Badger 1 Garbage Disposal Not Working: Reasons & Solutions

Table of Contents

• How To Fix Badger 1 Garbage Disposal That’s Not Working?
  • Check Power Supply 
  • Reset Your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal 
  • Rotate The Flywheel Using An Allen Wrench
  • Clear The Drain Lines
  • Replace Your Garbage Disposal If Nothing Else Works 
• How Do You Maintain Your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal? 
• Conclusion 

Badger 1 is a reliable garbage disposal that makes the kitchen cleanup task easy and efficient. 

Like other appliances, your Badger 1 will malfunction if you don’t use the garbage disposal properly or maintain the disposer improperly. 

The following signs will help you determine if the Badger 1 Garbage disposal is not working: 

• The Badger 1 won’t come on or make any noise when activating the switch
• Your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal is only humming, not grinding.
• The sink backs up, or the sink is not draining.

I will walk you through five troubleshooting steps to bring your Badger 1 back into working condition. 

Without further ado, let’s dive in. 

How To Fix Badger 1 Garbage Disposal That’s Not Working?

Try these five troubleshooting steps to fix your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal that’s not grinding food waste:

Check Power Supply

Checking the power supply to the unit is the first step you should follow to troubleshoot your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal. 

Inspect the power cord of your garbage disposal and ensure it’s plugged into the outlet snugly. 

Sometimes, a simple knockout from the trash can or cleaning supply you store under the sink area can cause the power cord to come loose from the outlet. 

So, double-check the power cord and ensure it’s plugged in tightly into the outlet. 

If your Badger 1 is hardwired, go to your home’s circuit breaker panel box. Check the circuit breaker for the garbage disposal and flip it up if it gets tripped.  

Generally, a circuit breaker gets tripped when you overload the circuit. 

For example, running multiple appliances simultaneously, such as a toaster and garbage disposal on the same circuit, can overload the circuit and cause it to trip.

I recommend you use a dedicated circuit for your garbage disposal and a dishwasher to share. 

A faulty GFCI outlet can also interrupt the electric supply to your garbage disposal. 

To verify whether the outlet is functional, unplug the garbage disposal and plug something else, like a lamp, into the outlet. If the light doesn’t come on, ensure the outlet is bad. 

Lastly, don’t forget to check the wiring cable of your garbage disposal using a voltmeter. 

Call a certified electrician to handle the electric issue to keep you in the safe zone. 

Reset Your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal

Your InSinkErator Badger 1 Garbage Disposal has a safety device called an overload protector or reset button. 

When you overload the disposal with too much stuff, the impellers fail to grind the food waste efficiently. It causes the motor to get overheated and trip the reset button to avoid motor burnout. 

To reset your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal: 

• Find the reset button at the bottom of your garbage disposal. If it gets tripped, the reset button drops down about a quarter inch. 
• Press the reset button firmly and release it. 
• If the reset button doesn’t stay up, wait ten minutes. Then, press the reset button again. 

Rotate The Flywheel Using An Allen Wrench

The flywheel is mounted on the motor surrounded by a grinding ring. 

When you turn on your garbage disposal, electric current flows through the motor and turns the flywheel or the grinding plate. There are impellers mounted on the flywheel, which also rotate independently. 

The combined work of the flywheel, impellers, and grinding ring shreds the food waste into pieces. 

Related: How Does A Garbage Disposal Work?

If you put fibrous foods like celery or starchy foods like pasta, they wrap around the blade and cause an obstruction. 

Similarly, the flywheel and impellers can’t rotate if you accidentally put non-food items in the garbage disposal. Those items stuck between the flywheel and the impellers, making the impellers unable to rotate. 

Your garbage disposal only hums but won’t work or grind when there is an obstruction in the garbage disposal. 

To release the jam, follow these steps to rotate the flywheel using an Allen wrench: 

• Locate the center hole under the sink at the bottom of your garbage disposal.
• Insert the Allen wrench into the hole. 
• Use force to turn the wrench back and forth. 
• Keep rotating the wrench back and forth until the blockage breaks completely and the wrench turns freely in complete circles in both directions. 
• Press the reset button gently. 
• Use a flashlight to see any visible blockage in the grinding chamber. I recommend inspecting the outer edges of the garbage disposal closely.
• Use long-handled pliers or tongs to remove the blockage.
• Run cold water and turn on your garbage disposal. Now, the garbage disposal should come on. If the unit jams again, repeat these steps several times. 

Clear The Drain Lines

This troubleshooting step is effective when the garbage disposal is not working, causing the sink to either back up or not drain.

In this case, you should check the plumbing around the garbage disposal. 

Crawl down the under-sink area and check all the drain pipes that run to and from the garbage disposal. 

Ensure you put a container under the drain lines to catch drippings. Disconnect the discharge tube from the garbage disposal and ensure it’s blockage-free.

Besides, check the P-trap, inspect the dishwasher lines, and the gaskets. 

Replace the gaskets if required. Then, tighten up the drain lines if they come loose. 

Replace Your Garbage Disposal If Nothing Else Works

90% of the time, the troubleshooting steps mentioned above will fix your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal that doesn’t work. 

After trying those steps, run the cold water supply. Then, turn on your garbage disposal. If the garbage disposal doesn’t come on, it’s time to replace the garbage disposal. 

Typically, garbage disposal fails to grind if the motor gets defective or the body of the unit leaks.

If your Badger 1 is still under warranty, you should be able to get a replacement covered by the warranty.

Otherwise, you should replace the garbage disposal. You can read this article to learn how much it costs to replace a garbage disposal.

How Do You Maintain Your Badger 1 Garbage Disposal?

Follow these garbage disposal maintenance tips to keep your Badger 1 in tip-top condition: 

• Use your garbage disposal regularly, even if there is no food waste to grind.
• Run cold water and turn on your garbage disposal.
• Turn on cold water for several seconds after grinding to flush the drain lines smoothly. 
• Don’t overload the garbage disposal with a lot of stuff at once. Instead, feed food waste gradually. 
• Don’t put grease, oil, fat, fibrous, and non-food items in the garbage disposal. You can check out this article to learn what not to put in a garbage disposal. 
• Clean the garbage disposal once a week. You can use baking soda or grind ice cubes to clean the disposer. 
• Feed citrus peels like lemon or orange to freshen up the disposer. 

Conclusion

In most cases, InSinkErator Badger 1 Garbage Disposal won’t work due to electric issues, foreign objects stuck in the grinding chamber, and the unit leaking. 

To fix your Badger 1 that is not working, follow these troubleshooting steps: 

• Verify that the unit is receiving an electric supply. Make sure that the garbage disposal is plugged into the outlet tightly. If it’s hardwired, check the circuit breaker and ensure it doesn’t get tripped.
• Reset the garbage disposal if it receives power, but the disposal is not working. 
• Check the garbage disposal for a jam and break the obstructions by inserting the wrench into the hole and turning the wrench back & forth. 
• Release blockage by using long-handled pliers. 
• Inspect the drain lines for obstructions and clear the drain lines.
• Replace the garbage disposal if the previous troubleshooting steps don’t work. 

If you need more tips on repairing your garbage disposal, check out this DIY Repair & Troubleshooting category.

Have you followed the troubleshooting steps mentioned in this guideline?

Have you followed the troubleshooting steps mentioned in this guideline? If yes, what troubleshooting steps work for you? 

Let me know by leaving a comment below.