Thanks Standard Plumbing and the JamBuster Wrenchette: Tips for Fixing InSinkErator Garbage Disposal
December 22nd, 2006
When it comes to household repairs, my husband and I tend to indulge in the “luxury” of calling in professional help.
So when our garbage disposal (InSinkErator) stopped working, our first instinct was to call a plumber.
We’d never needed this kind of plumbing help before, so I checked Angie’s List and decided to try Standard Plumbing. I called and talked to Don. Instead of making an appointment to come out to the house, he told us to try a couple of things on our own first.
Chances were that something was blocking the blades. Don told us to:
1. Get a stick of some kind and poke around inside the drain to see if anything is in there.
I swept the area with a disposable cooking chopstick. Nothing there.
2. Look for a small hole at the bottom of the disposal (under the sink) and the tool that fits in that hole. Move the tool back and forth to free any foreign objects that might be lodged there.
We didn’t have the tool, so we went to Home Depot and found it – the InSinkErator JamBuster Wrenchette. It cost $5.68. (If you have Allen wrenches, you might want to see if any of them fit before purchasing the Wrenchette.) I fit the tool into the bottom of the disposal, gave it a few cranks, and hoped for the best.
3. If the disposal isn’t working at all, no noise, the internal circuit breaker may have been tripped. Press the red button at the bottom of the disposal to get the power flowing again.
I gave the button a firm push, flipped the switch, and was rewarded by the sweet sound of a functioning disposal.
I felt proud of my efforts and grateful to Don for the valuable tips. It was such a simple process, such as easy fix. Maybe this will give us more confidence in our skills and teach us to investigate other information sources (e.g., Google) before picking up the phone. I’m just glad we found such a stand-up guy who didn’t take the opportunity to profit from a lady in distress.
(Photo from Amazon.com)
Entry Filed under: Home
11 Comments Add your own
1. &hellip | December 28th, 2006 at 1:11 am
Thanks for tip 2!! I had my first jam in 12 years of living here, and the wrenchette was no where to be found. I was about to put on my shoes and head to the hardware store when I decided to first surf the net and see what I could find out about acquiring a new tool.. Think about ordering it online and just let a jammed disposer sit for about a week. Check ebay! Well, I stumbled on your article and got it fixed in less than 2 minutes tops. Literally 2 minutes!
2. Maria&hellip | October 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 am
You are a lifesaver! My disposal was jammed, so I pulled out the manual to unjam it. However, I couldn’t find the wrenchette anywhere. I didn’t realize it was the same thing as an Allen wrench until I read this. So I pulled out my multi-sized Allen wrench tool that I have for my bike, gave it a couple cranks, fished out the spice jar shaker top that caused the jam. Success! Thanks so much!
3. Amy&hellip | October 23rd, 2008 at 11:43 am
Yay!
4. Toronto Plumber&hellip | February 24th, 2009 at 6:04 am
Hey, thanks for the tips !!! very useful for me… With confidence and great advices, everyone can take care of that kind of situations. Congrats, and once again thanks for the tips.
5. plymouth plumbing&hellip | November 27th, 2009 at 8:38 am
oops was looking for an answer to a plumbing question and came across your post. much more interesting thanks lol!
6. Charlotte Wright&hellip | May 25th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
i used to do DIY plumbing at home at my work seems to be on par with regular plumbers.;*:
7. Mackenzie Ward&hellip | September 13th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
i di home plumbing at home because i enjoy doing home repair myself’*.
8. Caramoan &hellip | October 12th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
i do my own plubming at home and it is quite easy specially if you have some basic tutorials`~.
9. ashe&hellip | January 5th, 2011 at 4:47 am
Previously I would never think of tackling a faulty garbage disposal without having taken, at least, a couple plumbing courses but after reading this it sounds pretty simple to set right a, potentially, costly problem. Thanks for the advice.
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