Common Problems With Garbage Disposal

A Brief On Disposals:

Most people misunderstand or are completely unaware about garbage disposal functionality and purpose.

Disposals were made to facilitate the cleaning process of all kinds of food debris in the kitchen; however, what most people don’t know is that, food is what causes most of the problems with this same invention.

Despite of what most people might think about disposals, this particular piece of equipment was not invented to eat food, it mainly chew food remains into smaller pieces in order to facilitate its travel with water through the drain pipes system.

Disposal Usage:

Don’t pushed excessive amount of food into the garbage disposal, it will likely clog the small piping section between the disposal and the tube p-trap and, it will cost you a couple hundred dollars if you call a professional to clean it.

Do run enough water at the same time as the food remains are dumped into the chamber, this will help the blades efficiently cut the garbage into smaller pieces and, it will keep the blades clean and free from building rust.

Do rinse the blades with clean water once a day, even though, if the system is not being in used, this will maintain the blades clean and, it will prevent bad smells.

Don’t dump chicken bones or anything else that will be hard to break it. The garbage disposal blades are not made to chew bones or anything hard than regular food remains.

Such practice might get the blades stuck and, it might burn the motor which could cost you a new disposal.

The cost to install a new disposal is around $480.00, so, don’t be abusive or negligent.

Disposal Is Making Noise:

Garbage disposals do a lot in a very short period of time and, they do it with a lot of power, consequently, it is very common to cause some noise, humming or vibration once in awhile.

However, it the garbage disposal is having too much noise too often, this might be a sign of problem and, it might need to be fixed.

Three common problems with disposals are:

Excessive Vibration, Excessive Noise and, Humming

Excessive Vibration:

Checking For Broken Blades (Impellers):

1 – Turn off the power to the disposal by unplugging the power cord from the outlet.

2 – Put a pair of latex gloves and insert one hand inside the chamber to check the blades to make sure that they are in place.

3 – If the blades (impellers) are intact, go to step two.

Checking The Mounting Bracket Tightness:

If the bolts are too tight, the gasket will lose its purpose which is to absorb vibration.

The best alternative here is to try to loosen up the bolts by a ¼ to ½ turn each and, then test the disposal to see if works, if still vibrates too much, loose a lit bit more.

Excessive Noise:

1 – Turn off the disposal power cord from the wall.

2 – With latex gloves on, try to reach the blades inside the disposal but, be careful, don’t hurt yourself, try to visualize what is inside first to find out what is in there and, try to use a screw driver or something to make assure that the blade are twisting around freely, also, check all around the chamber to assure that is clean. (A flashlight will make your job easier).

3 – Once you have removed the foreign object from the chamber, turn the power back on and with water running turn on the disposal, this will further clean the chamber and blades.

Humming Problem:

1 – First, let’s try to unstuck the disposal blades, this is a very common problem and can easily be fixed to do that, in the bottom of the disposal has a red bottom, which is the reset switch, all you have to do is to push the bottom and then, try to use the garbage disposal to see if it works.

2 – if it doesn’t work, then, the next step is to unstuck the blades using the key that comes with the disposal and, it is done by inserting the key (s-shape key) inside the center hole in the bottom of the disposal and by twisting clockwise or counterclockwise a few times.

The blades should be free now and it is time to test it, if it is working, mission accomplished but, it is not working, then, the disposal will likely need to be replaced.

Here end this tutorial lesson, if you have any further question about disposal, just send us an email and, we will promptly reply.

All the information here provided were done freely and, it serves as informational only, this site is in no way responsible for what people do with it, do it at your risk, use your best judgment when using the information of this site and, do it at your own risk and free will.

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