Beat the Broken Garbage Disposal "Grind"?

I get emails very often from people who have avoided expensive service calls on their garbage disposal by following the tips in this easy tutorial.

Your garbage disposal can stop working at the most inopportune time. It seems like it has a built in timer so that it jams or does not turn on just after a big dinner you've hosted for family or friends.

But I'll show you how make the repairs you need quickly and possibly save $100 or more in a plumbing service call. In this tutorial, I'll walk you through the most common garbage disposal repairs and also tell you how to avoid clogs and slow draining situations.

And get familiar with how the garbage disposal is constructed with Anatomy of a Garbage Disposal for a graphic overview of the disposal's components. And if it's your sink that's causing trouble, see Unclogging a Sink.