garbage-disposalplumbing
I have an INsinkerator that I never used for years as I hate it. I tested it out the other day and it no longer works as it appears heavily rusted over due to non-use. I tried the red re-set button, but it wouldn't work. I would hear a low hum and it would pop back out. I found an allen key and tried turning it from the bottom with no success (seemed super stuck).
Is this fixable? Is there any way to remove the rust that is safe? Or am I better off replacing it?
Thanks.
It seems as if you have an obstruction that may be floating around in the pipe or valve. Sometimes it obstructs sometimes it flows clear. I would start with changing the water valve. If this is the old style "gate" valve there are several things that can clog the line. I would replace it with a 1/4 turn ball valve. That will give you much better flow than a gate valve. You will need to shut down the water probably at the main. The old valve is probably soldered, but you could cut it off and use a compression type valve instead. "Sharkbite" is one such supplier. Although I have never used their compression valve, I have used their end caps and found them to work well.
If you can have someone hold a bucket under the pipe once you cut off the valve and then a second person turns on the water main to fill the bucket to purge the line of any debris. With cast iron pipes it is common to get clogs from rust build up. The rust may not pass the small opening in the old gate valve when you first purged the line.. Although you did not mention what type of pipes you have, if it's copper than you won't normally find rust obstructions..
Sounds like the chewed up gunk from the disposal has largely blocked the drain pipe. Try a plunger first (block all other connected drains) but that may or may not be effective depending on how far along the clog is.
If the simple solution doesn't work, you'll have to open a clean-out (or the U-trap) and use an auger to break it out. You can rent a "snake" from Home Depot that attaches to a power drill.
As @Chris Cudmore said, avoid fibrous material. Corn husks are the worst.
Important: If this happens again, you may have a plumbing problem! Disposals are often connected to existing plumbing that is not sufficient to handle them. The drain should be 2" pipe with limited slope (or vertical) and must be the direct path to the main sewer with any other connections merging into the pipe from above. Otherwise, you get places where the gunk can stick for a moment and have water move back along the other path giving time for the gunk to stick even more until you basically have concrete blocking your pipe. I'll give you 3 guesses as to how I know this... and the first two don't count.
Best Answer
Replace the thing. New ones are not excessively expensive.
Attempts at repair are likely to be a futile exercise. The reason is that old disposers often corrode right through the lower portion of the casing and there really is no good way to repair that.