Disposal tripping mains/earth ground

[Elana Kehoe]

Okay, I'm not up to speed on everything about this (the hubby is, but he's not able to type right now). Our disposal, an In Sink Erator Model

55, is tripping our earth ground in the house when we turn it on. Only started yesterday, worked fine up to that point. It's 3.5 years old (hmmm..warranty for 3....). When it trips the earth ground, all the sockets in the house go off, and some of the overhead lights.

Now, the electician we got to do the re-wiring SUCKED. Horrible. I plug one thing into a circuit and it blows the house. But the disposal hasn't been a problem before.

The disposal also looks like it has been leaking a little...the bottom of it is wet (not dripping), and when I pushed the reset button (it did nothing), my finger was wet with about 2 drops of water.

It does turn on, run for about 1.5 seconds, then the power blows.

Anything we should look for? To get an electrician here is about a 2 week wait, this time of year. The plumber is a write off at this point, since he's so busy...we're going to book him for June for some minor stuff, so that we can get him

Thanks for any ideas...

E

[Me]

[Childfree Scott]

Can you just unplug it and then not use it while you wait for a decent electrician to show up?

I don't know of any situation where a "whole house" ground fault breaker exists, but wonders never cease.

[CBhvac]

You mean, its tripping the main? You have a 60 amp main? Sheesh....I cant see a wall outlet allowing a 200amp + trip...and the home still be standing.

Well..now there is a hint..possibly.

How long ago was your electrician that was so bad there? A month? A year? If it worked fine after he left, there is a pretty good chance its not something he did..

Good old catch 22 here...a plumber is not an electrician and the electrican is not a plumber...and plumbers and electricans and heating guys are swamped this time of year.. The electrican can at least tell you if the motor in the disposal is bad, and can, replace it if you feel comfortable with it....might be worth the 2 week wait, since if its not and there is something that perhaps IS screwed from the last guy you had, he can tell you, and possibly save you some more problems.

[Speedy Jim]

Whole house earth leakage detector sounds like UK. Post here: uk.d-i-y

The water leaking is probably significant. A leaking shaft seal allows water to drip onto the motor components, which would trip the mains breaker.

Jim

[Elana Kehoe]

Dublin, Ireland. To get a good elec, the guy who knows our house, would take a little while. No one works until Jan 5.

[Elana Kehoe]

We can't unplug it, it's hardwired into the elecs. We can not use it (since the problem only happens when we start 'er up).

I don't know much about electrics at all. But this could also say that the bastards who re-wired the house (not our elec now) really f'ed up.

[Elana Kehoe]

That's what hubby said. I'll put it in Me-speak: I was watching tv in the living room. The computers were running upstairs. Hubby flips the switch to the disposal, and zap. TV off. Servers upstairs, off. Anything plugged into a socket, off.

I haven't let that bastard back in the house in over 3 years. Not gonna, either. Our elec now is a good guy. But the Bastard did the re-wire of the place, and even I know he screwed it up (and that's saying a lot).

Okay...I guess that all makes sense. We'll try to be first in line for the elec when he starts working again.

Thanks!

[Elana Kehoe]

Close...Ireland. And thanks for the ng tip. I'm posting there next.

Okay...so that's now a plumber thing? Argh. He's even harder to get hold of. I'll go text him...

[Childfree Scott]

This certainly would explain why I have never heard of this feature.

[Steven Johnson]

The part about you being able to feel water sounds pretty key to the problem. I would look for the housing of the disposer to be corroded through. This is a problem for the plumber. We have an InSinkErator also, and ours corroded through (big leak!) because of our corrosive water. I patched ours up with JB-Weld about a year ago, and it is still running, but that is not for everyone. InSinkErator builds their low end models with pot metal housings, and corrosive water just melts the housing away after a few years. Ring up another sale for InSinkErator.

Too bad about your electrical difficulties. Hope that fixing your disposal leak may help with your electric problems, but I wouldn't be too sure of that.

Steve Johnson