I put celery leaves down the garbage disposal and it stopped up - how do I clear the clog in the garbage disposal without calling a plumber?

When mine is "stalled out"... meaning I get a "humm" when I flip the switch, I take the appropriate (mine is 9/16") ratchet with an extender and turn the bolthead that is in the center of the rotating grinder unit......mine is an "Insinkerator". This usually gets the grinder free and ready to try again.

It depends if the clog is in the disposal or in the drain pipe (ptrap) or even further back...

If your disposal is locked out and not spinning then you could try what krbjd has recommended or you could use the bent allen wrench that is usually provided with the disposal (see picture) to unjam the unit from the bottom. Here, power must be off, insert the allen wrench and spin the unit left and or right until the disposal spins freely. Then REMOVE the allen wrench and then run some water in the sink and turn on disposal.. see if that unclogs now.

If the disposal works, but the sink is still clogged then if possible you will want to remove the plug from the bottom of the trap and see if the clog is above the trap (sink won't drain) or below the trap (sink drains into bucket).

If the clog is above the trap see if you can get a plunger and move the celery leaves around abit inside the disposal... maybe even pull some of it out (using tongs or similar tool). Worst case, you may need to snake up from the trap or even remove the disposal to unclog this.

If the clog is below the trap you will need to snake the drain line using a small cable machine. This can be done via the kitchen sink vent at the roof if you have flat roof or perhaps by finding a cleanout at the sink or below in the basement...

Let us know more about the clog... see if we can come up with less drastic measures... O.K.?

MARK

Unjaming a Garbage Disposal
Warning
Make sure the switch is off (or unplug the unit under the sink)
Look for the wrench that came with your disposer it may be taped to the side of the unit or to the cabinet wall. If not, dig through your junk drawer. It's a rod maybe 6 inches long with the ends bent over at a 45 degree angle. The rod is a hexagon shape. You stick the short end into the matching hole in the bottom center of the disposal and use the long end to turn it back and forth until you break free whatever's got the disposal stuck.

Lacking the wrench, get a flashlight and just look into the unit, and then just reach in there and dig out whatever's is there.

If the above doesn’t work, get a broom handle and stick it in the unit. If you look in there you will see two or four small projections on the bottom plate that spins around. The idea with the broom handle is to pry on one of those projections to force the plate to move. Work it back and forth until the plate spins free.

Sometimes the unit will overload while stuck (because you don't turn it off quickly enough when you realize it's stalled). In that case a button on the side of the unit will pop out (circuit breaker). You then need to find the button and push it back in, see the images below, Thanks.

John

Sorry Mark,

I was just typing I am slow in typing didn't want to step on your tow, Thanks.

John

Tow, was that a pun John. LOL

Sorry I meant Toe, thanks.

Best Regards,
John

John...

You could never step on my tow... or my other toes either.

Nice post!

MARK

Mark, Bob, John,
We don't step on toes on The Plumbing Page. We chop them off! Just ask some of the trolls that have visited us. Cheers, Tom