Garbage Disposal Won’t Turn Off

Garbage Disposal Won’t Turn Off

The garbage disposal is one of the most useful elements in the kitchen. It’s sanitary, it helps you keep the sink clean, and it eliminates the hassle of scraping plates over a trash bin before you wash the dishes.

But what do you do if your garbage disposal won’t turn off after you’ve turned off the switch? What does it mean and how can you fix it?

How to Troubleshoot a Garbage Disposal That Won’t Turn Off

Before getting into the nitty-gritty, let’s get the most important thing out of the way: NEVER reach into the garbage disposal with your hand. While some of you may roll your eyes at the nature of such basic instructions, remember that we live in a world where superhero costumes must include a warning that they don’t really make you fly.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to work:

Step 1. Turn off the garbage disposal from the wall switch.

This is likely the first thing you did, but ensure the wall switch is set to the “OFF” position.

Step 2. Unplug the garbage disposal.

Open the cabinet under the sink, locate the power cord that goes from the garbage disposal’s motor to the outlet on the wall and unplug it. Your garbage disposal should turn off, but if it doesn’t, make sure you pulled the right plug.

Step 3. Plug the garbage disposal into the other outlet.

Plug it back into the outlet next to the original one. If the garbage disposal doesn’t start to run, don’t be worried, that’s actually a good sign. However, if when you plug it into the other outlet you immediately hear the garbage disposal start to run before turning the wall switch back on, then you know you have a wiring issue and you’ll likely need an electrician to fix the outlet. Check both outlets just to be sure that you didn’t accidentally plug it back into the same outlet.

Step 4. Flip the wall switch back on.

If the garbage disposal isn’t automatically running when plugged into your second outlet, then flipping the switch should cause it to work properly now and you’ve narrowed your issue down to the electrical outlet and not your garbage disposal. Your outlet shouldn’t magically change which is the active port and which is the switch controlled port. So unless you or someone you know recently changed the port your garbage disposal was plugged into, then chances are your outlet has a wiring issue.

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