The three states of a broken disposal
A disposal that hums but will not turn is jammed — something is wedged between the impellers and the ring, and the motor is straining against it. One that is silent and dead has usually tripped its own overload; the little red reset button underneath brings many of them back. And one that trips the breaker repeatedly, or hums even after the jam is cleared, has a motor on its way out. The first two are often five-minute fixes; the third is a replacement conversation.
What kills them around here
The service-call list on the Coast has a local flavor: shrimp and crawfish shells, crab claws from the weekend boil, and the fibrous ends of okra and corn husks wrap and wedge like they were designed for it. Grease is the slower killer — it coats, hardens, and chokes the drain just past the unit, so the disposal gets blamed for a clog it did not cause. Cold water running before, during, and after each use is the cheapest insurance a kitchen has.
Repair or replace, honestly
A wedged flatware jam, a tripped overload, or a leaking sink flange are worth fixing. But a standard disposal is not an expensive appliance, and once the motor itself falters or the housing rusts through and drips underneath, replacement is usually cheaper than a second service call. Swapping in a new unit is quick work for a plumber already under the sink — and a good moment to step up in horsepower if the old one always felt undersized.
The leak that is not the disposal
Water under the sink gets blamed on the unit, but the actual source is often the sink flange seal above it, the dishwasher hose clamped to its side, or the slip joints beside it. Part of a proper visit is finding the true source before any parts get changed — which is how you avoid paying for a new disposal that leaks exactly like the old one.