Garbage disposals are a very efficient device and can grind most of the waste. They make cleaning up food a breeze, but if the food were the only thing found in the disposal, you would enjoy it, however, big pieces of glass are not one of those.
Dishware and glasses break in the sink occasionally and may make way to the disposal. Such accidents happen, unfortunately, and if a broken glass falls in the disposal, do not worry.
This guide will give you steps that tell you how to get the glass out of garbage disposal.
1. Cut the power supply:
Before starting with anything, the very first step should be removing the power supply to the garbage disposal.
The garbage disposal can be turned off itself, but to be very safe, switching off the breaker from the panel is the best option to go with.
2. Fishing!
Another safety hack, food does not stick down your hand in the drain to pull out the glass. Determine if the pieces jammed in the disposal are large or small, which will decide if they can be turned or will have to be removed manually.
If you believe that there are small pieces, run down some cold water and let the garbage disposal run for a while. Small glass pieces will not harm your disposal. Instead, they can aid in sharpening their blades.
Once these tiny glass shards are grounded, fill the sink with water and let it drain slowly through the disposal to get rid of any remaining glass bits which may have been caught up in the blades of the disposal.
Randall Edwards
3. Remove Large glass pieces
Instead of this unsafe measure, grab a nose plier and begin by removing as many pieces as you can find and get hold of using the plier.
Most of the large glass in garbage disposal must be on the top of the drain opening and can be removed easily.
Make sure that you are not grinding these large pieces of glass, as they will end up jamming your disposal and making it even more challenging to remove the glass from it.
It would help if you again made sure that the disposal is switched off, and you are not putting down your hand in the disposal.
Sticking your hand down the disposal with sharp ended blades is only synonymous with calling in more trouble for yourself.
Repeat the same until all the glass pieces are removed from the disposal.
Another method to remove glass is by using a shop vacuum to suck up the glass pieces.
If the hose seems too big or too short to get down to it, you can make a temporary hose using a cross-linked polyethylene tubbing or any other small flexible tube.
Cut a long enough piece that can fit as far down the disposal as required and a couple of inches in the shop vacuum hose as well.
Use some duct tape to wrap around both the hoses. Start with the shop vacuum to do the trick well.
Some glass pieces may be very large to go through the PEX, so you may even have to pull them one at a time using the vacuum’s suction power to hold the glass against PEX.
4. Run the disposal
Once all the glass pieces are removed from the disposal, and you are sure that no other remains turn on the disposal and run some cold water in it.
Check if the disposal is turning like it should be, and running cold water will also remove any leftover small bits of glass that may have been stuck in the blades or walls.
The same can be done using a hex key or a broomstick or handle as well, by putting it down the drain’s opening to turn the blades. If there are any remaining glass pieces, again suck them with the vacuum.
5. Dislodge disposal blades
If you see a glass piece being wedged in the blades of your disposal unit, turn it off again and insert an Allen wrench in the socket present at the bottom surface of the disposal unit.
Now turn the wrench. When you see that blades are free again, remove the wrench and switch on the unit again.
6. Resetting the disposal
When you turn on to check the disposal if it does not turn on or turn the way it should be, you may have to reset it.
Switch off the power of the disposal and look for the reset button, which should be present at the underside of the unit.
Push this button and turn the power switch on again, your disposal unit is now reset.
It is not difficult to remove the broken glass in the garbage disposal, but it is quite dangerous.
When the garbage disposal unit or its piping and plumbing need some repair or service, you should contact a professional and reliable plumber.
The garbage disposal unit present in your kitchen sink is a very convenient way to remove the leftovers and scraps efficiently.
Still, if a foreign object like a broken glass gets stuck in it, the mechanism can be jammed, and the entire unit may stop working. There are many steps to how to get a glass out of garbage disposal.
These steps are described above, including removal of significant glass pieces, dislodging the glass an inserting wrench at the top or bottom of disposal, vacuuming the unit, and resetting it.
If none of these work, you can remove the disposal and shake out the glass from it.
