Trash Compactor Making Noise

Checks you can do safely before you call

1. Switch off the breaker before you look. Turn off the compactor's circuit, or unplug it if the plug is within reach, and only then open the drawer.
2. Clear the drawer and check under the ram. With the power off and gloves on, take out the bag and look up at the underside of the ram and along the side rails for caps, glass or packaging that scrapes.
3. Snug the screws you can see. With the breaker still off, check the toe panel at the bottom front for loose screws and tighten them gently with a screwdriver. Don't remove the side or rear panels.
4. Run one empty cycle and listen. Restore power, shut the drawer and run the compactor with nothing in the bin. Stand to one side, keep your hands clear, and note when the noise happens: on the way down, at the bottom, on the way up or the whole time. A noise that comes only with a load may not show on an empty run, so tell the technician when you hear it.
5. Stop if it grinds or knocks. If you hear grinding or a hard knock, switch the breaker off and leave the compactor off, so a worn part isn't pushed further.

When to call a technician

• A squeal or screech comes back on each cycle.
• You hear a click or clunk partway down, or the ram looks lower on one side.
• Grinding gets louder from one week to the next.
• The noise comes with a burning smell, or the motor stops mid-cycle; see trash compactor ram stuck.
• The compactor runs but the trash stays loose; see trash compactor won't compact.

What happens at the diagnostic visit

The technician runs a cycle to hear where the noise comes from, then opens the drive to check the chain or gears, the sprocket teeth, the power screws and nuts, and the motor mounts. If the screws are only dry, you hear what cleaning and greasing them involves; worn drive parts are priced before anything is replaced.

The diagnostic visit is $89 for a standard residential appliance and $129 for a built-in unit or commercial equipment; a premium brand on its own doesn't make an appliance built-in. See trash compactor repair for the other compactor problems we fix.

Brand and model notes

• Whirlpool and KitchenAid: on their compactors with chain-driven power screws, a squeal points first to dry screws, while a click or clunk mid-stroke points to the chain skipping a tooth or a worn power nut. See Whirlpool and KitchenAid.
• Jenn-Air and Maytag: the power nuts on many of their power-screw compactors are plastic wear parts, and a nut worn thin can knock or click as it slips under load. See Jenn-Air and Maytag.
• GE: tell us what the noise sounds like and where in the stroke it happens, along with the model number of the GE unit; that narrows the drive check before the panels come off. See GE.