HELP, I'm an IDIOT, I poured Metamucil down my garbage disposal!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't you use Draino or Liquid Plumber for something like that?

It said online that it can hurt the disposal, and make it unsafe if you need to disassemble the pipes.

Do not use chemicals in your disposal. It ruins it!

[Anonymous]

OP PLEASE IGNORE THE LIQUID PLUMMER ADVICE. God almighty.

1. With the disposal turned off, take the handle end of a long broom or mop down into the teeth of the disposal at an angle.

2. Then rotate the broom against the teeth slowly, in a CLOCKWISE motion. Rotate 180º if possible.

3. Remove handle from sink.

4. Turn on disposal.

This should work.

If not, feel under the disposal for the small allen wrench hole--turn it with the wrench.

That's all I know and it has always worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may need to use a specialwrench to rotate the gears. Go to the hardware store if you don't have one. They will sell you something that looks like a handle with a square rod on it. Insert the rod into the hole underneath the base of the disposal and rotate it a couple of times.

This. When you over exert your disposal it disengages the motor blades. You can restart it by forcing a few cranks of the blades, which is done by inserting an Allen wrench like instrument into a fitting at the bottom of the disposal and turning a few times.

But, the water should drain without the blades turning, so I'm thinking that the hole where the water drains through when the disposal is not turned on is clogged. Anyone got any ideas for that? I'll worry about the disposal actually working later.

You truly are being an idiot here ... turn your disposal back on and run it for 5 seconds. If it's still clogged then, then you're screwed and need to start taking pipes apart and potentially snaking out ... But, I'm 95% sure a functioning disposal will do the trick. Just because you can't see any gunk in the blade area does NOT mean your disposal is cleared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may need to use a specialwrench to rotate the gears. Go to the hardware store if you don't have one. They will sell you something that looks like a handle with a square rod on it. Insert the rod into the hole underneath the base of the disposal and rotate it a couple of times.

This. When you over exert your disposal it disengages the motor blades. You can restart it by forcing a few cranks of the blades, which is done by inserting an Allen wrench like instrument into a fitting at the bottom of the disposal and turning a few times.

But, the water should drain without the blades turning, so I'm thinking that the hole where the water drains through when the disposal is not turned on is clogged. Anyone got any ideas for that? I'll worry about the disposal actually working later.

You truly are being an idiot here ... turn your disposal back on and run it for 5 seconds. If it's still clogged then, then you're screwed and need to start taking pipes apart and potentially snaking out ... But, I'm 95% sure a functioning disposal will do the trick. Just because you can't see any gunk in the blade area does NOT mean your disposal is cleared.

I've tried running the disposal, but it just hums but doesn't actually turn.

- the red reset button is not pushed out, so pushing the reset button didn't work

- I can take a wooden spoon and spin both the blades, so they are not stuck

any other advice?

I'm guessing we are going to have to take the pipes/disposal apart.

[Anonymous]

OMG - OP, you really need to work on your reading comprehension, or this is just an elaborate and horribly mundane joke. See the numerous sets of instructions (including an instructional video for goodness sakes) - you need to crank the disposal with the Allen wrench via the small fitting at the bottom of the disposal unit.

Do not try to take pipes apart yourself. You clearly have no idea what you're doing and you are almost certainly not going to be able to disassemble and reassemble plumbing.

[Anonymous]

Seriously. Get the wrench. Best $2 we ever spent at Sears.

[Anonymous]

USE A BROOM HANDLE YOU"LL HAVE BETTER LEVERAGE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that your disposal would be super cleaned out, no?


sorry - couldn't resist

LOL

The reset button is not popped out.

The sink is drained now (used the drainer thing I use to empty my fish tank), but if I run water in it, it doesn't drain at all, it just sits there.

My husband says to try ice. I guess it will push the gunk through.

See if it works.

[Anonymous]

UPDATE, okay the disposal is now working fine. However, the water is not draining. I'm going to try the ice now

[Anonymous]

OP, the metamucil has turned into a hard chunk in the drain pipe somewhere. That's what it does if you put too much in the glass and don't drink it. I'm not sure what you would need to do to dissolve that, though.

[Anonymous]

BWAHAHAHAHA!

[Anonymous]

You need to unscrew the trap and try snaking out the clog. A plumber will charge 300 for this 5 minute job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG - OP, you really need to work on your reading comprehension, or this is just an elaborate and horribly mundane joke. See the numerous sets of instructions (including an instructional video for goodness sakes) - you need to crank the disposal with the Allen wrench via the small fitting at the bottom of the disposal unit.

Do not try to take pipes apart yourself. You clearly have no idea what you're doing and you are almost certainly not going to be able to disassemble and reassemble plumbing.

Seriously OP. New poster here. One of the first people on the thread told you the correct advice. You cranks the motor with an Allen wrench. If the red reset is popped, you press it. The you turn the water and the disposal on. If the disposal cuts out, repeat again. I get that you think that the sink should still drain. But we are telling you from experience it really won't and this is really, truly the correct answer. Or just call a plumber who will do exactly this.

[Anonymous]

When I've got a clog I found internet advice to do the following and it's always worked:

put some dish soap in the clog/down the plug. Wait ten minutes. Pour very warm (almost boiling) water down, from a height. E.g. stand on a chair or a stool and pour it down into the sink. Then get a plunger and try to plunge the clog. It's worked for me from sink clogs due to potato peelings (won't do that again) to toilets clogged with large poops!

[Anonymous]

I'm sure this says something more about me than OP or any commenters, but this thread is the funniest thing I have read on the internet in a long time. Reading parts of it aloud to my husband, I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. Thanks for the laughs, all! And OP, I hope you drain, sink, disposal and pretty much everything in your life are all running well in the morning!