Clogged Kitchen Sink w/ Disposal

[mark_wpduet]

I have NEVER had my kitchen sink clog until yesterday or any plumbing problems. The drains run super fast. Anyway, I put some old romaine lettuce down the garbage disposal and it clogged the sink up. WHY? I don't know. I got the plunger and plunged for an hour. I got my rainbow vacuum trying to suck the clog out and NOTHING worked! So I went to youtube and watched a few videos. One said to use two plungers (I only had one),-- others talked about going under the sink to take apart the pipe to get clog out.

Then- FINALLY I came across a video a lady had made with a sink very similar to mine with an air gap. She said to put plastic around the airgap tightly with a rubber band and then plunge. I guess the air gap needs to be plugged up or plunging won't work. It literally took like 3 plunges to unstop the sink after I plugged the airgap up. I wish I had known this before I spent an hour plunging that was doing absolutely nothing.

 

[appnut]

Been there, done that.  Mark, did you put the lettuce down quickly?  I've learned with lettuce to do it gradually with water full on.  It also means your disposal isn't grinding as well as it used to.  I've just learned with lettuce and onion peels to not put stuff like that down in huge amounts, just gradually feed the stuff in. 

 

[tolivac]

Is the disposer old--if so it can pass the lettuce leaves between the shredders without shredding them.You may need a new unit.

 

[combo52]

Clogged Kitchen Sink W/Disposer

If you have a DW drain line attached to the disposer you should remove it and cap the opening before using a plunger, even if you don't have an air-gap like Mark has. On newer DWs there are little rubber check-valves either in the pump assembly or in the end of the drain hose attached to the pump that can easily be destroyed from the forces of using a plunger.

 

Bob has a good point Mark about your disposer in that it may not be grinding waste finely enough any longer. If it is a model that does not have all SS grind components and is over about 5 years old it may need replacing. Look inside the grind chamber with a flash light and if the floor of the grinding chamber is all brown and rusted then look at the gap around the perimeter of of the grinding disk if it is more than an 1/8" you need a new disposer.

 

John L.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Wait?

my dishwasher drain IS connected to the disposer! I RARELY ever use the disposer other than just crumbs or little bits of food that fall of plates. I mostly throw all that stuff in the garbage. I just didn't think lettuce would be that big of a deal. This disposer is nearing 14 yrs old and it's a whirlpool or whoever makes them for whirlpool at that time. I'm not replacing it as long as it does not leak because that's how rarely I use it...I wish I had known a plunger could damage the seals in the dishwasher. I do know that I've run the dishwasher and didn't notice any problems. Hopefully, I didn't destroy anything. May I ask (if those seals are damaged, what exactly should I look for?) Thanks

 

[ea56]

I used to have this same problem when we had a garbage disposal. I found out quickly on my own that I needed to wrap something around the air gap when plunging the drain, because dirty water would come out of the air gap. I would also plug the other sink drain too. After a few years of this, and this even happened with a new disposal, I said, screw it, I couldn’t put much of anything down it anyway. So I decided to take out the disposal and go back to a regular drain for both sinks.

I looked up on You Tube how to do this myself, and for about $10.00 in new drain pipes and a regular drain and about 1 hr. of work it was done. I did this about 4 years ago and I haven’t missed the disposal at all. I couldn’t really use it anyway for much and I was raised without one, we had a septic tank, so it wasn’t a big deal. And I sure am glad to not have to deal with a GD plunger when I’m in the midst of a holiday dinner preparation anymore! I’ve never regretted this decision.

Another plus is that I have more storage space under the sink without a garbage disposal.

I’ve included a photo if anyone is interested in doing this themselves. If you have a dishwasher you will need to get a drain tail piece with a “tee” connection for the air gap hose. It’s really easy to do, and if you already don’t use really use your GD much, or at all anyway, you’ll be happy that you made this conversion.

I suppose if we were ever to put the house up for sale I might reinstall another GD if the realtor said it would make a difference to prospective buyers. But as long as we live here, I want the kitchen the way it suits me. Call me old fashioned, but this works best for me.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 5/2/2018-13:55]

 

[combo52]

Hi Mark, your DW did not suffer any damage by using a plunger, This can only happen if the DWs drain hose is connected directly to the disposer, with an air-gap the air pressure just blows through the air-gap, although if you seal it off well enough the air pressure could still back up to the DWs CVs.

John L.

 

[iowabear]

Sorry to hear of your problem but glad you fixed it yourself.  I also just use my disposer for leftover bits.  Had one clog years ago, that was enough of a headache that I just gave up on using it for serious disposal.  This is a 1956 house, there was no disposer until I put one in.  I still like having it though.

 

[thomasortega]

I always put everything and a little bit more down the drain, never had a clog.

Now i have a BOL ISE Badger disposer. (that died a couple of days ago).

The landlord gave me a mesh trap and instructed me that absolutely nothing should fall in the disposer, not even a pea, because "he has the knowlegde as he works at DWP" and disposers are designed "only to drain the sink faster, as a pump, and like all pumps, food leftovers can destroy the disposer". LOL

Do I need to say I will replace the disposer myself and get a TOL ISE Evolution excell?

 

[kb0nes]

I had to plunge the my double basin kitchen sink once. I sealed the line from the disposer to the air gap by pinching off the rubber hose with a clamp.

How to seal the 2nd basin was a bit of a conundrum for a bit. I used a folded over wet rag and a bowling ball in the end. One push did the trick after that!

 

[circlew]

Plunging will, of course, only work if the clog is before the vent connection. If it's after that, you could plunge for days with no results, as all the air is forced out the vent. The same is true if there are other higher fixtures tied in before the clogged area.

When I was a kid, we had trouble with the kitchen sink drain becoming clogged on a regular basis. The lines were galvanized steel, and they are notorious for causing trouble. My mom soon learned not to put coffee grounds or potato peelings down the GD, as those would always result in a clog. Sometimes, the trap would clog, which could usually be fixed with the plunger. Usually it would clog on the long run across the basement ceiling, but occasionally would in the part past where the bathtub connected. Several times the tub was nearly full of dirty water, and once was within an inch of overflowing! After that, we had the plumber redo the lines, and rarely had any more trouble.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Well

I've really never put much waste down the disposal over the years. Everywhere I've ever lived, you can look inside them and see all the rust. I guess I just thought that lettuce would be something super easy for it, but I didn't put the leaves down slowly - I just crammed them down really fast. What I usually do is just throw everything in the trash.. But still, you end up with small bits of food like when you're rinsing cans out for the recycle and those little bits of food that might get stuck in the disposal if you don't turn it on. From this point on, nothing is going down it other than that, which is no big deal because I'm used to not putting much of anything down it anyway.

I did read somewhere that putting a bunch of ice down in the disposal and turning water on and crushing the ice will keep it clean? I've done that a few times.

 

[combo52]

Cleaning A lightly Used Disposer

Turn it on with NO water running and put down one or two trays worth of ice, let it grind for about one minute [ the ice may turn very brown ]THEN turn on COLD water and let it flush down the drain.

 

Note: when you start flushing with cold water the water may back up in the sink for a few moments but of coarse will clear quickly as the ice melts.

 

John L.

 

[panthera]

Either run the disposal every day

Or take it out.

They do not work well when ignored.

I'm glad you got it fixed, I doubt you damaged the dishwasher.

When you run the disposal, be sure to let water rinse it out thoroughly for at least a minute after it stops grinding and before you turn it off.

 

[yogitunes]

all disposers are not created equal....and that poses a problem for some people

as most first encounters may be with a TOL double grind stainless machine....you can toss just about anything down there without blinking an eye....

BUT, then they may move to a new apartment, with a BOL disposer, and start tossing things down, jams and clogs happen, and they don't understand why?...

all they understand is "Well my last disposer handled everything with ease!"

just because one machine can shred a tree branch, doesn't mean they all can!

 

[mark_wpduet]

I really don't know

but mine is probably very BOL. I just have never researched disposers before.

 

[circlew]

Mark, your disposer appears to be the Whirlpool version of the ISE Badger. The last disposer I had was one of these, and it didn't last very long or work nearly as well as the old ISE 77,which lasted over 20 years.

 

[appnut]

Mark, my builder put in a basic ISE in 1984.  It lasted until late 1993. I hated it because it clogged numerous times.   I got a 1 HP continuous feed GE spring 1994.  I've largely been able to throw just about anything down it.  I hate food waste in my garbage and I wanted something that would handle just about anything.  It's extremely rare any type of food waste ends up in my trash.  I even grind up skin I take off chicken before I bake it.  It takes a while to grind up and once done, I give a few shots of Dawn liquid down the disposer while it runs. 

 

[ea56]

The first garbage disposal I ever had was in the condo we bought new in 87’. It was builders grade, like everything else in the unit. I believe in was a Badger, probably only 1/4 hp. Well, shortly after we moved in I clogged the sink with potato peels. There was no You Tube or PC. I plunged amd plunged until I finally called RotoRooter and it cost $75 for him to snake it. I also learned not to put potato peels down the GD.

Then in our current home there was another Badger 1/4 hp. And it would clog too, even though I didn’t put potato peels down it. We eat a lot of fresh vegetables and have a lot of peels and trimmings. Even though I was always careful to put the refuse in gradually, it would still clog periodically. I even bought my own snake to clear it. I replaced it with a 1/3hp Waste King, and for about 8 years this was pretty good, but then it started to clog once in a while too. The last straw was when I was cooking Easter dinner about 4 years ago and the damn sink clogged just as I was ready to get the last things finished. I had to stop and plunge the sink, always something appetizing for company to see, not!

The next day I checked out You Tube, went to Lowes, bought the new drain and tail piece and a longer pipe to go to the P trap, took out the GD, replaced the drain and attached the airgap hose to the tee in the new tailpiece, and now I have peace in my kitchen. And the kitchen sink hasn’t clogged since!

We empty the garbage under the sink every day at least once, so odors aren’t a problem. And I think it’s quicker peel the vegs in the sink or on a plastic bag, throw them in the garbage and rinse the sink out. Anything that might smell goes into a produce plastic bag, grease or oil into a jar or can, then into the garbage. No running the water for a min or more to be sure that the GD is flushed enough. And to keep the smaller stuff from going down the drain I use SS strainers over each drain, and a rubber GD stopper when I want to fill the sink. To keep the strainers clean I just rap them over the garbage can and rinse.

And I’m not needlessly wasting water. Besides, I always thought that the GD rubber drain gasket looked like the Black Hole of Calcutta! They’re hard to keep clean unless you take them out at least once a week and give them a good scrub.

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 5/3/2018-23:31]