Garbage Disposal - Smells of Ashes

[stor]

I have read many of the pre-existing "stinky garbage disposal" threads out there, all of which relate to odors caused by organic agents or rotten food, but I have a new one. The previous owner of my house apparently liked to dispose of his old ashes (cigarette, cigar, pipe.... I do not know) in the garbage disposal. The upshot is that whenever I run it there is a horrible smell of stale cigarettes that comes from the unit. I am sort of lucky in that the smell comes form the unit itself -- under the sink -- and not from the actual ingress to the disposer. So if I do not open the doors of the cabinet under the sink, then the smell is not too bad.

Still I would like to remedy this. I have tried all the old stand-bys:

- ice cubes

- backing soda followed by vinegar

- boiling water (although at least one poster said not to)

- bleach

- lemons

I have also manually cleaned all the accessible areas of the drain/ingress (i.e. stick my hands in and scrub).

I suspect the problem is caked ashes somewhere in the unit.

An obvious solution seems to actually take the unit off and then attempt to clean it. However I found that locking ring would not budge (perhaps the subject of a future post). So I am looking for ideas that do not involve taking the disposer apart.

Thanks

[User Example]

If you remove the unit, just get another one. Then it would be store smelling fresh. Those lock rings just need persuasion... you need more leverage.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I'd have to say you are unlucky as the usual treatments did not work. It may be possible that the odor has permeated the housing and that has to be taken off and cleaned.

[Dumbo]

I have tried all the old stand-bys:

If you have or can borrow one, a pressure washer could dislodge the ashes that are probably trapped in nooks and crannies inside the unit. Or maybe start with a garden hose...

[Jeff Wisnia]

I can't imagine a reason why putting butts and ashes INSIDE the disposer could cause the parts of the disposer OUTSIDE the grinding chamber and drain to smell that way. Except perhaps if there were a bad leak past the shaft seal, in which case you ought to be seeing some evidence of water leaking out of the motor, and that'll croak the motor pretty fast anyway.

Methinks you've got a motor on its way out and what you are smelling is burning insulation on the motor windings.

I'd stick in a new disposal pronto.

I'm suprised you can't budge the locking ring. I presume you already sprayed it with penetrating oil and are using a BF screwdriver to lever on it, and a hammer to whack that screwdriver with. If you really can't, and have a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel plus patience, you ought to be able to find a spot to slice through it enough to pry it off.

Personally I've never yet run into a disposer locking ring stronger than me, but there's always the exception to the rule.

Jeff

[stor]

ohhhh.... I didn't realize that's what it takes :-)

Seriously, I applied as much force as I thought was judicious (lacking any experience with these things whatsoever). I thought when the lug started to bend, that I was out of luck. Lacking any other solution, I will attempt to be more "persuasive" on my next attempt.

[Jeff Wisnia]

Are you sure you are trying to rotate it the correct direction? It's easy to get mixed up on that when you're jammed in under a sink with your head twisted around. :-)

Jeff (Ducking....)

[keith]

A hammer works, but just *tap* the ears on the ring. It really doesn't take much to get the ring free, or break something.

[Brad Bruce]

The hammer is really what you need. It's like using an impact wrench on a cars lug nut. The instantaneous force will "knock it loose".

Brad

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Yep, that'll do it. Keep in mind that once it comes out, it may not go back the same way. The rubber gasket on mine swelled over a few years and had to be replaced.