Friday, May 27, 2011

Warshcloth in Garbage Disposal... SUCCESS!!!

--Adventure By Tones--

I was on clean up duty after hosting my maw's surprise 60th birthday party.  I had to really attack a couple of nasty broilers.  Cleaning broiler pans could be an adventure in itself, but a little patience in soaking the gunk in hot water and suds makes things go a bit easier.


Thinking ahead, I warshed the pan in the disposal-side of the sink as I figured all the floating bits of Uncle Ed's smoked pulled pork would go down a bit easier with the help of the disposal.  When I was done scrubbing, I turned the pan over to drain and found that the water was standing in the sink.  Easy fix:

To my dismay, the disposal did not fire.  Rather, my kitchen lights dimmed and the disposal only hummed.  FAILURE!

My next step was some cautious exploratory action:



I could feel that a warshcloth had made its way down into the disposal and seized the blades once I turned on the switch.  C'mon!  My instincts took over and I yanked the crap out of the rag until it finally broke free.  Unfortunately, there were still enough threads stuck in the blades to keep things seized.  These threads wouldn't budge, even with my trusty Hemostats (my M.V.T., Most Valuable Tool).

Out of desperation, I tried the reset button (found underneath the unit), even though I knew that this would do no good as I was still getting power to the motor, hence the humming noise.

this is a dark picture, but note the red reset button.
Of course, the reset button did no good, so it was time to regroup and think this over.

After a quick breather, I did some research and found that there's a 1/4" allen screw on the bottom of the unit to manipulate the motor's shaft.  If I could reverse the shaft of the motor, the blades should open up and I could get enough of the threads out to free up the unit.


Here's where you stick your 1/4" wrench

Check it out! The caddy is complete!  No missing allens at home.



I tested the unit after freeing up most of the threads... SUCCESS!!!

32 comments:

  1. Please know that I thank you for this information. It worked & saved me a lot of $$$. I ask God to bless u as u have blessed me & possibly many others. Sincerely Daris

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  2. Bless yer pea pickin' hides. I may live yet to celebrate another birthday. Truly, I thank you!

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  3. Well I worked and worked with no luck. Then I saw a comment about Clorox and hot water and that it would thin the threads and able to help disable. I thought well how much more am I going to tear my hand apart picking a thread at a time. I had nothing to lose at this stage before I called someone and paid them to fix it. I poured a half cup Clorox down and then ran hot water. I waited about an hour and decided to get back to work. Well to my amazement, I was able to take my knife and dislodge the areas of threads that were so bound and down they went. Blades broke free and I went to turn on the disposal and SUCCESS!

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  4. Amazing Article if You you want More Info About Best garbage Disposal from Here Best Moen Garbage Disposal 2018

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  5. God bless you bro....my kid got a rag stuck down there....this worked like a dream!

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  6. here am I thinking I am all alone

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Dear your article is so marvellous i read your article am impressed your article Best Moen Garbage Disposals

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  9. Worked like a charm. Thanks so much for posting.

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  10. I've been trying to fix that for days! After reading your post, it took me two seconds to fix! Thank you!

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  11. thank you, thank you! Fixed my dilemma and saved me a plumbers fee

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  12. My husband thanks you, and me too! Here's to keeping peace in the kitchen 😄

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  13. Thank you so much this was very helpful

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  14. My husband and I thank you sir!! I waited for 2 days w/no answer for maintenance, and came across your post ������������ Took my husband less than 2 mins to get out that small chunk of cloth. You deserve another beer on us LMAO

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  15. I had a rag stuck for 3 days. I had given up. I tried the tool the original night and it didn't work.

    Tried again right now and got it! Thanks!

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  16. This post saved me and the wife is happy!

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  17. OMFG!!! bro legit you're amazing! The service tech just left, it was going to cost $405 for labor/new disposal (xmas has me low on funds plus don't have an EXTRA $400 for a garbage disposal), so i started google'ing other idea's. I came across this site and FCUK MY LIFE, it worked! thank you soo much, I am still in shock! *I used a small pot of boiling water and maybe 1-2 cups of bleach, I had 1/4 of a dish cloth stuck in the blades!

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  18. Thanks SO much for this. I was freaking out when I caught a rag in my disposal. I really didn't want to bother then apartment maintenance guy because I felt like an idiot!!! LOL

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  19. Thank you so much!! My husband was staring me down when I told him what happened...within in minutes I found your post and voila...Repair complete!!!

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  20. Thank you, thank you! It worked like a charm!

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  21. Tried it! Worked!! THANK YOU!!!❤️❤️

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  22. Thank God and you it actually worked. And did not have to ask my guy for help yeah :)

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  23. Thank you, this worked like a charm! I knew I couldn’t have been the only person this happened to!

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  24. Thanks so much! A dishcloth was wound really solid and tight in the spinner, I couldn't even turn the allen key! But I peresevered thanks to you, and the comments... I wobbled the allen key clockwise/counterclockwise even though it was solid, and beleive it or not, the rag freed a bit, so I pulled it a bit and shook it a bit more free, then wobbled the allen key again, AND THE REST IS HISTORY! Yahoo :) Thanks everyone! Ian.

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  25. Fantastic post! For top-notch plumbing services, consider Trim Tek Plumbing LLC. They're the trusted choice for Plumbers in Chambersburg PA .

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