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Garbage Disposal Will Not Turn On: What to Check

Silence and a hum are different faults. Silence means the motor is not getting power or has cut itself off.

The quick answer

Complete silence is a power fault rather than a grinding fault. Try the reset button on the underside of the unit, then the breaker, then the switch. Silence means nothing is reaching the motor; a hum means the motor has power and cannot turn.

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The reset button, first

Almost every disposal has a small red or black reset button on its underside. The motor trips it when it overheats, usually after a jam, and until it is pushed back in the machine is dead. It is the single most common cause of a disposal that does nothing at all, and it costs nothing to check.

Reach up under the unit and press it firmly. If it clicks in and stays, try the switch again.

Then the breaker

If the reset does not hold, or there was no button proud to push, check the breaker panel. A disposal usually shares a circuit with the dishwasher or the kitchen outlets, so a tripped breaker often takes more than the disposal with it — if the dishwasher is also dead, that is your answer.

Then the switch

Wall switches fail, and so do the air switches mounted in the countertop on some installations. If the reset holds and the breaker is on, the fault is between the switch and the motor, and that is where a contractor starts.

What silence rules out

A disposal that makes no sound at all is not jammed. A jam produces a hum, because the motor is trying and failing to turn. No hum means no power reaching the motor.

Pushed the reset button already?Then it is worth a contractor rather than another ten minutes with a hex key. Tell us what it is doing — silent, humming, leaking or smelling — and we will route you. Free to you, always. Disposals are not the limit of what we take.

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