Home Garbage Disposal Problems

Your home’s garbage disposal takes a lot of abuse. This day and age, we’ve come to depend on them in our kitchen.

Some things you should never put down your drain are:

–Potato peels, beans, and rice – the starch will create a glue, stick to your pipe walls and cause slow drainage

–Pasta – these expand and can cause drain blockages

–Coffee grounds – they attract grease and oil and create a sludge-like texture

–Grease and oil – this will coat your drain pipes and can cause major sewer line and septic tank issues

–Eggshells – even though they are fragile, these will also stick to the inside of pipes and attract other food items and cause clogs

–Fruit pits, seafood shells, and bones – these are very hard on disposals and have a good chance of causing damage and can also cause drainage issues very easily (but small chicken or fish bones in small quantities can help scour the walls of the upper hopper chamber!)

A disposal is a fairly simple piece of equipment. It consists of an upper hopper chamber which is directly below your kitchen sink drain and will hold food waste. At the bottom of the upper chamber is the shredder ring and flywheel which have impellers attached. And below those parts is the lower hopper chamber which houses the motor. When turned on, the motor turns the flywheel and the impellers throw the food against the shredder ring to grind the food and allow it to pass through the drain.

Always run your disposal with cold water running before, during operation and for 30 seconds afterward to flush food waste through your drain lines. Keep odors at bay by grinding up citrus peels in your disposal. If your garbage disposal is not functioning, try to press the reset button on the bottom of lower hopper chamber. If your disposal is jammed, you can take a large Allen wrench and turn the flywheel from the bottom of the lower hopper chamber clockwise to dislodge the impeller or flywheel, then press the reset button and run the disposal again to see if you cleared the problem. NEVER PUT YOUR HAND DOWN YOUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL!!! Also, never run your disposal jammed for more than a few seconds because that can damage the motor. For your garbage disposal repair, replacement and installation needs, give us a call at 785-341-4193.

De Hart Plumbing Heating and Cooling, serving Manhattan Kansas, Junction City Kansas, Wamego Kansas, Topeka Kansas, and some surrounding areas.