Quick Tip #0005 – Something Old, Something New - Disposers

“Something Old, Something New” will be a regular visitor in this blog. In these segments, I’ll give you tips regarding the old technology that you likely currently have in your home and then finishing the story by introducing you to the latest improvements available to you now when you look to upgrade or replace what you have.

In this first installment of “Something Old, Something New” we’ll cover In-Sink Waste Disposers (sometimes called: Garbage Disposers).

These units have been around for many years and, until recently, experienced very little in the way of meaningful improvements.

These units sit beneath your kitchen sink and capture whatever flows into the drain (peels, plate scraps, spoons, . . .) with the intent of chopping them up into small enough pieces so that they can flow through your drainage system.

There are a number of events that signal the end of a garbage disposal. Here’s one of the more common: it rusts out on the bottom, and water starts spewing underneath your sink and onto the kitchen floor every time you turn it on.

Can rust be avoided in the first place? Absolutely, and simply: by running the disposal every time you put food in it. Otherwise, the acid and oils from standing food will eventually eat through the seals. Also, when you run the disposal, always use cold water. Hot water dissolves fats and grease, but then it deposits them in your drainpipes where it accumulates before causing a clog.

Here are some additional tips for maintaining your disposal:

• Run cold water for 30 seconds or more after turning the disposal off to thoroughly wash ground-up food down the drain.
• You can grind almost any food waste, but don't try to grind really fibrous foods like onion skins, celery stalks or asparagus. On the other hand, ice and eggshells can actually help clean the disposal.
• If the disposal won’t run, check the circuit breaker or fuse and replace or reset as necessary. Also check to see if the overload switch has tripped. Find the reset button at the bottom of the disposal unit and push it.
• If the motor hums but the disposal doesn't run, you may have a jammed impeller, and that’s a repairable problem.
• If the disposal runs intermittently, the switch or stopper may be defective…if so, you’ll need to replace it.
• A leaky garbage disposal isn’t necessarily a sign of rust. The cause might be as simple as a loose connection, which can readily be tightened.
• How about that all-too-familiar racket a disposal can sometimes make? When you hear it, chances are you’re trying to grind up something your disposal wishes you wouldn’t. The result could be a damaged blade, impeller or motor. But don’t be too quick to repair, since it’s highly likely that it would cost less to replace.

Bottom line, once a disposal stops doing a good job of grinding, or starts to leak, that's usually the ball game. They’re not really designed to last more than 10 years, but a little loving care will get you the most out of it.

The good news, however, is that you may be much happier once you replace what you’ve got. Up until recently, people would often complain about their disposers jamming and causing clogs down the line, but you never heard them because the units were SO DARN LOUD!!

InSinkerator, the number one disposer manufacturer, finally heard these and other complaints over the noise of the disposers and have come out with a very wide range of professional models that really are a wonder.

The new units, when professionally matched to your home and your needs, are really trouble free and so quiet that we’ve had clients call us back because they couldn’t believe they were working (because they couldn’t hear them running!).

You can learn more about the breakthrough technology for these great units here, or ABLE Plumbing & Electrical would be more than happy to introduce you to this new world of quiet performance in your own home.

Until next time, enjoy the gift of this day.