My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot wire from the switch to the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're pretty sure it's good. It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it doesn't fix the problem, you're only
out a buck.

On 9/24/17 5:23 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot wire from the switch to the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're pretty sure it's good. It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it doesn't fix the problem, you're only
out a buck.

Have you checked from neutral to ground? Maybe plug a trouble
light into the outlet
just for confirmation of the volt meter's reading.

On 9/24/17 6:27 PM, Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sun, 24 Sep 2017 17:56:23 -0400, "Kurt V. Ullman"
wrote:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

In no particular order:

1. Check all GFI outlets to ensure none have tripped.

Done that

2. Temporarily plug the GD into an extension cord, ensure it is still
working.

Done

3. Check to see if there is a breaker on the GD.

There is and it wasn't tripped.

4. If there is power at the switch, as you say and no power at the
outlet, I would shut off the circuit breaker and pull the outlet (very
simple), turn the breaker back on, test for power at the wires where
they are connected to the outlet. If you have power from the switch
to the outlet, then you have a bad outlet.
Did that and then changed the outlet and still no juice.

5. Are you sure the GD outlet is not a GFI? If so, have you tried to
reset it?



100% since there is no reset or test and the outlet when I took it out
was plane vanilla. All of the other plugs in the kitchen are working.
It is on its own breaker.

On 9/24/17 6:27 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 9/24/17 5:23 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in
news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot
wire from the switch to the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're
pretty sure it's good. It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it
doesn't fix the problem, you're only
out a buck.

Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* Have you checked from neutral to ground?Â*Â* Maybe plug a trouble
light into the outlet
just for confirmation of the volt meter's reading.

The outlet was for the garbage disposal and it stopped working, which is
why the hooha. Tried to plug it back in following changing the outlet
and still no luck.

On 9/24/17 6:23 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot wire from the switch to the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're pretty sure it's good. It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it doesn't fix the problem, you're only
out a buck.


Okay. I'll try that.

On 9/24/17 6:23 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot wire from the switch to the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're pretty sure it's good. It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it doesn't fix the problem, you're only
out a buck.

That did it. A little education is a dangerous thing.
Thanks to all

On Sunday, September 24, 2017 at 7:14:13 PM UTC-4, Kurt V. Ullman wrote:
On 9/24/17 6:23 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot wire from the switch to the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're pretty sure it's good. It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it doesn't fix the problem, you're only
out a buck.

That did it. A little education is a dangerous thing.
Thanks to all

Good that you got it fixed. You had said you had power "to the switch".
I was going to ask if you checked if you had it on the load side of
the switch with the switch closed.

On 9/24/17 8:25 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On Sunday, September 24, 2017 at 7:14:13 PM UTC-4, Kurt V. Ullman wrote:
On 9/24/17 6:23 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot wire from the switch to the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're pretty sure it's good. It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it doesn't fix the problem, you're only
out a buck.

That did it. A little education is a dangerous thing.
Thanks to all

Good that you got it fixed. You had said you had power "to the switch".
I was going to ask if you checked if you had it on the load side of
the switch with the switch closed.

Yep I had. I checked and in off one terminal was hot and the other
wasn't. I flipped it to on and both were hot. That was when I was sure
it was okay. I switched out the plug, since I thought the switch was
good. Still didn't work so then I decided to follow Doug's advice to
switch out the switch before I called an electrician. For some reason
that worked.

"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in news:Mr-dnTnmuctQzVXEnZ2dnUU7-
:

On 9/24/17 8:25 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On Sunday, September 24, 2017 at 7:14:13 PM UTC-4, Kurt V. Ullman wrote:
On 9/24/17 6:23 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Kurt V. Ullman" wrote in
news:LeOdnQC_jsCVt1XEnZ2dnUU7-
:

My garbage disposal stopped working. The voltage meter says I have power
to the on/off switch and it is good. The continuity tester at the plug
the GD plugs into shows open hot (no lights). The voltage meter notes no
power. I am never sure how much is open hot and how much is just no
juice. I changed out the plug with no luck. Anything I can do before I
call an electrician?

Check the switch again. Possibly the switch has failed, or the hot wire from the switch to
the
disposal receptacle is not connected at the switch.

I think you should just replace the switch anyway, even if you're pretty sure it's good.
It's
certainly a lot cheaper than calling an electrician. Even if it doesn't fix the problem,
you're only
out a buck.

That did it. A little education is a dangerous thing.
Thanks to all

Good that you got it fixed. You had said you had power "to the switch".
I was going to ask if you checked if you had it on the load side of
the switch with the switch closed.

Yep I had. I checked and in off one terminal was hot and the other
wasn't. I flipped it to on and both were hot. That was when I was sure
it was okay. I switched out the plug, since I thought the switch was
good. Still didn't work so then I decided to follow Doug's advice to
switch out the switch before I called an electrician. For some reason
that worked.

If you were checking with a digital meter, or a non-contact voltage tester, you could have
been reading a high voltage at almost zero current. The switch contacts may have been
passing enough current to light up a detector but not nearly enough to power an electric
motor.

Glad my suggestion helped.