On Nov 26, 11:39 pm, Jonathan Sachs wrote:
A good friend of mine is having this problem. The disposal unit
behaved itself nicely for about six months; now it's jamming. She can
clear it, but it quickly jams again.

Any ideas? I know how to unjam a disposal unit with a wrench, but I
don't know what to do if it jams again, over and over.

Some background, for context:

--She rents, so removing the disposal unit is not an option.
Replacing it is an option if she can convince the landlord that it's
broken, but so far we're not convinced of that ourselves.

--She lives in another state. I can relay questions to her, which she
may or may not be able to answer. I can't go over and take a look --
at least not until the holidays, and she'd sure like to fix it before
then!

I got kids. Kids (at least mine) sometimes put things in the sink
that belong in the garbage. One thing that has occasionally ended up
in my disposal is the pop-top from a soda can. Other times it's pieces
of plastic from one of those slotted bread bag closures.

Sometime these small hard items can find their way between the bottom
plate and the side of the unit. Sometimes the shedders will spin past
them like they're not even there, sometimes it will make an awful
racket when the shedders hit the piece and sometimes the unit will
simply jam.

Have your friend use a flashlight and look carefully along the side
walls of the unit to see if there is any pieces of hard material stuck
there. They can be a real PITA to get out if they've gotten jammed in
there tight.