Our kitchen waste-disposal unit is jammed and starting to smell — how do I fix it, and is a macerator the same thing?

Most of this is a genuine DIY fix — the golden rule is power OFF first (switch it off at the wall/isolator, don't just trust the switch).

Unjamming it: - If it hums but doesn't turn, something's stuck between the grinder and the ring. Never put your hand in. Most units have a hex/allen key socket on the underside — turn it back and forth to free the plate, or use the wooden-handle tool that came with it from the top to rock the grinder loose. - Then hit the little red reset button on the base (jams trip the overload) and try again with the water running. - If it does nothing at all (no hum), it's the reset/power or the motor — reset first, then it's a real repair.

The smell: it's food stuck on the grind ring, not the drain. Ice cubes (they scour the grinder) plus citrus peel or a little baking soda, run with cold water. Avoid harsh drain chemicals — they damage the seals and don't reach the trapped bits.

Never put in: fibrous stuff (onion skins, celery, fibrous veg), grease/oil (it coats and stinks — that belongs nowhere near the drain, see grease traps), bones, pasta/rice (they swell), or coffee grounds in quantity.

And the macerator question — no, different device. A waste disposal grinds food scraps in your sink. A macerator (brands like Saniflo) is a pump-and-grinder that sits behind a toilet or basin below the sewer line and pumps the waste UP to the drain — used where you can't gravity-drain, e.g. a basement or added bathroom. People mix them up because both 'grind', but they solve completely different problems. Disposal makers like InSinkErator cover the sink-unit side. If the reset-and-free-the-jam routine doesn't bring it back, that's when Al Ghubaiba's kitchen-equipment team is worth a call rather than fighting a dead motor.