Garbage undersink disposals?

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Mine going bad and wonder if all have common attachment to the sink. Do I need to replace everything or just the motor/cutter assembly? Is the attachment method a standardized system? Thanks Ed
 
Hello, The few I've touched were held to the drain basket by wing nuts.
The rest is plumbed.
If your unit is old enough to have died there'll be no repairing it unless it's of the highest, industrial grade. Kira
 
If you stick with the same brand you can use the collar that's already attached to the sink - assuming it's clean and free of leaks. Insinkerator is about the most common. They are really not serviceable. After ten years, or so, most of them have dulled blades, rusty internals, and leaky motor shaft seals. Replacement costs vary between about 80 and 250 bucks. It is not a difficult DIY job.
 
Every one I've replaced came with the sink drain adapters needed. The discharge plumbing may need to change, depending on how the new vs old outlets are oriented.

That being said, I really dislike garbage disposals. All they've ever done for me is eat shot glasses or quit working and stink. Mostly the latter, the former was a unit I replaced and it merrily crunched up our barware for years.
 
i use insinkerator (spelling). they have a quick connect. i never have to replace the collar on the sink. just quick connect up the new disposal. mike
 
Originally Posted By: scurvy
Every one I've replaced came with the sink drain adapters needed. The discharge plumbing may need to change, depending on how the new vs old outlets are oriented.

That being said, I really dislike garbage disposals. All they've ever done for me is eat shot glasses or quit working and stink. Mostly the latter, the former was a unit I replaced and it merrily crunched up our barware for years.


I think it says in the manual that shot glasses are not food......
 
Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
Originally Posted By: scurvy
Every one I've replaced came with the sink drain adapters needed. The discharge plumbing may need to change, depending on how the new vs old outlets are oriented.

That being said, I really dislike garbage disposals. All they've ever done for me is eat shot glasses or quit working and stink. Mostly the latter, the former was a unit I replaced and it merrily crunched up our barware for years.


I think it says in the manual that shot glasses are not food......


Apparently my drunken roommates didn't read that chapter. The shot glasses didn't either.
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They're usually pretty simple to connect. Just make sure you understand the number of connections that you have (sink, dishwasher, etc.). If you have a septic system, consider a disposal optimized for a septic system and a drain basket. What little gets by the drain basket gets pulverized in the disposal before it gets to the septic tank.

Originally Posted By: scurvy
That being said, I really dislike garbage disposals. All they've ever done for me is eat shot glasses or quit working and stink. Mostly the latter, the former was a unit I replaced and it merrily crunched up our barware for years.


If you're constantly sticking your "barware" in the disposal rather than the dishwasher, you should probably stop drinking.
 
I think the kind with an outboard switch are the best. The switch in the unit type always causes trouble after a while. You can buy an add on switch kit which uses a little air line and a button mounted on the sink.
 
Don't forget if you have a dishwasher connected to it to remove the plug in the disposal for the drain line. Seen plumbers forget to do this in many news homes i have built.
 
My last Insinkerator only lasted 4.5 years before it started leaking badly. I have just finished taking it out completely and going with PVC pipe with the dishwasher connection.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
If you're constantly sticking your "barware" in the disposal rather than the dishwasher, you should probably stop drinking.


Wasn't me, although an unfortunate consequence of roommates and gravity led to some glasses' demise. The stiff skirt that was supposed to keep stuff from falling down into the disposal (unless pushed) has a hole in it slightly larger than the OD of a set of shot glasses so they could and did slip down unnoticed until someone hit the switch. This ended shortly after I moved to a place that didn't have a garbage disposal or roommates.
 
My brother is a plumber...his eyes light up when people say they have garbage disposals. Easy money every time as they are very problematic. Most people don't want to deal with them once they start having issues...almost always require replacement. It's an endless cycle of torment. You will hate to see the build up in your pipes post disposal over time and blockages that are destined to occur...after all you are trying to shove stuff down the drain that isn't a liquid and doesn't belong there.

In today's age, use a garbage or a composter.
 
Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
What is the point of these disposers? Why not throw the garbage into the trash can?


This. The garbage can is an extra 2 feet away instead of the sink. Any time I have used the garbage disposal it has clogged up the pipes. Now I use a basket to catch all the small stuff, throw everything in the trash, and don't use the disposal at all. I will probably replace it with PVC pipe.
 
Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
What is the point of these disposers? Why not throw the garbage into the trash can?


They're for FOOD waste. Not garbage. I don't like putting plate scrapings in the garbage- the stink by garbage can outside gets too overwhelming with once weekly pickup in 90-plus degree summer weather.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
What is the point of these disposers? Why not throw the garbage into the trash can?


They're for FOOD waste. Not garbage. I don't like putting plate scrapings in the garbage- the stink by garbage can outside gets too overwhelming with once weekly pickup in 90-plus degree summer weather.



Good justification for hot climates with inadequate public services.
 
Hahaha, yep. I guess Illinois is just the standard by which all public services must be measured!

My inadequate public services include garbage pickup twice a week. Still, somehow garbage manages to stink.

The disposal gets a lot of use here as well...
 
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