To reset a garbage disposal, turn the switch off, find the red overload button on the bottom of the unit, and press it until it stays in. InSinkErator says a tripped button drops about a quarter inch. If it won’t stay in, wait ten minutes and try again.
That’s the whole fix when the motor got too hot. Past that, how to reset garbage disposal motors depends on what you hear when you flip the switch, because the button can’t free a jam and it can’t bring back power that never reaches the unit.
Kill the power before you reach under the sink. I unplug every machine before my hands go near it, and a disposal is no exception.
What the disposal does when you flip the switch
The sound you hear picks the fix. A silent unit with a dropped red button needs a reset. A humming unit is jammed. A silent unit with the button already up has lost power somewhere before the motor.
| What happens at the switch | What it usually means | Do this first |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing, and the red button has dropped | The overload protector tripped | Press the button |
| A low hum, but nothing turns | Something is wedged in the turntable | Power off, free it with the wrench, then reset |
| It hummed earlier and now does nothing | Repeated tries tripped the overload | Free the jam first, then reset |
| Nothing, and the button is still up | No power at the unit | Switch, plug, breaker |
| It runs, then trips again | A jam that’s still there, or a tired motor | Wrench again, then read the last section |
Moen spells out the third row. A jammed motor hums because it can’t turn the grinding parts. Keep hitting the switch and the internal breaker trips, so the unit goes quiet.
So your silent disposal can still be a jammed one. Look at the button and try the wrench before you go hunting for a power problem.
Where the red button hides on each brand
Every maker’s reset runs the same way: you switch the power off, find the button, press it until it stays in, then run cold water and switch on. What changes by brand is where you’ll find the button, and one InSinkErator line has no button at all.
- Turn the disposal switch off. If the unit plugs in, unplug it too.
- Take a flashlight under the sink and find the red button low on the housing.
- Press it in. Waste King says to push until it clicks and stays down.
- If it won’t stay in, the motor’s still hot. Give it ten minutes, InSinkErator’s figure, and press again.
- Restore power, run cold water, then turn the disposal on.
InSinkErator: a red square facing the floor
InSinkErator calls it the overload protector. It’s a small red square on the bottom of the disposal, facing the floor.
When it trips, it drops about a quarter inch (5 mm), so you can feel the step with a fingertip if you can’t see it. InSinkErator tells you to press it gently.
Moen: opposite the power cord
Moen puts the button in an opening near the bottom of the disposal, on the side opposite where the power cord comes out.
On some models it’s set back far enough that you’ll need a screwdriver to push it. Moen has you press it before you turn the power back on.
Waste King: opposite the discharge elbow
Waste King’s WLC-100 manual puts the red button near the bottom, on the side opposite the discharge elbow, which is the bent pipe carrying ground waste out to your drain. Find the elbow. The button’s on the far side.
InSinkErator EZ Connect: no button to press
EZ Connect units use an automatic overload switch.
With a wall switch, turn it off and let the disposal cool for up to 20 minutes. With a push-button air switch on the counter, turn it off and unplug the disposal for up to 20 minutes before you plug it back in.
A humming disposal needs the wrench before the button
A hum means the motor has power but the turntable can’t move, and pressing the reset won’t help you there. Turn the power off, free the turntable with a 1/4-inch hex key from below or a wooden handle from above, then reset.
Every InSinkErator ships with a silver wrench about four inches long, shaped like a little crank. Lost it? A standard 1/4-inch Allen wrench fits the same hole. InSinkErator’s jam instructions run like this:
- Switch the disposal off. Never put your hand inside it.
- Fit the wrench into the hole at the bottom, dead center, facing the floor.
- Work it back and forth in both directions. Some force is fine. InSinkErator says its wrench is built to bend before the disposal takes damage.
- Keep going until it turns in full circles both ways.
- Shine a flashlight down the drain. Pull out anything you see with tongs or pliers, especially around the outer edge of the shredding disk where the small teeth are.
- Press the reset button, run the water and switch on.
If it jams again, do it again. InSinkErator says it can take several rounds.
No hex hole on the bottom
Not every disposal has that socket. You free these from the top instead, and the makers all reach for something long and stiff.
- InSinkErator Builder Series, Amana and ES: turn the turntable in either direction with a wooden spoon, then lift the object out with tongs.
- Waste King: the manual uses a wooden broom handle on the turntable.
- Moen: its un-jamming wrench, part #1037, goes in through the sink opening, sits flat on the turntable against the two swivel impellers and turns it. Moen wants at least two full turns before you pull it out.
One handyman described the same trick for a unit with no bottom socket:
“These models don’t have the hex key on the bottom like normal. You have to get two screw medium-long drivers, make them cross over eachother, and put the metal parts inside the garbage disposal, and turn/twist until you feel it loosen up. I’ve had luck with wooden broom sticks also.”
– r/handyman, June 2026 (9 upvotes)
The wooden handle is what the manuals name, so I’d start there. Whatever you use, the power stays off until the turntable spins freely.
Silent with the button already in
If the red button is up and you hear nothing at all, power isn’t getting to the motor. Look at your switch, the plug and the breaker before you blame the disposal itself.
- Breaker or fuse. InSinkErator and Waste King both send you to the service panel for a tripped breaker or a blown fuse.
- Air switch. On an EZ Connect unit run by a counter button, the reset is unplugging it for up to 20 minutes.
- The outlet. If the disposal plugs in, see whether that outlet has its own reset button and whether anything else plugged into it works.
- Wiring. Waste King lists a shorted or broken wire to the disposer. On a hardwired unit, that’s where you stop and call an electrician.
Opening the electrical cover on a disposal is a different job from pressing a button. Leave it to someone licensed.
When the reset won’t hold
A button that keeps popping after the turntable spins freely points past the jam. The Waste King manual says that when the switch, breaker and wiring check out, the unit may have internal problems that need service or replacement.
Moen’s unjamming guide ends at the same place. If it still hums after you’ve freed the turntable, disconnect the power again and call their support line.
A commenter in r/Plumbing put the free-spinning, still-humming case more bluntly: “It’s time to go buy a new one.” That’s one person’s call, but it matches what both makers describe.
After you replace a disposal
If you’ve just put in a new disposal, its dishwasher inlet comes sealed with a plug. Whirlpool’s install steps have you knock it into the disposer with a hammer and screwdriver, then fish it out with needle-nose pliers.
Forget that and your dishwasher has nowhere to drain. Our Frigidaire dishwasher not draining guide starts at that plug.
If the dishwasher still backs up once the disposal runs, work through how to drain a dishwasher that’s full of standing water. Bosch owners can go to the Bosch dishwasher not draining fixes, which follow the drain hose to the disposal connection.
Questions people ask about how to reset garbage disposal units
How long should you wait before pressing reset again?
Wait ten minutes on a red-button InSinkErator that won’t stay in. Its EZ Connect units with an automatic overload need up to 20 minutes to cool. If the button drops again right away, give it the full wait before the next try.
Do you hold the reset button down?
No, you press it once until it stays in. Waste King describes it clicking and staying depressed. If it won’t stay, the motor needs more time to cool or the turntable is still jammed.
What if the disposal has no red button?
Look on the side opposite the power cord for Moen, or opposite the discharge elbow for Waste King, before you decide there isn’t one.
For InSinkErator EZ Connect units, how to reset garbage disposal power comes down to time: switch off, or unplug if it runs from an air switch, and wait up to 20 minutes.
