Garbage disposal wiring

[Simkie]

I am in the middle of replacing my garbage disposal with the Insinkerator Evolution. Following the directions, I removed the cord from the old disposal. Now I am stuck at installing the cord in the new disposal.

The directions say to attach white to white, black to black and green to the grounding screw. The old cord doesn't HAVE black and white, though. It is SPT-3 E166124. The ground is clearly marked.

Can anyone help? This seems to be simple enough, if I can just figure out which is hot and which is neutral.

Thank you,

Corey

[Doug Miller]

E166124 cord *does* have color-coded insulation.

Simple: the black one is hot, and the white one is neutral. If the white one is so dark that you can't tell them apart, you'd probably better replace the cord.

I'm not sure what you're doing with an E166124 flexible cord in the first place, though.

[Simkie]

Ah, no, it doesn't. Let me show you what I have.

This is the cord that came out of the garbage disposal that I am replacing, so I assume it is appropriate for the job. The dead disposal is about 7 years old.

Corey

[Bob M.]

If you have an ohmmeter or continuity light, you can find out.

The plug is the key. The long, round pin is the ground. The fat blade is neutral (white) & the small blade is hot (black). If the plug is not polarized, then get a new cord. Go to the hardware store & get an extension cord, chop one end off and wire it up.

For it to work, it doesn't matter which is white and which is black. However, for safety's sake, it does matter.

[Terry]

It is hard to tell from the picture, but the neutral should be the wire with the factory markings on the insulation. I don't see any markings in the picture but they should be there.

The best way would be to test it with a tester. (go ahead and clamp it in the J-box on the disposal to hold it in place) The wire that is hot will go to the black.

[Terry]

BTW I should add that the neutral will be the white. The conductor with the markings is not the hot.

[Doug Miller]

What was that connected to previously? And what's at the other end?

May not be a correct assumption...

[Simkie]

That's very helpful, thank you!

Got it all wired up and installed works great with no leaks. And man, it sure is quiet!

Corey

[Simkie]

Well, as I have said, it was connected to the garbage disposal I am replacing. There's a plug at the other end.

Terry's tips were quite helpful and the disposal is in place and working fine.

Corey

[S. Barker]

it appears to me the wire on the left has a white insulator core. If not, it should be marked on the outside. I've never seen a zip type cord that wasn't.

s

[Stormin Mormon]

You are a good photographer. Now, slit the one on the left the long ways, and peel back the grey. I bet the inner insulation has a color. Looks white to me. In either case, it's probably not critical which polarity you use.

[Stormin Mormon]

Particularly if there is a switch after the splice. Of course, if he can dissemble the switch, the switch connects to the black wire.

[Stormin Mormon]

You da man!

[Edwin Pawlowski]

>

Notice the ribs on the outside of the cord on the right? Is the left side cord side smooth on the outside? That is how you maintain continuity, but attaching the plug hot side and the appliance hot side. Ribbed side in neutral.

[Simkie]

Ha--thank you for the compliment.

I did do what you recommend before I posted. No inner insulation at all, except on the ground. The one that appears like it might be white in the picture is just flash wash out.

Corey

[Tom Horne]

[e-mail] wrote:

Corey I only write this because you or others may find it helpful in the future. The code name for the grounded current carrying conductor; which most of us, often mistakenly, call the neutral; used to be the "identified conductor." The means of identification vary with the application. For example if you run your fingers along the sides of a two conductor extruded plastic lamp cord you will find that one side of the lamp cord has been identified by having ridges extruded into it during manufacture. Hence it is the identified conductor. The cord you have does have colored insulation but to find it you would have to very carefully cut away the outer jacket. In cords of recent manufacture the conductor can usually be gripped with a pair of pliers while the outside edge of the jacket is pinched between the jaws of another plier. The insulated conductor is then pulled through the thin layer of jacket that separates it from the other conductors inside the jacket. Do not however try to pull the conductor through the thicker part of the outer jacket of the cord because doing so will require more force which will damage the conductor. Many inspectors will not accept more than a half inch of jacket inside the wiring enclosure beyond the cord grip. For them you have to remove the jacket from the conductors of all of the free conductor in the enclosure to facilitate inspection and avoid over crowding the small wiring compartments on appliances. Removing the jacket also facilitates the use of wire connectors of the correct size by removing the thickness of the jacket from around the insulation thus allowing some of the insulation to be covered by the skirt of the connector. As you mite think that is all the more important in motorized appliances because the inherent vibration will move the splice around over time. If the conductor insulation cannot fit under the skirt of the connector do to the thickness of unremoved jacket there is a greater chance that the conductor itself will come into contact with some part of the interior of the wiring compartment which will cause an arcing fault. Removing the jacket also tends to limit the amount of combustible material in the wiring enclosure because all insulation is required to be self extinguishing but cord jacket is not required to be so.

-- Tom Horne