Off and on for several years the compactor would occasionally compact as soon as the door was shut, then it would fail to solid pack and return to the up position and make a loud thump thump thump noise until I open the door and switch the dial to the OFF position. Somehow, after about a day or two the compactor would return to normal and work fine. I could turn it back on. Not sure how that magically would repair itself - I just assumed it was some loose connection that righted itself.
That’s until my 4 year old daughter slammed the door shut with all her might and now it hasn’t worked for 2 weeks(I blame everything breaking of kids now.)
I’ve looked through several forums and it does look like the directional switch may need repair or replace, but that doesn’t explain why the solid pack doesn’t work. The gears seem fine as it does compact and return to open position, but do I need to replace the actuator AND the directional switch?