Garbage Disposal Maintenance Tips

December 24th, 2016 Posted in Garbage Disposals
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Your garbage disposal is the workhorse of your kitchen sink, grinding food particles down to make them easier to flush through your plumbing. However, they are not meant to be a blender that liquefies everything you put down the drain. To ensure your garbage disposal doesn’t get overloaded, there are a few maintenance tips to follow that will extend the life of your disposal and keep plumbing problems at bay.

  • Clean your disposal. Food can get trapped in your garbage disposal and leave a foul odor after a few days. Clean your disposal weekly by either grinding up a cup of rock salt and ice cubes, or just use ice cubes made from vinegar. Chopped up lemons with warm water can also remove odors.
  • Keep these items out of the disposal. Fiber-heavy fruits and vegetable like banana peels, celery, potato skins and corn husks should not go down the disposal. Also keep other tough items like egg shells and coffee grounds out of the disposal, along with fats, to avoid clogged pipes.
  • Be careful when trying to unclog your disposal. If your disposal become entwined with fibers or clogged, turn the unit off and use pliers or tongs to dislodge items. Never use your fingers or try to unclog the unit with drain cleaner.

Keep in mind that the garbage disposal does not stop food from clogging drains, it only curtails it. Fats can congeal both in the disposal and in your pipes, causing major drain blockages. Also, even food that goes through the disposal can become lodged in your pipes. When you have a garbage disposal or kitchen drain that is clogged beyond your ability, call a professional plumber for assistance.

Posted on behalf of:
Bynum & Sons Plumbing, Inc.
2120 McDaniels Bridge Rd SW
Lilburn, GA 30047
(770) 736-8283

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Are You Using Your Garbage Disposal Correctly?

October 27th, 2015 Posted in Garbage Disposals
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Using a garbage disposal seems pretty straight forward; put food down the drain, turn on the grinder and presto, everything goes down the drain. But is that really all there is to it? Not if you want to keep your plumbing free of clogs and extend the life of your garbage disposal. There are correct ways to use a garbage disposal that will protect your plumbing and help maintain your disposal. Here are a few tips:

  • Keep fibrous items out of the disposal. Most vegetable and fruit peelings should be thrown away or put into your compost, not put down the drain. Not only are they tough on your garbage disposal, they don’t breakdown and can cause large clogs in your plumbing.
  • Coffee grounds shouldn’t be put down the drain. Even though coffee is already ‘ground’ it is still a hard bean that can get stuck in the gears of your disposal and cling to fat in your pipes. Don’t dump coffee grounds in your kitchen sink!
  • Keep your disposal clean. If your garbage disposal gets food trapped in the blades, the rotting smell can stink up your whole kitchen. Carefully wipe the blades clean with a cloth, obviously with the disposal completely off. Chopping up a few small ice cubes can also help remove food particles.

Just because it is called a ‘garbage’ disposal, doesn’t really mean garbage should be put down your drain. This device is just meant for pulverizing soft food into smaller pieces to ensure it can go down the drain without clogging your plumbing. Keep all items like egg shells, nuts, bones and other hard materials out of your disposal to reduce wear and clogs in your plumbing.

Is your garbage disposal not working right or making a strange sound? Call your local plumber to have them inspect your device and see if it is time for a new disposal.

Posted on behalf of:
Seagraves Plumbing Sewer & Septic
4980 Plant Atkinson Rd SE
Smyrna, GA 30080
(494) 792-2221

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Garbage Disposal Size

March 14th, 2012 Posted in Garbage Disposals
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Garbage disposals are a useful item to have in the kitchen.  They reduce food waste that would otherwise go into the trash and since they grind food waste into small particles, they reduce kitchen sink clogging.  When shopping for a new garbage disposal, you will need to choose how much power you need.

Garbage disposals are sized by the horsepower of the motor.  Smaller disposals are 1/3 or 1/2 horsepower and larger units are 3/4 or 1 horsepower.  All else being equal, higher horsepower means quieter, faster, and smoother operation.  In addition, since a high horsepower model doesn’t have to work as hard to grind up food waste, it will typically last longer than a lower horsepower model.

Higher horsepower disposals can handle hard to grind waste like bones or fibrous waste (think celery) much better than smaller units that become jammed or clogged by these materials.  Lower horsepower garbage disposals are best suited for smaller households and for light duty use.  If you cook infrequently and don’t plan to grind bones and other tough food wastes, a 1/3 horsepower or 1/2 horsepower disposal will probably do the job just fine.

On the other hand, if you cook frequently at home, have a large family, and want to put almost any type of food waste through the disposal, a 3/4 horsepower or 1 horsepower model would be a better choice.  Not only will the disposal be able to handle the load, but since you will be using it frequently you will appreciate the smooth, quiet, jam-free operation.

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Garbage Disposal Maintenance

March 14th, 2012 Posted in Garbage Disposals
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Most garbage disposals are robust kitchen appliances that work for years with little or no maintenance. However, a jammed, clogged, or otherwise malfunctioning garbage disposal can mean calling your plumber for garbage disposal repairs.  There are  a few things you can do to keep your garbage disposal working great and avoid that expensive repair call.

First, you should always run cold water down the drain into the disposal while the unit is grinding and for five to ten seconds after you turn it off.  Running water helps flush the ground material down the drain and through the drain lines.

Cold water is better than hot water because it will help fats and oils congeal so they can be flushed away.  Hot water will cause fats and oils to liquefy and they can end up lining the walls of your drain line which will eventually lead to a clog.

Avoid putting high fiber waste material like corn husks or celery stalks down the disposal.  These can clog even a heavy duty waste disposal.  Don’t overwork a light duty disposal by putting bones down it or running it continuously for more than a few minutes.  Small disposals are not designed to handle these types of loads.

Never put glass, metal, plastic, or any other non-food material down the disposal.  Not only can it be dangerous, but these materials will jam or completely ruin the disposal.  Finally, you can help rid the disposal of food deposits and odors by grinding egg shells or small amounts of ice.  Your disposal will work better, smell cleaner, and last longer.

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Choosing a Garbage Disposal

December 10th, 2010 Posted in Garbage Disposals
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A garbage disposal can be a handy item to have in the kitchen.  Garbage disposals grind up kitchen scraps and flush them down the drain.  While this results in reduced amounts of garbage, garbage disposals impose and extra burden on sewer and septic systems.  If you are on a septic system, be sure to have your system evaluated by a sewer-septic professional to be sure your system can handle the increased volume of waste and water generated by a garbage disposal.

When choosing a garbage disposal, your first consideration is how much power you need.  The smallest disposals are 1/2 horsepower and are fine for light duty and small households.  If you anticipate heavier usage, consider a 3/4 hp or 1 hp model.  These heavier duty units can handle large amounts of kitchen waste and will jam less frequently.

Garbage disposals are made in two basic types:  continuous feed and batch feed.  Continuous feed disposals are easier to use because you can keep feeding new waste into the unit as it grids up the old waste.  However, continuous units have open drains and are more hazardous because a hand or finger can get into the unit while it is running.

Batch feed units take longer because they have to be loaded and fresh waste cannot be fed into the unit until the previous load has been ground and flushed.  However, they will not run without the stopper in place so they are safer than continuous feed units.

Installation of garbage disposals requires some knowledge of plumbing and electrical work.  If you are not comfortable installing the garbage disposal, you should leave the job to a reputable local plumber with experience in kitchen repairs and garbage disposal installation.

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Smelly Kitchen Sink Drains

October 8th, 2010 Posted in Drains, Kitchen Sinks
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Many people complain that their kitchen sink ‘smells’.  Usually, these kitchen sinks have garbage disposals and a few simple tricks will help make the smell go completely away.

If you have a smelly kitchen sink, and you have a garbage disposal, it is likely that your garbage disposal needs to be cleaned.  When you turn on the garbage disposal, blades spin around grinding the food particles into small enough pieces to allow them to flow down the drain.

Often, the grinding isn’t complete, and pieces of food get stuck in your kitchen drain and begin to smell.  Basically, the food has begun to rot and that is what is causing the unpleasant odor.

The first step is to fill the kitchen sink where your garbage disposal is at up with warm, soapy water.  Degreasing detergents tend to work best, as grease particles are often the cause of some of the worse smells.  Next, remove the stink stopper, and turn on the garbage disposal.  Allow warm water to flow into the sink at the same time.  This action should help dislodge any ‘stuck’ food particles or grease, and will eliminate the smell.  You should notice immediate improvement.

If this didn’t work, and you still have an unpleasant odor, try the same thing, but this time use ½ cup of baking soda plus ½ cup of vinegar instead of detergent.  Continue to stream warm water and run the garbage disposal.  After approximately five minutes, pour 2-4 cups of clean, boiling water down the drain.

If you are still experiencing problems, you should contact your local plumber for assistance.  They will be able to further trouble shoot the cause of the odor and help remedy the problem.

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