Not sure why you would need it to be a plug...not like you ever unplug a disposal other than replacement. I had no idea Chicagoland was against Romex...interesting.
New Garbage Disposal - Hardwire or plug?
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Not an expert but there are exceptions..
I go direct replacement, no need to alter anything. We had ours go almost exactly the same time you did, seals leaked, our house 2006 and the insinkator started to leak about 2 years ago.
Bought the same one, piece of cake to replace, almost took only minutes? Hardest part was the uncomfortable position in the kitchen cabinet!
Bought the same one, piece of cake to replace, almost took only minutes? Hardest part was the uncomfortable position in the kitchen cabinet!
I believe if you read the code, it's not required if it's a dedicated outlet like for a refrigerator. You don't want to have a bad GFCI trip and kill the refrigerator. Ran into this a while ago, someone wanted me to put in a GFCI on a laundry machine, the only way out of it was to put in a single dedicated outlet instead of a duplex.
https://www.ecmweb.com/content/arti...nts-for-groundfault-circuit-interrupters-gfci
In some cases it's required even if it's a dedicated outlet, like a sump pump. That way, the GFCI can trip and the basement will flood. But that's safer than not using a GFCI, according to the people who came up with this.
Right, depends on the code and the location because not all adopt the NEC.
"...you either hardwire it.. or wire the plug then plug it in.. once its hooked up who cares?".
I'm with you there BUT if hard wiring lessens the chance of corrosion in an under sink application, I'd prefer that.
Heaven only knows the metallurgy of the socket or disposal unit's plug.
NOTE: Be glad you CAN install a disposal unit. My parents installed one in the mid '60's. All it did was clog the pipes and went unused.
The mounting ring to the strainer basket rotted away and one night...THUD...the disposal unit fell away....took 50 years!
I'm with you there BUT if hard wiring lessens the chance of corrosion in an under sink application, I'd prefer that.
Heaven only knows the metallurgy of the socket or disposal unit's plug.
NOTE: Be glad you CAN install a disposal unit. My parents installed one in the mid '60's. All it did was clog the pipes and went unused.
The mounting ring to the strainer basket rotted away and one night...THUD...the disposal unit fell away....took 50 years!
The units themselves are usually both.
you either wire a cord onto them.. or hardwire it... either way you are usually wiring the disposal.
Both work satisfactorily outlet is slightly easier but 5min every 10 years who cares.
I would never put a fridge or even a sump pump on a GFCI for obvious reasons and never implied that. My dishwasher and disposal each are fed by the outputs of two separate GFCI outlets I have on both sides of my sink. I would never have a disposal not be ground fault protected..I also have a dedicated GFCI outlet for my washer and dryer as well.
I don't need it to be a plug, but the Moen 1/2 HP unit I was going to go with comes with an integrated cord. So I wasn't sure if it was safe to wire an outlet without a dedicated ground wire.
Hardwire or plug doesn't matter at all to me. I completely forgot about Costco being an option though, thanks @Rand for that reminder. I'll have to swing into the store today and see what they have in-stock.
Is that an older house? Probably before the early 90s when GFCIs were required for kitchens so the GFCIs were added later? I haven't seen a garbage disposal fed off the 20-amp kitchen circuits except in 70s and older houses. Anything newer I've seen, the disposal has a dedicated circuit.
If you want to pause before checking “have any electrical modifications been done without a permit” if you ever sell, then don’t install it as it is. Leave it as is, no pause. I thought latest code requires afci and gfci anywhere in the kitchen. Which I agree is ridiculous for a refrigerator. Yes we don’t want to come back from a trip to find all the food spoiled.
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Doesn’t matter if you can remove the cord hard wire it. Otherwise install a handy box with a single 20a plug like this. No gfci necessary since the appliance cord would be below counter level and not normally accessible besides you can get nuisance trips from the motor surge not as common on newer gfci device’s but possible.
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Probably greenfield armored flex since there’s a yellow the electrician or whoever was there prior pulled whatever wire he had.
Need to check the circuit that the disposal is on, it may be on it's own 15 amp circuit and therefore you would need a NEMA 5-15R receptacle. It is unlikely that the disposal has a 5-20P plug on it. If the disposal is on one of the 20-amp kitchen circuits (not common since the 70s from what I've seen), then you could use either a 5-15R or a 5-20R.
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Yes good catch
My house was built in 2002 and house is all wired in Romex. There’s a junction box with a blank cover on it flush mounted beneath the cabinet. The wiring then stubs out above that box in smurf tube to the disposal. This is nice/ideal because if the replacement disposal ever turns out to be plug-in then a receptacle could be installed in that junction box where the splice is.
If you have a plug-in disposal, you need to run that electrical cable to a metal junction box mounted in the cabinet and install a receptacle in it.
Not sure why there’s no dedicated ground in that cable. Looks like old BX cable where the metal sheath is used as the ground. Must be a Chicago code thing.
If you have a plug-in disposal, you need to run that electrical cable to a metal junction box mounted in the cabinet and install a receptacle in it.
Not sure why there’s no dedicated ground in that cable. Looks like old BX cable where the metal sheath is used as the ground. Must be a Chicago code thing.
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