Sparks at Garbage Disposer Switch

[scottymatt]

I am having a problem with a recent self-installation of a new garbage disposer. I replaced my old disposer with a model that is very similar to the old disposer. Everything seemed to go well until I first flicked the wall switch to the on position. When I flicked the switch a blue spark flew out of the wall switch plate and the circuit was broken. I re-did the wire connections to the Garbage disposer (checking to see that the connections and ground were tight) and tried again and got the same negative result. Any suggestions on how to resolve this problem are much appreciated.

[Electric101]

It's possible that you may have nicked the wires during installation. Is the circuit breaker tripping? Turn off the power and check the conductors (wires) where they enter the disposal. I assume that there is non-metallic sheathed cable (Romex) being used to supply power. Ensure that you use a proper cable connector at the disposal and that the connector clamps onto the cable sheath rather than the wires themself. If that is not the problem and you didn't perform any repairs at the switch, check to make sure that the hot wire (black in most cases, could be red) is in fact the wire that is providing power and is connected to the switch. The switch should be connected to the wire providing power to the disposal (again, should be the black/red wire). Other possibilites, bad switch or disposal (even new one's can be damaged from the factory). :)