New Garbage Disposal - Hardwire or plug?

[RamFan]

My builder special Insinkerator decided to lose its inner seals and started leaking this week. House was built in ‘08, I say it held up decently long.

The new one I’d like to replace it comes with a built in plug. Should I settle for one without a plug and hardwire again, or should I add an outlet under the sink?

Without a ground wire available, I think I’m stuck with another hardwire, right?

 

[Kira]

My money's on the option being dictated by a code.

 

[brianl703]

You could go into a metal box and use a self-grounding outlet.

Are you by chance in Chicago or near it? Nobody uses BX cable for hooking up a garbage disposal except those places. They have this thing against Romex.

 

[kschachn]

Without a ground wire available, I think I’m stuck with another hardwire, right?

The ground comes through the metallic sheath. I'm more worried about the two white wires.

 

[brianl703]

The ground comes through the metallic sheath. I'm more worried about the two white wires.

One nice thing about Romex, at least it eliminates the possibility of a sparky that just ran out of black wire deciding to run two white ones instead...

 

[kschachn]

I'd at least find out which one is the hot wire and mark it with electrical tape.

 

[kschachn]

You could go into a metal box and use a self-grounding outlet.

Are you by chance in Chicago or near it? Nobody uses BX cable for hooking up a garbage disposal except those places. They have this thing against Romex.

Considering that it appears as though two white wires were used, I'm thinking one should probably not assume the other end of that flex conduit is properly grounded.

 

[brianl703]

Considering that it appears as though two white wires were used, I'm thinking one should probably not assume the other end of that flex conduit is properly grounded.

If OP is in Chicago or one of the suburbs then OP's house is most likely wired in conduit (code requirement, Romex is NOT ALLOWED) and that flex conduit is probably grounded because it's installed into a metal box.

 

[RamFan]

Are you by chance in Chicago or near it? Nobody uses BX cable for hooking up a garbage disposal except those places. They have this thing against Romex.

Yup, NW burbs.

I'm more worried about the two white wires.

It’s a yellow and white wire. Tough to tell in the pic as the yellow is a very faint yellow.

Hookup was as follows:
White went to white.
Yellow went to black.

 

[brianl703]

Yup, NW burbs.

It’s a yellow and white wire. Tough to tell in the pic as the yellow is a very faint yellow.

Hookup was as follows:
White went to white.
Yellow went to black.

That's OK. Yellow is allowed to be used as a hot wire per code. I'd still take a black sharpie and make it a black wire.

 

[kschachn]

Hookup was as follows:
White went to white.
Yellow went to black.

That should work.

 

[dishdude]

Eastern half of the country the disposal and dishwasher seems to be hardwired, western half are plug in. Go figure...

 

[Hall]

Are you by chance in Chicago or near it? Nobody uses BX cable for hooking up a garbage disposal except those places. They have this thing against Romex.

Pretty far from Chicago and our garbage disposal uses BX.

 

[Hall]

or should I add an outlet under the sink?

Add an outlet. I'll bet there's a box behind that drywall (against code) that the armored cable is threaded (sorta) into. Add an extension to bring it out to the drywall.

 

[Mazomopar]

And if you are looking for another battle, ask your inspector or someone in the know if that new outlet needs to be GFCI. You'll get yes and no, depending on who you ask. Kinda like thick vs thin BITOG opinions.

 

[RamFan]

And if you are looking for another battle, ask your inspector or someone in the know if that new outlet needs to be GFCI. You'll get yes and no, depending on who you ask. Kinda like thick vs thin BITOG opinions.

Definitely would go with GFCI in this case. But your comment made me chuckle, looking at the GFCI placements throughout the house really makes me scratch my head.

 

[Rand]

I'd recommend a waste king. you can reuse the insinkerator drain mount if you buy the mount adapter.
it was recently on sale 1hp model for 84$
another option is the popular american standard at costco. 1.25hp and 99$

IMO hardwire or plug does not really matter. you either hardwire it.. or wire the plug then plug it in.. once its hooked up who cares?

 

[55hambone]

I don't believe that is BX cable. BX wouldn't have been in use in 2008. At that time, either AC (armored cable) or MC (metal clad cable) would have been in use. Both of those are erroneously referred to as "BX" cable (just as all brands of facial tissue are called Kleenex). Your picture shows two conductors with a good bit of room around them. AC and MC are both made so that the outer jacket is tight against the conductors and both include a ground wire. You wouldn't be able to pull individual conductors out of these cables without unravelling the metal jacket. I think what you have is flexible metal conduit where conductors are pulled in after it is installed. Do you have a switch for the disposal that is separate (wall mount) from the unit? If so, that is probably where the other end of the flexible metal conduit is. If I'm right, pull a ground wire in with the other two conductors and wire it up correctly

 

[Wolf359]

And if you are looking for another battle, ask your inspector or someone in the know if that new outlet needs to be GFCI. You'll get yes and no, depending on who you ask. Kinda like thick vs thin BITOG opinions.

I think it's in the code. If you have one dedicated outlet for a specific appliance, it can be just a regular outlet. But if you have a duplex where anything could be plugged into it, it needs to be a GFCI. Hardwire eliminates the need for a plug. Most of the time, most garbage disposals I see are just hardwired, but around here, usually just romex, sometimes BX.

 

[Lubener]

I think it's in the code. If you have one dedicated outlet for a specific appliance, it can be just a regular outlet. But if you have a duplex where anything could be plugged into it, it needs to be a GFCI. Hardwire eliminates the need for a plug. Most of the time, most garbage disposals I see are just hardwired, but around here, usually just romex, sometimes BX.

GFCI is required if a water source is within six feet, not what could be possibly connected to it. Plug or hardwire doesn't matter. If its hardwired, a box needs to be installed for the tie in.Myself, I would connect the flex to a box and hardwire it. Mine is hardwired and that line comes off a nearby GFCI outlet.