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Without daily use my disposal locks up and I have to give it a turn using the allen wrench to get it started. This is no big deal, just a minor inconvenience but wondering if there is something I can do myself to fix it, other than trying to remember to give it a turn on every day.

The impellers? may be dirty or possibly bent? Run a dozen or so ice cubes through it (after you get it running). Sometimes that will clean it, but I imagine you have already done this.

Is there something you tend to run through it that may cause sticking? They are really meant for small amounts of plate scrapings and soft foods. (No celery, banana peels, egg shells, bones, or large amounts of any vegetable/organic material)

In addition to Conrad's comments, I'll add that sometimes they get rusty. If that's the case, you pretty much have to replace it because if the blades or shaft are rusty, the inside probably is too and will start to leak at some point. Of course, if you have no use for it, you could remove it and put a regular drain in that sink instead.

Bottom line, OP, I think you have a disposal unit that has rusted out for whatever reason. Instead of spending money chasing the impossible, I would simply buy a new unit ~ I bought one specifically designed for use with a septic system ~ cost @ $300 and I make sure that NOTHING BUT NOTHING goes down it except for the times I use it myself!

I use the ice cubes but also pour some of the garbage disposal cleaner in with them .It really gets them clean .If i don't have the cleaner on hand then I put the ice cubes in and pour half a box of baking soda and a cup of vinegar down and turn it on ,great for drain traps on all sicks and even good for cleaning toilets

Depending on the age, replacement would have been my next suggestion. Normally very easy to do, and involves unplugging/unwiring and removing the old, and screwing a new one into place and reconnecting.
Get a stainless steel unit, the cost is not that much more, and it won't rust out.

Thanks for your input. I will start looking for a good price on a replacement. I really don't know how old the present disposer is -- I've lived here for almost 12 years and I know the house was rehabbed and flipped around 1996, so it is probably AT LEAST 16 years old. Is that old for a disposer? It's an Insinkerator. So I need to start looking to buy a new disposer plus find a new plumber....I had a great plumber but he went out of business this summer to go into re-ligi-ous service.

I dislike Insinkerator disposal because they always develop rust. We had to replace Insinkerator at least every two years. We only place bread crumbs and foods we can't scrape off the dishes down the the disposal. We never place bleach or acids down the drain.

We finally replaced it with a Kenmore disposal and haven't had any problems with it. When the installers showed up from Sears they couldn't believe how rusted the Insinkerator was and it was only two years old. They said they had never seen anything like it. I don't remember what year we had the Kenmore put it in but it was at least 4 years ago. It has a 7 year warranty. We haven't had any problems with it. I never have to use the allen wrench to unclog it, which we did have to do with the Insinkerator.

Interesting. We have always had Insinkerator brand disposers, never an issue, and it is the only brand our plumber recommends too.
But then again we always had the stainless steel ones (larger motors) and they never rusted. We finally replaced the one in this house after 26 years, just a couple of years ago.

I've had an insinkerator for for years, no problem. My instructions say to grind bones to keep the blades sharp. It's worked for me.
MLV, do you need a plumber for other things besides the gd? It's an easy replacement, you can do it yourself. I did.

quote:

Originally posted by jaysmom49:
My instructions say to grind bones to keep the blades sharp. It's worked for me.

That's interesting, because my latest Insinkerator's instructions say not to put bones, fruit pits, or eggshells in it. I bought the super duper version, too, that's supposed to grind up everything. It doesn't.

JMHO: Maybe why our garbage disposals have lasted so long?
If one thinks about our sewer lines...would you purposely run sand down your open kitchen sink drain? Ground up bones..no matter how small, just don't belong in my house waste system.:0

I just have to tell you my experience with a disposal.

The disposal started to leak. I said if we replaced the disposal we had to replace the sink. I don't know what the previous owner cleaned it with but the finish was gone and everything stained it. And while we were at it we need new countertops too for the same reason.

Husband says then we might as well knock out the back wall and extend the kitchen about 4 feet.

Instead, he fiberglassed the disposal and we sold the house a couple of years later.

Oh it would have been nice to get a new kitchen out of a leaky disposal.

Many remodels were begun just as you reported, metwo. The snow balling of "while we are at, it we should just..." And the dollar signs just keep coming with more ideas!

Now that I think about it, it was chicken bones-pretty brittle (why you don't give them to animals). It also said to run COLD water, never hot, until you hear the disposal clear and then run it a few more minutes. Egg shells and coffee grinds are a killer, I'd never throw them down, too many stopped drains at my neighbors until I convinced her not to.
Good excuse for a kitchen make-over, works for me. Unfortunately, it's just me and my lowly paycheck so it is what it is.

What types of things that can cause a drain blockage can depend on how far your drain line travels to a down line and the larger sewer pipe. I have been running coffee grounds down our disposal for decades and never have had an issue at either house. (I use a french press, and there is really no other way but to rinse out the grounds in the sink) But no egg shells, bones or lots of vegetable trimmings/peels.

If your house has a long horizontal run of the smaller sink drain pipe, then more water may be needed to move it to a larger line. Each home seems to have it's own special needs, doesn't it?

quote:

Originally posted by conrad:
What types of things that can cause a drain blockage can depend on how far your drain line travels to a down line and the larger sewer pipe. I have been running coffee grounds down our disposal for decades and never have had an issue at either house. (I use a french press, and there is really no other way but to rinse out the grounds in the sink) But no egg shells, bones or lots of vegetable trimmings/peels.

If your house has a long horizontal run of the smaller sink drain pipe, then more water may be needed to move it to a larger line. Each home seems to have it's own special needs, doesn't it?

Our water is expensive. It's cheaper for me to put food waste out for the garbage pick-up than to use a disposal and run the water every time to wash the food down the pipe.

I seldom run ours too. Once every couple of days for a short spurt to get rid of the coffee grounds and always prior to running the dishwasher (about once a week or less for 5-7 seconds or so). We have never needed to run a lot of water through ours either. But it does depend what you put down it.

Anyone else tend to do dishes by hand after small meals, as I always do the pans by hand anyway? If we have company is about the only time I truly fill and run the dishwasher.

We don't have a disposal and don't miss it. Because we're on a septic system, at the time the house was built they couldn't put in one, although the cabinets are wired for it. Haven't seen the need to install one in the 14 years we've been here.

quote:

Originally posted by conrad:
Anyone else tend to do dishes by hand after small meals, as I always do the pans by hand anyway? If we have company is about the only time I truly fill and run the dishwasher.

It would be easier for me to handwash the dishes most of the time. Unfortunately, the seals on your dishwasher will dry out and fail if you don't use the dishwasher regularly. So, I use a damp sponge to remove any food that might dry on the dishes and then put them into the dishwasher. I only run it once or twice per week when it's full.

Whenever we leave a home vacant for 10 days or more, I pour about half a cup of vegetable oil in the bottom of the dishwasher, and just turn it on for a couple of seconds, then stop it. This suc ks the oil down, and lubes the seals. Gets washed out with the next running. If the lights on your DW controls stay on, then I found that a quick unplug and plug in the power cord(under the sink) resets it.

This was a trick I learned from a plumbing class a long time ago. Never had a seal fail on a dishwasher from lack of use (and ours never did get more than a couple times a week at most). And I find that once a week is usually often enough to run a DW cycle, without seals drying out.

quote:

Originally posted by conrad:
Whenever we leave a home vacant for 10 days or more, I pour about half a cup of vegetable oil in the bottom of the dishwasher, and just turn it on for a couple of seconds, then stop it.

Referring back to my OP, I was actually going to ask about doing this to the disposal but didn't know if it would gunk it up too much. When I went to Florida for three months last winter I had a very very hard time getting the disposal to start up upon my return. I actually had to tap the allen wrench with the hammer to get it to turn.

I too rarely run the dishwasher -- which by the way is also a minimum of 16 years old. I have a feeling both are going to need replaced -- just hope I time it right so that I do not end up with a disaster on my hands. ;-)

I doubt a small splash of vegetable oil would harm anything in the disposal. (Even a spray of silicone down inside, is a possibility).

But you are probably right, that since this issue has been going on for some time, you may just need to plan for the replacement of both, at any time in the next few years. Here is hoping that it may it NOT occur when you have house guests or during holiday meal prep!