[thlindaliu]

The insink erator pro17 which is turn on and off by turning the drain cap suddently won't turn off. No matter how I turn the cap two days ago. I ended up have to turn off the whole house power. Now I can not use the disposal. Do any one know what is going wrong and how to fix it? I can turn it on with no problem, however, once it is turn on, it cannot be turned off.
Help!!
Thank you for every one who reply.

[rock sea]

I have the same problem, now I have to check the magntic swith which is located in side the collar.

[RADEMS]

SOLUTION FOR INSINKERATOR NOT TURNING OFF
Just had the same problem with my Insinkerator 17 not turning off. After spending much time researching this problem and taking to the manufacture, it seemed the cheapest way out was to purchase a new one since mine was 8 years old and out of warranty. NOT SO FAST!! I out smarted them all! Here is my SOLUTION: Rewire! From the unit, wire to an on off switch. From the on/off switch wire it to plug into your outlet. Now it's just a flip of a switch located under my sink for the unit to go on (since it is stuck in the on position). Just did it and it works like a charm! Sept. 25, 2010

[PeterTG]

I had the same problem. The ISE rep told me to buy a new stopper because the my may not work properly with a magnetic switch. If this would not work I needed a new disposer. After thinking about it for 5 seconds it was obvious her advice did not make sense. If the stopper was bad, I would not be able to turn on the disposer, not turning it off. Also, looking at the stopper it was obvious that nothing could go wrong with it.
Here is the misunderstanding. Pro 17 does not have the magnetic switch. It is a mechanical switch.
One of the prongs from the stopper presses the pin located between the plastic guides inside the flange (you can locate it under the wider of the top guides). This pin in turn presses the switch located on the top portion of the disposer (under the shiny cover - look under the sink). When the stopper is turned sideways to turn off the disposer, the pin retracts back into the inside of the flange and releases the switch.
In my case the pin was stuck in the on position and did not retract - it continuously pressed the switch. After shutting off the power, I opened the switch assembly and gently removed the switch. Then I lubricated the pin and pushed it back with my finger, then turned the stopper into on and off positions and pushed the pin back again. After several of these back and forth I reinstalled the switch and the disposer works.
I hope it helps someone else.

[kelvinator]

Mine wouldn't shut off either. Good advice from Peter TG! Thanks!
This is a super simple repair, once you know the fix for it!
Turn breaker box off to kill power to the sinkerator. Look under the sink for a shiny silver colored plastic box (held on by 1 screw) on side of the sinkerator, up by the drain. Remove the plastic box. You'll see a switch with 2 wires and if you look behind the switch, where it sits against the drain, you'll see a small pin/shaft pushing out against the switch. Mine was brown/orange with rust. Don't bother removing the switch, just clean the pin/shaft using a thin scewdriver and shreds of papertowel soaked with oil. You may have to push the pin in with the thin screwdriver and turn the stopper up in the sink to get it moving in and out smoothly. I finished the repair with a dab of grease on the pin to prevent future problems.
The Sinkerator website says to let it run for 20 minutes and it will shut itself off, then call for service. Thanks for nothing guys! No way was I going to leave that thing running for 20 minutes! The repair is so simple, I had it fixed and tools put away in 15 minutes or less! Wonder what the service call would've cost? Save yourself some time... and some $$$$$$! DIY!!
Thanks again to Peter TG for pointing me in the right direction!

[mpk7]

Thanks so much, this took 10 minutes, so I just saved an afternoon of work and $200 on a new disposal!

[DDDDMA]

Thanks for this advice. You just saved me a ton of headache and money going into Thanksgiving!

[wtg56]

Guys thanks-this did it & agree simple,yes the pin was sticking.As mentioned above,pull off shiney single screw cover- I gently pulled the switch from it's holder then (with of course)power off at fuse box stuck my finger against the sink side pin with my other finger at the switch point side of pin moved it back and forth after cleaning gently with a tooth brush the collected debris or build up.Thanks again for these notes shared,Tim

[tetonman]

Thanks for the help, but I couldn't remove the switch (although fixed the problem, at least termporarily). I removed the silver cover that has the one screw but in spite of pulling fairly hard could not remove the switch with its two wires. Stopped trying because afraid of breaking it. But just that wiggling must have freed the pin because now it clicks on and off, whether using my finger down the drain or using the stopper or just wiggling the switch a little on the outside of the unit. Cleaned some crud from around the pin on the inside of the unit but could not really see the pin on the outside, because covered by the switch. So shot a little WD-40 there (between switch and case, although not really seeing the pin), and also on the pin on the inside of the unit. Works now but would feel better if I could really get to the pin and clean and lubricate it.

[Fixitann]

So glad I found this site! I followed the instructions above and WALA!! It worked! My Insinkerator has been stuck for some time now and I have been turning it on and off with the power cord (not safe!). I kept thinking it was the contact in the sink. But, today, determined to try to fix it before buying a whole new unit, like all the other sites suggested, I found this thread and, sure enough, it was that darn little pin. I, too, was afraid to break things removing the control box with the pin in it... just hold back all four plastic clips to remove without breaking, and put back with the same care. It gives you better access to truly clean and oil the pin. Thanks for posting this solution!!

[Dboston]

Just had the same issue. I would recommend removing the switch by pushing it gently up above the white clips. Then toothbrush and WD 40 on the pin, and move it back and forth until looser. Put switch back into clips, turn power back on and it's as good as new.

This saved me lots and lots of money - replacing the disposal would have opened the can of lets replace the sink, the faucet, the countertop and so on...

[rdhefferna]

I used the above suggestion -- fiddling with the shiny silver switch box and it was fixed in less than 5 minutes! And I am not mechanical at all! --Rd

[BrixtonSpa]

I wonder if my model is so old it's different?

I found the white switch with two wires under the silver box.

But it looks pretty well sealed against the unit. I can't budge it (not even wiggle it). I don't see any pin. I don't see "four white clips" to remove it.

[thejahn]

I had the constant on problem as others stated and I tried to fix it with some small complication.

Turn off the power to the insinkerator at the circuit breaker box. My insinkerator had the silver box with one screw. That little box comes off easily and I saw capped and taped black and white wires soldered to a white plastic switch. A small silver clamp hugs together the top half of the switch (facing away from drain) to the bottom half (facing the drain). When I gently push back one side of the silver tab, it pops partly off realeasing part of the switch, and the other side clip releases the stitch top and reveals a white plastic restraint bar and a copper tab on the bottom half of the switch. The pin in the drain touches the plastic restraint bar which holds back the copper tab from making contact with the top half of the switch! DO NOT BEND the COPPER TAB. (this was my problem during my attampt to fix this. The plastic restraint is what is stuck and part of what needs to be greased. Greasing this from under the sink, and the pin in the drain should resolve the stuck switch issue.

Thank you all for your help. I hope this little bit more of an explanation helps someone.The fix really should only take a few minutes.

I wonder if my model is so old it's different?

I found the white switch with two wires under the silver box.

But it looks pretty well sealed against the unit. I can't budge it (not even wiggle it). I don't see any pin. I don't see "four white clips" to remove it.

The clips are probably silver and encapsulate the switch halves like mine and only two parts are visible from the front. My switch does not just come off like others indicate either. You are in the right area though.

[Brownie203]

Very helpful thread.

I, too, am dealing with this. Unfortunately, I'm not very handy

I did get far enough such that I was able to remove the switch from the white plastic housing. As a result, the Insinkerator is finally quiet. But Im struggling to get the switch re-installed into the housing. It was installed with the switch facing the back of the undersink section, and it's very difficult getting a good angle. And I too am leery of snapping the housing.

In reality, we virtually never use this appliance, and I'd be fine if it sat quiet until we ended up selling the house

My question is whether an electrical safety issue exists if the switch is simply left hanging/ unattached, once I turn the circuit back on. It has no on/off switch other than the manual one at the top of the appliance.

[rwbZ28]

Excellent solution. Thanks to all for the great advice. My pin was frozen in place since it quit working 8 months ago and I just tried to fix it. I unpluged the unit, removed the silver cover with one screw. Then I carefully removed the electrical switch with two wires which was held in place with several white plastice locking fingers. Had to remove this to access the pin and never would have worked without exposing the end of the pin. It took a long time and a lot of WD 40, some penetrating oil and finally some spray lubricant to free up the pin. I used the sink stopper to simulate turning on the disposal and a punch and then my finger under the sink to push the pin back and forth and finally had it freed up and working. Put it all back together and it worked fine.