Garbage Disposal Problem

[dave]

I installed a garbage disposal in my home a couple of years ago. It had been running fine until a few weeks ago, when the drain started to get plugged up. Snaking the drain would resolve the problem, but it kept happening. Suspecting that it was the garbage disposal, we stopped using the disposal, and the problem went away.

The garbage disposal *runs* fine, but it appears that it isn't chopping up waste fine enough for it to flow into the sewer line without clogging up the drain.

Do I have any hope of fixing this thing, or should I go out and get a new one?

[Jeff Wisnia]

Are you sure you've snaked the drain thoroughly enough? You may be just punching a small/medium sized hole through a load of stuff which has built up in a near horizontal run over the past two years. Are you using a snake with some kind of expanding head which will really ream out the drain pipe to it's full inside diameter?

I sure haven't seen everything, but I've never heard of a fault in a garbage disposer which would keep it from chopping stuff up "fine enough". Generally, something major gives up long before the grinding parts could wear enough to let stuff "too large" get down the drain.

Just my .02,

Jeff

[SteveB]

Don't know about your house, but at mine, my wife thinks that the garbage disposer works like a trash can ............ when it gets full, you empty it. I think that you turn it on every time you put something down there, and don't let it ferment or fill up. Different strokes, I guess. I also like to run water before I send something down the drain. And let it run for a while after it's gone. It drives her up a wall. Maybe your problem is the way you use it. They ARE garbage disposals, but they DO have some limitations.

BTW, I can always figure on potato peels to clog mine. Particularly if you put them down a whole load at a time instead of a slow stream.

Check your trap, too.

Steve

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Snaking the line may relieve the problem, but maybe is not fixing it. Could be some residue is still in the pipe. Perhaps at a bend there is buildup. Be sure to run lots of water with the disposal and for a minute or so after the garbage has gone down. You want to clean the line well.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, My understanding is, you don't use hot water when the unit is being used. Tony

[SteveB]

I have had mine kick out the reset when I run hot water while the motor is on. Not a problem, but it senses overheating, and kicks out the little red pin. Let it set, run some cold water, push the pin back in.

Steve

[Martin]

We had to have our disposer drain line snaked out one time and the plumber suggested that we should occasionally stopper the disposer, fill the sink with water, turn it on and pull the plug. Those machines are pretty good centrifugal pumps and the surge of water helps fight build-up in the drain. Seems to work.

Marty