Plumbing questions with pics

[john]

I was running my food dispenser today after washing the dishes and heard a weird sound... I looked down below and the dispenser practically dropped down on its own. The plastic was so corroded near the top connection to the sink. You can somewhat see this in the left side of the image here -

It was much more corroded on the other side and on the bottom part of that pic...near the connection. It was like the plastic was eaten away. Can bacteria really do this? The dispenser was atleast 10 years old and they put it in before I moved in here.

My main question is how to remove these stubborn metal pieces that are from the dispenser that connect to the sink. I have pics of them here -

( a little blurry)

Is there a special tool needed to remove them? Im trying to completely remove them from the sink including the drain piece on the top -

I didnt see any screws or anything.. tried with decent pressure the twist with my hand but it wouldnt budge.

I would like to do away completely with the dispenser and just use piping. A few plumbers have told me that these dispensers only cause problems down the road. I can now see why...

any help would be great... Im going to print up plumbing3.jpg when I go to Lowes tomorrow so they could help me figure out what kind of piping setup I need. I have a dishwasher tube aswell that needs to connect in. (its that grey tube in plumbing3.jpg)

Just wish I could get this stubborn metal pieces out from the sink.

John in PA.

[DerbyDad03]

In plumbing4.jpg we see the curled over loops on the mounting ring.

See step 4 and the picture next to it at this site to learn how to remove that ring. Once that off, just move backwards to steps 3, 2, and 1.

re: these dispensers only cause problems down the road. I can now see why...

What you have is not common. Rarely would anyone allow a disposer or drain get to the condition of that unit before replacing it. The condition of the drain alone should have been enough to tell you that it was time to do some maintenance. Do not let this experience be the reason you don't get a new unit.

[john]

thanks derby dad. These mounting tabs are a pain in the ass to uncrimp though. any tools recommended to uncrimp them from the mounting track?

[Rick]

You're not supposed to "uncrimp" them..you stick an Allen wrench (or the tool that came with the disposal) in them and use it as a lever to turn the ring..

[john]

i didnt get any tool with it. And there wasnt any screw or anything to be unscrewed.

I tried a hammer and hit it to the left and it did the trick.

thx guys.

[trader4]

Yes, you need a specal tool. It's called a big screwdriver or similar. You just put it in the obvious holes in the retaining ring and turn.

[Rick]

Yeah, I debated suggesting using anything with sharp end, lol...