TU8000XLP0 Whirlpool Trash Compactor - Instructions

Took off front panel and replaced the directional switch which I thought was the problem. However, the problem continued. I read on line it could be the "centrifugal" switch on top of the motor. I haven't gotten around to taking it apart yet to see if that is the problem because it is more involved down under and in the back. That switch cost $88.
Any suggestions from others?

Unscrewed the handle, slipped the panel in (needed to pull out cardboard piece to make room - then reinsert the card board to keep from rattling). Replaced handle and screws holding it in.

Easy as pie! Lost knob, now replaced. Thanks for quick shipping. Excellent service.....

The plastic drive gear broke and the unit was locked in the down position. The repair kit contained all of the parts required to fix the problem plus other replacement parts for the gear drive unit. It was very easy (about 20 min.) to replace the gear and other parts. The unit works fine now.

Removed drawer first, then removed compactor from under kitchen cabinet. Removed top cover. Discovered that a small wash cloth was wound around one of the drive screws. I then removed plunger and put it back in position. Replaced top cover and turned on compactor. Plunger went to the top and made a grinding sound. I removed the cover to discover that when I put the plunger back in, I did not have the lever that trips a micro switch in proper position. I needed the replacement plastic gears that were ruined when compactor did not shut off. Relatively easy job if I had noticed the location of the shut off lever, and would have needed the parts.

Unplugged trash compactor and removed from undercounter. Took cover off and removed broken plastic gear. Replaced with new gear and put cover back on

Simply removed the two plastic gears (held on by some sort of clip), put the new gears in place using the spacing instructions that were provided in the kit ....... and it is working!

replaced switch and fixed the problem. Still had one more problem after that though, but got that figured out and fixed that to.

Unscrew the bottom, pull out the chain, replace the gear.

I broke the directional switch trying to replace the power nuts..duh huh... ordered a new switch, took off the front panel ( 4 screws) replaced the switch (2 bolts) be careful not to lose the small threaded plate used instead of nuts to secure the switch.. and now it works like new again....partselect is a great resource for the diyer

Removed two screws on the front panel cover and lifted off the cover , removed two small screws on the switch bracket, you need a short nut driver, removed the spade clipped wires from the old switch and replaced them on the new part and thats all there was to it.

My compactor is quite heavy, I moved it onto the kitchen floor unplugged and removed the cover plate from the bottom exposing the drive gears. The small (pinion ) gear was stripped as well as a section of the drive gear. I followed the video and removed the (fulthy) ram. The interior filth was so great I removed all parts to my garage and spent a lot of time cleaning them especially the ram.By the time my parts arrived, it was all clean and ready to go. I had also found that one of the power nuts was broken and had ordered new wheels and power nuts. Assembly was straight forward and it works like new now,

First let me say that I read many of the other posts regarding this repair and without them I wouldn't have had a clue how to fix this. Since the ram apparently moved up and down when I shut it off and turned it back on I reasoned the directional switch must be the problem. Ordered the part, Quick delivery. To replace the switch I removed the draw and removed two screws on the frame that hold the control panel in place. Lift up to remove. My unit is a stand alone unit although it is installed under the counter. There are two additional screws to remove the top and expose the ram and power screw drives. To remove the directional switch from the control panel you need to remove two hex head screws that hold it in place. This is a little difficult because of the small space. With the help of a small nut driver I was able to remove it. Note: the screws are held in place by a flat piece of metal that acts as a nut. Be careful not to drop it. Then simply remove the wire leads (all color and letter coded) and remove the switch. I was careful to reattach the leads to the new switch as I removed each one. Be sure to replace the switch with the limiting lever in the same position as it was in (it is vertical). Put everything back together and you should be good to go. That didn't happen for me! Problem persisted! Next on my list was the power nut. I got access to the ram and power screw drives (see above for instructions). The two power nuts are plastic wing nuts that are held in place by metal covers. The metal covers are each held down by two hex head screws. To gain access to the power nuts you have to remove the metal covers. Note the position of the nuts in relationship to the power screw shafts so that when you reassemble it they will be in the same position as when you started. In my case the top of the screw shafts were even with the top of the power nuts. (CAUTION: the ram is held by this assembly. Depending on what position your ram is when you started this repair it may fall! My ram was in the up position and when I removed the second cover it slammed down to the bottom of the drive screws). My advice is to be prepared by bracing up the ram before removing the metal covers. No harm when the ram fell but it did startle me. I then removed one of the power nuts. It was split in half. The other nut was fine but I decide to replace it anyway. Ordered parts. Quick delivery. Before I attempted to replace the power nuts I removed the ram (it just lifts out) and cleaned every thing. I put some new grease in the places that I had removed it. Then sprayed WD40 on the power screws. When I put the ram back in, I broke the new directional switch I had put in. So be careful!!! I still had the old one so I ultimately put it back in. I then replaced the power nuts. This was a little difficult because I had to hold the ram up while I was putting the metal covers back on. I would suggest you either brace the ram or get someone to hold it while you put the metal covers back on (In retrospect I suppose I could have just put the nuts on when the ram was down). Reassembled everything. Should be good to go. That didn't happen for me! Problem was still there! I turn it on, ram goes down. I turn it off, ram goes up. Desperation!! The only other thing it could be is the drive gear assembly. Ordered parts. Quick delivery. The gear drive is on the bottom of the machine. Lay the machine on it's side to gain access to the bottom cover. There are 5 hex head screws that hold it on. Remove screws and cover. It's pretty simple from here. The drive gear was missing a few teeth but the rest were in tact. This explains why the ram was still moving up and down and led me to believe it was something other than the drive. The only difficult part was the removal of the pin in the drive shaft. I wound up using a bolt the about the same diameter and a hammer to drive it out. Then just reassemble. There are some instructions that come with the gear parts that tell you how to set the spacing in the gears but I had no problem just replacing the parts without making any "adjustments". Should be good to go! Yessssss! Everything worked perfectly!!! My final words of advice. If your machine has this problem CHECK THE DRIVE FIRST. It the easiest thing to do because you can visually inspect it and know or eliminate it as the problem. It's about a 5 minute job and can may save you some of the problems I had. A big thanks to PartSelect for sponsoring these posts. The repair company that I normally use told me the machine was too old and probably wasn't worth the $100 just to come out and look at it, never mind the additional cost to repair it. All in I spent less than $100 and had I checked the drive first, I could have been done for less than $30.

-Removed the forward sliding rail screws...lifted the rails up several inches to access the wheel assembly...bent back the steel tab to access the nuts holding the wheels to the frame...replaced the wheels and bent back the steel tabs to original position. Trash bin now rolls out completely as before

Like others who experienced this problem, I removed compactor from under the counter and laid it on its side. I removed the screws holding the cover plates to the motor and gear/chain box. The larger (4" +/-) plastic drive gear which moves the chain that lowers or raises the compactor ram was broke. Using a socket and ratchet, I turned the shaft the gear was attached to in a counterclockwise direction and moved the compacting ram from the bottom position to the top so I could finally open the door, It takes a lot of turns to move the compacting ram to the top so be patient. I then loosened the bolts, in the base, that holds the motor secure and slid the base toward the broken gear putting slack in the chain. I removed the split ring from the shaft and removed the sprocket which originally is part of the gear but was left on the shaft when the gear broke in three places. I elected to not remove the original washer and spacer and put the new gear with sprocket on the shaft, put the chain on the socket and installed the split ring. Slid the motor base back to original position putting slight tension on chain and a proper clearance between the gear and drive shaft (sheet of paper seperation). Reinstalled the covers, tested and was finished.