work and money! Worked perfectly. Great instructions. YOU DA MAN!!!!!!!!
on 23 Jun 2010 at 3:04 pm 153.Phil said …
Thanks man!! I was able to fix it easily and get on with life. And washing dishes.
on 24 Jun 2010 at 8:46 am 154.david said …
Well I am in need of some help.
My wife jammed up the disposal last night with some salad material including chard.
The badger 5 hums and as far as I can tell the blades are moving freely but it still will not drain.
What should I do?
on 24 Jun 2010 at 9:07 am 155.david said …
Got it fixed.
It needed a good plunger.
on 27 Jun 2010 at 8:28 am 156.Rich said …
Thanks, this was really helpful!
on 28 Jun 2010 at 9:28 pm 157.Karen said …
THANK YOU!
You enabled a 62 year old woman who lives alone to accomplish this repair on her own!
on 29 Jun 2010 at 5:53 pm 158.Sissy said …
Thank you!! Saved me $$ from calling the plumber…thought for sure my Badger was dead!!
on 29 Jun 2010 at 6:30 pm 159.BW said …
I wasted my time unplugging, reseting, cleaning. I read the blog, 2 minutes later it was fixed. 1/4 inch allen wrench is my new favorite tool!
on 30 Jun 2010 at 6:31 pm 160.Cat said …
Seriously. The same thing happened to us! Procrastination and all. Today was the 3rd morning in a row that i had to scrub out the sink with a pot scrubber because it was so nasty and took like all night to drain. We found your instructions and 5 minutes later…. BOOM. DONE. YOU ROCK.
on 01 Jul 2010 at 9:18 am 161.Dionna said …
Worked!!! thanks!!!
on 05 Jul 2010 at 3:57 pm 162.Peter said …
This advice was spot on. A couple more tips.
1) once you have the 1/4 inch hex wrench, be sure to turn it clockwise for about 3 rotations and counter-clockwise for 3 rotations
2) I also think it helps if you run hot water while doing the hex wrench turns
Finally, I used the hex wrench, then let the disposal sit for about 2 hours, and tried again. The 2nd time was the charm.
on 08 Jul 2010 at 10:23 pm 163.ELias said …
I was going to call the plumber tomorrow am, and hope they could get here before I go to Santa Cruz for my swim meet, however, I used the 1/4 hex allen wrench as described in the mysterious center hole moved it back and forth as instructed and VOILA it works as well as ever, thank you thank you thank you ad nauseum!!!
on 10 Jul 2010 at 9:23 am 164.Adam said …
Thanks, you just saved me $100. Fish rocks in the insinkerator are bad.
on 15 Jul 2010 at 3:53 am 165.jimmy said …
Very helpful site i just fixed my Badger7 with these instructions thanks.
on 16 Jul 2010 at 10:47 am 166.New Homeowner said …
You are my hero! Saved me so much time and money. Now the 50 bucks will go towards a manicure. And to all the men out there who commented about their women clogging up the drain, this woman fixed the disposal which someone else (ahem!) had clogged.
on 18 Jul 2010 at 6:35 am 167.WorkingWolf said …
Thank you, Rob. Your advice fixed the humming problem. This is a you-don’t-have-to-be-a-man-to-fix-it solution.
on 23 Jul 2010 at 10:14 am 168.Pim said …
Thanks so much for this! It worked so well. A great tip!
on 24 Jul 2010 at 10:32 am 169.Darrell said …
Rob,
You seem to be a guru of Badger 5 insinkerators. Maybe you can help?
My wife said that she was running water through it, running fine, and it then sounding like it slowed up and stopped…like the power had shut off, no hum or anything. So she fipped the switch off, (it’s hardwired to a wall switch).
She reached down and the reset button had popped out, so she reset it, and then flipped the wall switch back on. She said it made a slow sounding noise, and then stopped again. She checked the reset, but it didn’t pop out again.
I checked circuit breaker, the wall switch to see if had power, and it did. Could this just be that it has…gulp…died?
Is there anything I might be missing. It spins freely, and it still drains the water okay…
Thank you
Darrell
on 25 Jul 2010 at 11:55 am 170.Eric said …
Thanks Rob, your advice worked like a charm, and saved me from crushing my garbage disposal with a sledge hammer in frustration!!!!!!!!!!!
on 26 Jul 2010 at 12:37 pm 171.Leslie said …
Directions went great!! Thanks so much for the helpful tips!
on 29 Jul 2010 at 6:15 pm 172.dad life said …
Thanks for the info! It works!
on 11 Aug 2010 at 1:35 am 173.Martin said …
The hex nut was so stuck I thought the whole unit might tear away. But, after reading a comment above about not giving up I girded myself for battle, prying hard but trying not to put pressure on the mounting. It finally worked and I too am thrilled to hear the disposal sing again. We are invincible. Thanks for this post.
on 12 Aug 2010 at 4:27 pm 174.Kirk Adler said …
Thanks!…that worked great…I thought it was broken for sure
on 13 Aug 2010 at 11:20 am 175.CeeDubbVA said …
Thanks! I had actually tried all these tricks unsuccessfully after the combined fiasco of a mussel shell and broken wine glass down the disposal, but I gave up too soon with the hex key, not even sure I had the right size. I gave it another shot with a 1/4″ hex key after reading your post, and voila! It works again.
on 22 Aug 2010 at 7:56 am 176.Dennis said …
Worked…thanks! Allen wrench knocked the reset button out, then pressed it back in and it worked.
on 22 Aug 2010 at 4:04 pm 177.Steve said …
the first time this happened i called my landlord but i wasnt home when he fixed it to see how he did it. it seized again tonight and i came online and found this webpage… thank you for this post. it took 2 seconds to fix.
on 23 Aug 2010 at 12:00 am 178.TheStatutoryApe said …
I moved into a little dump in the hood and found a few things weren’t working, the disposal being among them. Considering I spent 4 months trying to get management to take care of a termite infestation, which I wound up removing the infested wood myself, I figured that I was on my own.
So tonight I got bored and decided to take the thing apart and figure out what was wrong with it. I loosened several screws and it did not seem to want to budge or disassemble. I got online to look up a manual to learn how to take the little bugger apart and there was your blog. After making sure all of the screws were back in place I had it up and running in seconds. Something seemed to be knocking around in there but what ever it was suddenly sounded like it exploded into itty bitty pieces and I am content to not concern myself too much with that at the moment.
Much thanks for the nearly two year old advice.
on 25 Aug 2010 at 7:40 pm 179.ponchy said …
You are truly a master of both badger and SEO. Thanks.
on 26 Aug 2010 at 9:59 am 180.Darrell said …
Chalk up one more huge “Thank you, I saved significant money and time with your post!”
on 30 Aug 2010 at 7:46 am 181.Jason said …
Was just shopping for a new disposal when I came across this post. Saved me a hundred bucks! Thanks!
on 03 Sep 2010 at 3:34 pm 182.Val said …
Thank you so much! The disposal broke right before we headed out on a two week vacation (filled with rice and who knows what by my husband). We had the same symptoms as everyone else – humming but no grinding, reset button not helping etc. Heading into this long weekend, I told my husband we would have to tackle the impossible task of replacement. He headed out to take our son to football practice and I decided to do a quick search on my Blackberry. Well…then I found your site. 20 minutes later, I’m feeling the sweetness of victory and the rest is history! Now for the big question, should I pretend I didn’t fix it and allow hubby to think he’s a miracle worker tomorrow? We all have to fake it from time to time!! Let me ponder that thought over a nice glass of wine. Thanks for saving me not just hundreds of dollars but my weekend sanity!!!
on 05 Sep 2010 at 4:34 pm 183.Jay said …
It worked perfectly! Great tip. The culprit was a popsicle stick.
on 06 Sep 2010 at 7:06 pm 184.Vera Waitress said …
Wow. This Post should win a Webbie award. I did it, it worked. Well written, succinct, funny. Seriously, dude, write a book or get on a show.
BILL
on 08 Sep 2010 at 3:15 pm 185.Jose said …
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on 10 Sep 2010 at 7:29 pm 186.SEAN said …
Dude, I thought our disposal had “given up the ghost.” I was actually at the hardware store pricing disposals, and had forgotten my wallet at home, came back and on a whim, Googled the disposal, came across your blog and figured, what the hell, I’ll give it a try. After a few good turns of the Hex-wrench with a pair of pliers, hit the reset button, and now the disposal works like a champ!! Thanks for the info bro!
on 16 Sep 2010 at 2:29 pm 187.Paul said …
That worked sweet. Thanks dude. saved me some loot!
on 18 Sep 2010 at 3:46 pm 188.Robyn said …
Thanks! Found your blog/post through a google search & following your instructions=problem solved!
on 22 Sep 2010 at 2:21 pm 189.Liz-beth said …
Thank you so much – It worked like a charm!
on 25 Sep 2010 at 10:48 am 190.Pep said …
My 1 month old disposal unit is working again!! To think I almost went and hired someone to fix the damn thing. Thanks Rob!
on 27 Sep 2010 at 2:07 pm 191.TL said …
Thank you sir, saved me a big headache and about $100
TL
Ludlow, Ma
on 01 Oct 2010 at 1:35 pm 192.Cesar said …
Thank u so much for the tips!!! it really help alot!! n yeah use the googled lol
on 02 Oct 2010 at 11:55 am 193.rolando said …
thanks a lot. it worked like magic. the hardest part was finding the hole to put the allen wrench in. it was at the bottom.
on 05 Oct 2010 at 6:32 pm 194.Eric said …
Amazing.
Worked on the first try.
I love the web.
on 13 Oct 2010 at 7:28 pm 195.P said …
Big time thank you… the hex is the king!
on 14 Oct 2010 at 6:34 am 196.kelly said …
Thanks a ton, you just saved me the cost of having the repair guy out and I get to gloat to my husband that I am the one who fixed the disposal!
on 15 Oct 2010 at 10:08 am 197.Rob said …
Thanks for the tip. Worked great and saved me from having to buy a new disposal. My issue was a bit of a broken glass that had fallen down the drain (got crunched up when we had not noticed it)and caused the issue even though the blades were movomg freely.
Thanks again!
on 17 Oct 2010 at 2:05 pm 198.Aliza said …
This is awesome! It totally worked and now we are back in action. Oh Interwebs, how I love thee.
on 25 Oct 2010 at 10:15 am 199.Diane said …
Thank you so much! Everything you mentioned worked great! It was a quarter that had gotten caught and hit the switch. I pressed the reset button and used the 1/4 inc l wrench to lossen the blades to turn again and removed the quarter. Everything works great! My husband was very impressed!
on 28 Oct 2010 at 10:14 pm 200.Sagara said …
THANKS so much!!!!! your tip with the alan wrench saved the day
on 01 Nov 2010 at 6:24 pm 201.Tommy said …
Worked like a charm, thanks for the tip.
on 11 Nov 2010 at 2:57 pm 202.Elisa said …
Thanks Rob! The wrench trick and two minutes fixed ours. We were about to run out and buy a new one.
on 14 Nov 2010 at 1:37 pm 203.alejandro said …
thanks a lot. you just made my day. now my wife thinks i’m a sexy plumber. the hex tool worked after trying everything.
on 18 Nov 2010 at 10:16 am 204.Carol said …
Thx Rob:
As a 73 yr. widow and following your instructions, I found the red reset button on my Badger 5, lying on the ground with a flashlight and pressed it. Also reset the red button on outlet and….yeah…it worked! I was about to call a plumber in desperation but now there’s no need. Your site has obviously been so helpful to many people.
on 18 Nov 2010 at 8:49 pm 205.Steve said …
Thanks! Used the allen wrench from bottom to rotate and it worked like a charm. Only spun in one direction at first, but after 360 degree turn it spun freelly both ways.
on 23 Nov 2010 at 1:47 pm 206.richard said …
hey man, i didnt expect this to work but the L wrench-twist in the bottom did the trick. cant believe how easy that was. thanks for saving me the $85 plumber visit. you rock man!
on 24 Nov 2010 at 9:15 am 207.JimmyD said …
I have one thing to add. I hope this will save someone from the mess I created… The wrench was definately hard to turn at first, but once it broke loose, it began to turn freely. The only thing I noticed is that the water in the drain did NOT, I repeat, ***DID NOT*** go down. When I flipped the switch, the disposal began to work, but the drain was completely clogged and the drain pipe came apart and food and water erupted under my sink!
So the bottom line is to make sure that water goes down once you get that sucker turning. If it doesn’t, pull that S trap off and take a look see for any clogs. Good Luck!
on 30 Nov 2010 at 4:28 pm 208.Tiffany said …
Thank you so much for posting this! I was trying to figure out how I was going to tell my husband I ruined the disposal in our brand new house. Thanks for saving my butt
on 01 Dec 2010 at 9:38 am 209.Alex said …
Just moved to our condo about a month ago and our disposal was the first thing to go. I was going to call someone but I read your post and gave it a try. And it worked perfectly! Found the culprit…a dime…which one of my little ones happen to drop that in, I will never know. Thanks a bunch for posting!!!!
on 01 Dec 2010 at 4:17 pm 210.MRC said …
Let’s not forget percussive engineering!
Smacked the housing around the motor lightly with a hammer and flipped the switch…abracadabra…working disposal!!
on 04 Dec 2010 at 8:29 am 211.Braden said …
Thank you!!! You just saved my wallet and my Saturday and my wife thinks I’m a hero.
Two things I’d add–you might need to crank this for a while–it took me about 20 or 30 minutes to get it completely free. Also, I read somewhere else that you should crank it both ways–clockwise and counterclockwise and I had to do this pretty seriously.
on 05 Dec 2010 at 8:38 am 212.Roisin said …
I shall now don the SuperMom cape and prance around the house to applause and other accolades. Huge thanks.
on 07 Dec 2010 at 2:33 pm 213.PanVet said …
Thanks for the info. Mine quit working and I was looking up a replacement when I found your information. I did as you suggested and now it is working again. Saved me $70.
on 07 Dec 2010 at 4:58 pm 214.Kelly said …
Thank you for this. I was assuming I’d have to pay someone to fix it, but thanks to the glorious world wide interwebs I found your solution and it WORKED! Great explanation, thanks for taking the trouble to post it.
on 08 Dec 2010 at 10:35 am 215.phil said …
The wrench fix worked like a cahrm – I’m up and running once more after a 3 year hiatus!
on 12 Dec 2010 at 7:41 am 216.James said …
Badger 5 Plus, Not clogged, drains well, blades move freely, gets power (hums), Hex wrench turns freely, Hard wired, reset button works. What next
on 16 Dec 2010 at 10:39 am 217.MARIO THUMUDO said …
Tried reset button, still got hum. Unit turns freely. Put hex wrench in center, same results, just a hum. Thanks for advice, maybe need new unit.
on 17 Dec 2010 at 9:08 pm 218.Chris said …
You just saved me a trip to Home Depot! I fixed it within 2 minutes of reading your post – I always wondered why that Allen wrench was dangling from the side of the disposal unit!!!
on 18 Dec 2010 at 2:52 pm 219.moin said …
Excellent post, saved me bunch money and headache…
on 19 Dec 2010 at 2:21 pm 220.John said …
Thanks. You helped me soooo much. That was exactly what the internet was invented for.
on 20 Dec 2010 at 11:08 am 221.chubbs said …
Thanks for the tip …got mine workin in minutes
on 20 Dec 2010 at 10:47 pm 222.matt said …
The steps worked like magic. First the reset button to get humming sound back;and the few turns with the allen key and noisy grinding sound was back. You saved me stress, time and $$. Thanks!
on 22 Dec 2010 at 4:34 pm 223.Bob said …
Wow! Thank you so much. Saved me a 100 bucks. Literally!!!
on 28 Dec 2010 at 8:10 am 224.Marilyn said …
Yippee!! Thanks a bunch!!
on 30 Dec 2010 at 8:49 am 225.Sakhi said …
Hi,
I have Badger 5 gargej disposal from 3 years. I noticed that close to reset button I see two screws and water is dripping out of both the screws not sure what is wrong. I called the company and they said it is out of warrnty and I should get the new one. I would really appreciate your feedback on fixing this issue. I noticed yeserday night when water was not going into the sink and I had to use the manual woood/plastic pump and the water stated running into the sink right away but becos of that now the water is coming out of the screws. I did press reset button and my disposal started working but now what should I do to stop the water leaking out of the screws please advice.
on 31 Dec 2010 at 1:59 pm 226.Maria V said …
I did the the turning thing under the badger 5 but it still dont work. The badger works fine but it wont empty the water
on 31 Dec 2010 at 5:56 pm 227.K said …
We were about to have the worst New Year’s Party of our lives… sink wouldn’t drain, dishes were dirty and piling up… we found your blog, futzed, and VIOLA! Now it will be the best New Year’s Party of our lives! Thank you so much. (For the record, we used a flathead screwdriver with some WD-40 and then pressed the restart button.)
on 05 Jan 2011 at 1:08 pm 228.Alicia said …
Thank you so much. I read some of the professional websites and figured it was a seized motor because it was humming and the flywheels were turning freely, but it still wouldn’t work. The hex wrench fixed it and now is draining normal too!!!! Thank you for saving me money and a lot of headaches on a new one.
on 07 Jan 2011 at 8:34 am 229.Ilia said …
Great blog.
Thanks for posting the solution here.
It saved me some money and a trip to the store.
on 09 Jan 2011 at 5:41 pm 230.Karen Dickinson said …
Thank you so very much. Just fixed my disposal thanks to your advice. Life is good!
on 10 Jan 2011 at 7:56 pm 231.patty said …
Thank you so much! I was able to fix it so you saved me a night of having a dirty sink AND at least $60! Wohoooooo!
on 10 Jan 2011 at 8:11 pm 232.Adrian said …
Thanks for this, my friend heard of this method but used the wrong sized wrench. Make sure it’s 1/4 in or it won’t work!
on 11 Jan 2011 at 2:54 am 233.insinkerator said …
hey….it was really amazing. Thank you so much for this information. It helped me to solve ma problem.
Great job.
on 11 Jan 2011 at 4:53 pm 234.Mark said …
This worked for the badger 9 bought in 2010 as well! The hex wrench wasnt quite 1/4 inch, but otherwise, this worked GREAT and solved my problem!
on 13 Jan 2011 at 12:51 am 235.Alan Wu said …
Thank you! It helps a lot.
on 13 Jan 2011 at 5:27 pm 236.Patil said …
Thank you… I am the HERO in home today
on 13 Jan 2011 at 9:00 pm 237.Grace said …
Thanks so much!!! It worked!
on 14 Jan 2011 at 3:14 pm 238.Chuck said …
Awesome job Rob. It was going to cost me $99 for a new unit and I was able to fix it with the turn of hex key. And the grin on my 12 year old son’s face when I did the “I’m the man” dance was priceless.
Thanks a bunch,
Chuck
on 15 Jan 2011 at 9:47 am 239.Kevin said …
Worked like a charm! It took me longer to find the allen wrench than actually fixing the disposal.
Thank you.
on 17 Jan 2011 at 2:30 pm 240.Frank said …
THANK YOU! You saved my sink.
on 17 Jan 2011 at 7:13 pm 241.Tyler said …
Thanks for the help! Girlfriend loves me I love the internet at times like this.
on 18 Jan 2011 at 1:25 am 242.christine said …
Gud post!!keep blogging…
on 18 Jan 2011 at 1:38 am 243.insinkerator said …
Heyy your instructions worked perfectly man!! Thanks a lot for the tips.I was about to call the service man for help.But before that i googled and saw your site.I just tried them without much hope but it worked successfully.Thanks for sharing.
on 18 Jan 2011 at 7:45 pm 244.Charlie said …
Thank you. Great article. Worked like a charm
on 19 Jan 2011 at 10:42 am 245.MiddleSoundMom said …
AWESOME! Thanks soooooo much! That thing has been “broken” for 2 months now after a big ass Clam Shell found it’s way in there…
Thanks again…you ROCK!
on 22 Jan 2011 at 9:19 am 246.Derek said …
My god, thank you. This fixed my problem within 2 minutes of reading your post. And my family thinks I am an awesome handyman.
on 24 Jan 2011 at 8:48 am 247.lani coronel said …
thanks so much, the hex key/tool worked! glad i was able to find one in my husband’s tool box & i just rotated it. Godbless.
on 24 Jan 2011 at 5:17 pm 248.Matt Glenn said …
Thanks, the hex key did the trick! I did an “I’m the Man” Dance, too!
on 27 Jan 2011 at 5:13 pm 249.moji said …
You rob are a life saver, i just couldn’t stand it any more, the clog, dirt and smell. I read through your DIY step and was dancing I did it in my kitchen. Thank you so much.
on 27 Jan 2011 at 9:34 pm 250.Anupam said …
Thanks a bunch,
The hex key did the trick.
Anupam
on 30 Jan 2011 at 6:51 pm 251.mike said …
thanks bro, totally save me a 100 bucks. i had a shot glass get put through the disposal and thought for sure i would have to buy a new one. But you totally walked me through it, thank buddy!
on 31 Jan 2011 at 2:24 pm 252.Jill said …
Thanks for the tip! Hubbie was angry that I broke the disposal (let some aquarium stones go down by accident while cleaning fish tank – oops!). Won’t he be surprised that I fixed it myself
on 01 Feb 2011 at 8:59 pm 253.Sukhen said …
Thank you! You save my day.
on 03 Feb 2011 at 11:14 am 254.TXAG said …
I was pricing a new unit on-line when I decided to search for possible repair options… Found this and realized I had not thought of the hex key! Worked like a champ after getting it looser. It worked best when I turned in a counter clockwise direction (when looking down into the unit).
Thanks for posting this thread!
on 05 Feb 2011 at 7:03 pm 255.Ben said …
Thanks for being #1 in the Google search results! Your great summary of the troubleshooting made my “repair” relatively quick and painless. In my case, I also had a little piece of metal jamming it up, a flashlight and some pliers fixed that, but I never would have gotten it out without turning the allen wrench!
Thanks!
on 08 Feb 2011 at 7:02 am 256.MP said …
You just saved me $130! You rock. Thanks!!!
on 13 Feb 2011 at 6:52 pm 257.Chris said …
Thank you so much!!! It worked great and saved me money and stress!!!
on 18 Feb 2011 at 9:56 am 258.Marty P said …
Great tip. My problem with my badger 5 is when turned on it sounds like there is a spoon clanking around in there. I have the disposel off and I cannot see anything stuck inside. Any suggestions before I take it apart and probably won’t be able to put it back together?
on 20 Feb 2011 at 9:28 am 259.Jordan said …
What a great blog post. Saved me tons of time and money. Thank you World-Wide-Web for doing exactly what you said you would do back in 1992 when I read about you in my high school paper.
on 22 Feb 2011 at 11:47 am 260.Rachel Raber said …
oh wow! sooo impressed… love it when i can fix things but didnt know about this time til i decided 2 google and found ur easy 2 follow instructions. didnt have an allen wrench but was desperate so i improvised with some other tools and it worked! ths!!!!
on 22 Feb 2011 at 5:21 pm 261.JD said …
Thank you so much!! Perfect tutorial. You saved me so much time and money. I was ready to take it apart!
Thanks again.
on 23 Feb 2011 at 12:31 am 262.Stafford said …
Awesome! That saved me a painfull evening of troublshooting. I’m so glad they have that feature now to free it up! Once I saw hex wrench/bottom I was on that in a minute!
on 24 Feb 2011 at 8:29 pm 263.cheryl said …
Everyone, I tried everything and still had the humming motor and no blades turning, so I did the broom trick again. Then I turned on the hot water and turned the wrench counterclockwise a bunch of times. Finally, hit the reset button and tried it again. It sputtered, then finally kicked in. Just saying to keep turning that wrench. You might have something stuck and not know it. I never saw anything in ours. Good luck all!
on 25 Feb 2011 at 6:23 pm 264.Denise said …
I have been trying to get my garbarator to work for 3 days. I have cleaned it out, fished out chicken bones, and other debris. I have danced with the broom handle, and pushed the reset button. I have also used the allen wrench. I am still just hearing the jammed humming sound. Any suggestions…..
on 26 Feb 2011 at 12:20 pm 265.Juan said …
Great troubleshooting tips! (i love your word usage)
on 28 Feb 2011 at 6:40 pm 266.John said …
Same here. Something so simple. Saved me loads of trial and error. A flashlight, allen wrench and a pair of pliers is all it took.
on 01 Mar 2011 at 10:47 am 267.Greg said …
You saved me dude! I NEVER would have known about the allen 6 size hole without you! I was going at it from the top with a stick and hammer before I found your post
LOL
on 02 Mar 2011 at 8:30 am 268.lisa said …
Thank you so much for taking the time to post . Google result worked , Thanks to your post. I had to do the allen wrench a good few try,I had no food or clog , more like some metal piece stuck..It worked !
on 02 Mar 2011 at 5:56 pm 269.jasmeet said …
thank u so very much…my in sink erator was struck from the last 4-5 days …and with your help now its working …thanks u soo much
on 03 Mar 2011 at 10:49 am 270.Buckeyegirl said …
Thank you sooo much! I am a stay at home mom with a traveling husband and I didn’t want to spend the extra money to call the appliance repair man. My disposal was humming but not working so I put the allen wrench in and it barely turned at first but then after a couple turns both ways it turned smoothly. The culprit was a popcorn kernal! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
on 08 Mar 2011 at 4:23 pm 271.satchmo said …
Thanks!
on 10 Mar 2011 at 7:50 am 272.Ty said …
What’s happening when your Insinkerator works fine, but leaks like a strainer? Do you have to buy another one or is some kind of seal broken.
on 10 Mar 2011 at 9:34 am 273.Pat from Fla. said …
Dear Rob,
Thank you for posting your blog. My husband forgot about the reset button. We pushed it and it works again. You saved us money and my husband from having to get under the sink with a bad hip. Thanks
again!! Keep up the good work.
on 20 Mar 2011 at 12:03 pm 274.patricia said …
Thanks. Worked like a charm.
on 20 Mar 2011 at 2:55 pm 275.tsk said …
Good evening,
Thank you so much for your helpful directions. I had pretty much given up after my garbage disposal was humming but not working and then finally stopped humming all together. I was trying to find a replacement unit online and I stumbled upon your easy to read/understand (i’m 6 1/2 months pregnant and getting down and dirty w the garbage disposal wasn’t high on my list for a sunday afternoon… plus I am a very non-handy individual… but I finally got him to do the taxes so I figured I’d at least try the gd). I followed your advice and it works perfectly. thank you again!
on 22 Mar 2011 at 9:05 am 276.KarenMT said …
Yeah! Thanks for this. Last time this happened we paid $65 for a guy to do the Allen wrench trick but it’s been so long I’d forgotten what he trick was. Worked!!
on 26 Mar 2011 at 8:44 am 277.Erica Evans said …
Your advice works for the most part, but after following it, we tested the disposal and it started making a loud rattling noise. We read more comments to see if this happened to anyone else and sure enough, Peter posted a comment that we followed and the disposal works perfectly now!! Here is what he posted:
This advice was spot on. A couple more tips.
1) once you have the 1/4 inch hex wrench, be sure to turn it clockwise for about 3 rotations and counter-clockwise for 3 rotations
2) I also think it helps if you run hot water while doing the hex wrench turns
Finally, I used the hex wrench, then let the disposal sit for about 2 hours, and tried again. The 2nd time was the charm.
on 28 Mar 2011 at 2:04 am 278.Joe said …
Thanks for the tips, but for me, my blades were free and the motor hummed and I spun and giggled the hex key for about 30 mins(without resistance), to no avail. Finally as a last resort, with the motor humming, I used a long wooden spoon to turn the blades counter-clockwise, and the disposal engaged and kick on (clockwise did not work). It’s probably not smart or safe, but if you are going to try it, make sure to be ready to quickly remove the wooden spoon.
on 28 Mar 2011 at 12:07 pm 279.Mike said …
Thanks!!! I would have never found that reset button!
Cheers!
on 29 Mar 2011 at 7:03 am 280.rob said …
Thank you so much! I was about to call a plumber until i red this tip. A total dollar saver!!!
on 29 Mar 2011 at 6:59 pm 281.Alexander said …
Man If I was a girl i would marry you. Your trick worked perfectly and i thank you a thousand time for that. I actually uninstalled it from the sink and did what you said and WOW, It worked. Again thanks-a-million.
Alexander the Great
on 30 Mar 2011 at 7:39 am 282.Chelle said …
Yay!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! I was really not feeling like hiring some bloak to come fix my disposal and I knew my husband would never get around to it—his solution would have been to just go buy another one! YOU SAVED THE DAY!! Thanks again.
on 30 Mar 2011 at 7:54 pm 283.Carrie said …
Thanks for this painless troubleshooting guide! I dropped a shot glass down the drain without noticing and later turned on the disposal…My bad.
on 30 Mar 2011 at 9:53 pm 284.Steve said …
Worked like a charm! The Allen wrench is the key! Thanks!!
on 01 Apr 2011 at 7:03 am 285.Heather said …
Wow, I think you saved me a load of money for a plumber who would have done the exact same thing..
thanks a lot…
on 03 Apr 2011 at 2:33 pm 286.Ryan said …
Thanks for the info. The Hex Key did the trick. Saved me time and money.
on 06 Apr 2011 at 7:37 am 287.john said …
OMG thank you it worked!!!
j:~)
on 07 Apr 2011 at 6:43 am 288.Little_Mother said …
Thanks for the tip! I liberated a bottle cap from the Badger!
on 12 Apr 2011 at 7:26 pm 289.JJ said …
thanks! the instruction works like magic:-) I hope this won’t be some plumbers out of street!
thanks again!
on 14 Apr 2011 at 4:56 pm 290.Peter said …
The mysterious hole on the bottom and turning it several times with a hex wrench fixed it. I turned it clockwise and counter clockwise a few full rotations.
Thanks for your post, I appreciate it.
on 17 Apr 2011 at 3:17 pm 291.carol said …
Thank you Rob – glad I found your post – it worked – allen wrench used – a little back and forth!!!!
on 20 Apr 2011 at 5:35 pm 292.Eggert said …
Great thanks!!!
Never had a garbage disposal for, did not know anything about them either.
Works perfectly now.
Thanks!!
on 22 Apr 2011 at 9:03 am 293.adiong said …
Thank you so much! You helped me save $79.00. At first it’s just a dime and the last time it just stopped then, I used your tip… the Allen wrench.:-)
on 23 Apr 2011 at 10:07 am 294.RameshN said …
I googled for badger insinkerator and I found your blog on top of my search results. I knew about the reset button but didn’t know about the Allen wrench? I was lucky enough to find the wrench that came with the disposal and I was able to fix it after turning the wrench vigorously several times to loosen the debris stuck in the disposal. Thank you very much for posting your experience, it was very helpful!
on 24 Apr 2011 at 8:44 pm 295.Rob said …
Awesome advice! Worked with some rigorous back and forth turning of a hex wrench. You saved me about $200 for a brand new garbage disposal. Thanks so much!
on 25 Apr 2011 at 2:57 pm 296.lee said …
add me to your long list of adoring fans . . .
on 27 Apr 2011 at 8:23 pm 297.Enrique S. said …
THE ALLEN WRENCH did it!!!!!!!!! You’re a saint! When that wonderful hummy noise started again after the wrench loosened the motor, I started laughing and laughing and kneeled down to thank God that I didn’t have to replace my Badger5!
After months of a deteriorating disposer, I am back in business again!
THANK YOU, ROD~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You did it again! I can go to sleep now!
on 27 Apr 2011 at 8:23 pm 298.Enrique S. said …
OOps!! I meant ROB! hehehehe
on 01 May 2011 at 1:29 pm 299.Reliable said …
Thanks for the post! I thought I had to replace my insinkerator, but was able to get it working with a hex key.
on 02 May 2011 at 3:13 pm 300.CHANDRU said …
I was almost ready to buy a new grabage disposal since the water leaked little bit at the bottom as well. But after your simple steps it works great now without spending anything. My Garbage Disposal is Whirlpool 1/3 HP.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!
on 04 May 2011 at 12:15 pm 301.Mel Penate said …
My machine does turn on and the blades seem to be moving. I used the “L” wrench to move the disposal back and forth, but it still is not functioning. The disposal runs but its not chewing up the stuff inside. Water is also not draining. suggestion?
on 06 May 2011 at 4:20 pm 302.Baileybelle said …
Hex key worked the very first time. Thanks!
on 07 May 2011 at 5:46 am 303.Thankful said …
YOUR AWESOME BROTHER!!!! I wish I would have found this site three days ago and it would have saved me the agony. PERFECT solution.
on 07 May 2011 at 12:26 pm 304.Nirav Doctor said …
This is great info. Thanks so much for sharing. The hex wrench did not work since the motor would not run at all, but I found the reset button and that worked! Saved me so much hassle and money.