I have seen too many clogged lines due to people trying to dispose of various paper waste via disposers and toilets.Paper pulp can solidify further down the waste line.So-its not a good idea.In most areas trash pickup is every three days.Better to let the compaction trash truck deal with the paper waste.It can handle it better than your plumbing.Disposers are strong enough to shred paper items-but most plumbing systems are not designed to accept or handle them-shredded or not.I don't use paper towels for the most part-for the real messy items use a sponge that can be rinsed out instead.Have done this for years and have had no sanitation problems.Paper waste IS NOT proper use of your disposer.You must be lucky and have oversized plumbing for your home.Many of us do not.Again for me anyway-paper waste goes in the trash.You can shred ANY food waste item in the disposer-but stay away from the soft or hard paper.what you can grind in the disposer is really limited by your plumbing-sewage system--not the disposer.In general Toilet paper is the ONLY paper waste that should go into a plumbing system.Beleive I know too many plumbers in the know on this!
Disposal Preferences
- Thread starter jakeseacrest
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Please use your disposer to rid of food wastes soiled paper towels as this eliminates one more potential path for pathogens and vermin, in the enviornment.
This is the purposse of home garbage disposal units.
My opinions are based on actual operating experience and not conjecture. Yes, being and engineer I do approach things idfferently than most. Before I state opinions, I try to base them on my experience or the research/experience of others who are technically (or otherwise) competant.
I would never recommend something, to my friends, on this site that would be detrimental to them in any way.
My operating history of paper napkins/towels is forty-four years. The first house was built in the 1950's, and non have had oversized plumbing.
Garbage diposers are to me, like candy bars to others, hehe. I buy them on impulse and love to run them through their tests and compare results. I buy new, and when possible, buy vintage ones I from Ebay, thrift stores and Habitat for Humanity stores. I cannot imagine how many I have had--more than I care to admit.
Never once has a paper towel or nakpin caused any problem, or even a remote challenge to any disposer, vintage or new that I have used.
And, I do admit, I guess do to laziness
, I often grind up paper towels that are not soiled with food. Jst as a reflex action, I tend to automatically stick all paper towels in the dipsoer, even if I have just wiped the countertop down.
In cases like that, it is not necessary and is a waste of water. However, when cooking bacon, etc. in the microwave, yes these grease soaked towels are always disposed, properly, in the disposal. As well as when I wipe up milk or other liquid food wastes.
Before developing an opinon, that one should not put food soiled paper towels in a disposer. One should be scientific enough to try it before they say it will not work.
If there darin does stop up, it was most likely partially blocked and should have been cleaned out anyway. And it would have stopped up anyway regardless of the wastes.
No small papaer paraticles held in suspension by water are going to clog any properly operating drain. If it does, the drain is at fault, not the disposer.
I havae never had a house, condo or apartment with oversized plumbing and there is no such thing as "luck". Something works or it doesn't.
If any of you have doubts. Take a sheet or paer towel and put it down the disposer as a scientific experiment. You will see that it is handled properly and disposed of with no fanfare.
I am not recommending you take a giant hand wad of three of for towels aat once and was them up and stick them in the hole, hehe.
The only cavaeat is, and this is not with paper towels, but just in general. Is
cheap plubmers who use undersink union designed for disposers where the drain line of the disposer goes to the other side of the sink's, drain line and forces the waste to make a sharp 90 degree turn within a 1 and a half inch pipe.
Too much volume of waste, regardles of what it is, can clog the line as you are forcing the entire output of the disposer through small bend less than half the diameter of a pipe.
A disposer whoudl be output with a "Y" fitting with a gradual transition (no 90 degree turn) and with the full One and a half inch diameter piping all the way.
Disposers are made to have waste exit from the rear of the machine and so the logo is always on the front.
You all have probably seen theses abominable installations where a so-called "plumber" turns the unit 90 degree and shoot the output into one of these constrictor unions under the sik bowl. Lowes and Home Deppot should quick selling theses cheap and quick devices, which arae designed for ease of installation as opposed to functionability.
No matter what you grind, whether it be paper towels, or leftover meat or potato peels, they are going to have a hard time making a 90 turn in a constricted enviorment and, turust me, will clog. So take the time and do pipes right if you had one of these ill-gotten installations jobs.
If you can't change it, make sure you put food wastes in only in very small quantitites with plenty of water.
It's a pet peave of mine to see such sloppy, cheap and careless installation done by so called plumbers. I havaae seen it over and over in apartments and even in new homes. Often seems builders and plumbers often just don't care what the homeowner has to deal with as long as they can do a quick and cheap job and get on to the next job.
Often, when homeowners have disposer problems, it can be traced to this one little pipe under the sink. Of course disppsers get the blame, not the installer, and that is how wifes tales are often borne and spread.
A homeonwer will tell her (or his) neigbor. Oh, I put an orange peel down my disposal and the sink stopped up. So this word goes around and now people erroneously think orange peels should not be put in the disposer. Another wives tale borne. It does non and on with what ever food or waste was put in at the time of blockage.
In reality, whatever was put in would have caused the clog as it had been building up and just happend to occur when that paraticular item was put it.
I hate to generalize, and say a clog will occur with a 90 degree "disposer" union
but I will say it is quite likely and gets more likely as time goes on. Food particles of waste accumulate around the small tight deflector in the pipe, and as the disposer gets older and does not grind as finely, I will amost promise a blockage.
And, of course, the disposer gets the blame or whatever was put in the unit at the time of blockage.
I encourage all of you to fully utilize the capabilities of your appliance, and plumbing, so it will do what it is supposed to do and give you convenience and eliminate odors, flies maggots and vermin from getting into your trash receptacles.
I always try to encourage my students to be methodical and scientific and try/research something, when feasible, before they condemn something or even develop an opionin.
If you try a paper towel and your plumbing line clogs, then you needed to clean out your line and this just propted you to do something you needed to anyway.
In rality, this will probably not happen to any of you. However, if yo have one of these faulty istallations. Whether it be by a plumber or someone who bought one of these "disposer installation kits" at Lowes, Home Depot or Menard, etc. I would recommend changing it.
ONce again, not to generalize, yo could have one of theses cheap 90 degree disposer inlet pipes and never have a problem. But the potential is there and I would recommend changing it.
This is the purposse of home garbage disposal units.
My opinions are based on actual operating experience and not conjecture. Yes, being and engineer I do approach things idfferently than most. Before I state opinions, I try to base them on my experience or the research/experience of others who are technically (or otherwise) competant.
I would never recommend something, to my friends, on this site that would be detrimental to them in any way.
My operating history of paper napkins/towels is forty-four years. The first house was built in the 1950's, and non have had oversized plumbing.
Garbage diposers are to me, like candy bars to others, hehe. I buy them on impulse and love to run them through their tests and compare results. I buy new, and when possible, buy vintage ones I from Ebay, thrift stores and Habitat for Humanity stores. I cannot imagine how many I have had--more than I care to admit.
Never once has a paper towel or nakpin caused any problem, or even a remote challenge to any disposer, vintage or new that I have used.
And, I do admit, I guess do to laziness
, I often grind up paper towels that are not soiled with food. Jst as a reflex action, I tend to automatically stick all paper towels in the dipsoer, even if I have just wiped the countertop down.In cases like that, it is not necessary and is a waste of water. However, when cooking bacon, etc. in the microwave, yes these grease soaked towels are always disposed, properly, in the disposal. As well as when I wipe up milk or other liquid food wastes.
Before developing an opinon, that one should not put food soiled paper towels in a disposer. One should be scientific enough to try it before they say it will not work.
If there darin does stop up, it was most likely partially blocked and should have been cleaned out anyway. And it would have stopped up anyway regardless of the wastes.
No small papaer paraticles held in suspension by water are going to clog any properly operating drain. If it does, the drain is at fault, not the disposer.
I havae never had a house, condo or apartment with oversized plumbing and there is no such thing as "luck". Something works or it doesn't.
If any of you have doubts. Take a sheet or paer towel and put it down the disposer as a scientific experiment. You will see that it is handled properly and disposed of with no fanfare.
I am not recommending you take a giant hand wad of three of for towels aat once and was them up and stick them in the hole, hehe.
The only cavaeat is, and this is not with paper towels, but just in general. Is
cheap plubmers who use undersink union designed for disposers where the drain line of the disposer goes to the other side of the sink's, drain line and forces the waste to make a sharp 90 degree turn within a 1 and a half inch pipe.
Too much volume of waste, regardles of what it is, can clog the line as you are forcing the entire output of the disposer through small bend less than half the diameter of a pipe.
A disposer whoudl be output with a "Y" fitting with a gradual transition (no 90 degree turn) and with the full One and a half inch diameter piping all the way.
Disposers are made to have waste exit from the rear of the machine and so the logo is always on the front.
You all have probably seen theses abominable installations where a so-called "plumber" turns the unit 90 degree and shoot the output into one of these constrictor unions under the sik bowl. Lowes and Home Deppot should quick selling theses cheap and quick devices, which arae designed for ease of installation as opposed to functionability.
No matter what you grind, whether it be paper towels, or leftover meat or potato peels, they are going to have a hard time making a 90 turn in a constricted enviorment and, turust me, will clog. So take the time and do pipes right if you had one of these ill-gotten installations jobs.
If you can't change it, make sure you put food wastes in only in very small quantitites with plenty of water.
It's a pet peave of mine to see such sloppy, cheap and careless installation done by so called plumbers. I havaae seen it over and over in apartments and even in new homes. Often seems builders and plumbers often just don't care what the homeowner has to deal with as long as they can do a quick and cheap job and get on to the next job.
Often, when homeowners have disposer problems, it can be traced to this one little pipe under the sink. Of course disppsers get the blame, not the installer, and that is how wifes tales are often borne and spread.
A homeonwer will tell her (or his) neigbor. Oh, I put an orange peel down my disposal and the sink stopped up. So this word goes around and now people erroneously think orange peels should not be put in the disposer. Another wives tale borne. It does non and on with what ever food or waste was put in at the time of blockage.
In reality, whatever was put in would have caused the clog as it had been building up and just happend to occur when that paraticular item was put it.
I hate to generalize, and say a clog will occur with a 90 degree "disposer" union
but I will say it is quite likely and gets more likely as time goes on. Food particles of waste accumulate around the small tight deflector in the pipe, and as the disposer gets older and does not grind as finely, I will amost promise a blockage.
And, of course, the disposer gets the blame or whatever was put in the unit at the time of blockage.
I encourage all of you to fully utilize the capabilities of your appliance, and plumbing, so it will do what it is supposed to do and give you convenience and eliminate odors, flies maggots and vermin from getting into your trash receptacles.
I always try to encourage my students to be methodical and scientific and try/research something, when feasible, before they condemn something or even develop an opionin.
If you try a paper towel and your plumbing line clogs, then you needed to clean out your line and this just propted you to do something you needed to anyway.
In rality, this will probably not happen to any of you. However, if yo have one of these faulty istallations. Whether it be by a plumber or someone who bought one of these "disposer installation kits" at Lowes, Home Depot or Menard, etc. I would recommend changing it.
ONce again, not to generalize, yo could have one of theses cheap 90 degree disposer inlet pipes and never have a problem. But the potential is there and I would recommend changing it.
passatdoc
Well-known member
ISE Evolution Compact
My father's disposal died and we went to Lowe's in search of a replacement. We bought the ISE Evolution Compact. About $140. We used Lowe's installation service, they installed it the next day for $75. Very quiet and saves space under the sink. Stainless steel chamber. I think it's 3/4 HP.
My father's disposal died and we went to Lowe's in search of a replacement. We bought the ISE Evolution Compact. About $140. We used Lowe's installation service, they installed it the next day for $75. Very quiet and saves space under the sink. Stainless steel chamber. I think it's 3/4 HP.
arbilab
Well-known member
As an engineer I put bacon-soaked papertowels in a plastic grocery bag and dispose properly in the outdoor dumpster.
As a responsible user of the sewer system, the operating cost of which I end up paying, I only put toilet paper down the drain. Food waste does not burden the system, it breaks down under the same processes as human waste.
I understand that my disenchantment with ISE performance and noise is indexed to BOL models. But all apartment appliances are BOL and the 1970s GE did not have those drawbacks. I have also lived in houses without disposers and handling scraps, bones, rinds, peels manually wasn't all that big an inconvenience. Put in trash, take trash out.
As a responsible user of the sewer system, the operating cost of which I end up paying, I only put toilet paper down the drain. Food waste does not burden the system, it breaks down under the same processes as human waste.
I understand that my disenchantment with ISE performance and noise is indexed to BOL models. But all apartment appliances are BOL and the 1970s GE did not have those drawbacks. I have also lived in houses without disposers and handling scraps, bones, rinds, peels manually wasn't all that big an inconvenience. Put in trash, take trash out.
paper products are biodegradeable
vermin can chew through plastic bags and bags can split when other objects, in the trash is placed on them
disposing of food type waste in a trash system is not proper use of the system
paper towels are, as mentioned biodegrable and when soaked with food products are a breeding ground for bacteria and an attractant for vermin
Paper towels soaked or laced with food wastes should be properly disposed of in a garbage disposal and handled with other "organic" wastes at the public waste processing center which is designed to handle cellulose wastes as well as organic type wastes.
Remember toilet paper and paper towels are made from the same base materials
vermin can chew through plastic bags and bags can split when other objects, in the trash is placed on them
disposing of food type waste in a trash system is not proper use of the system
paper towels are, as mentioned biodegrable and when soaked with food products are a breeding ground for bacteria and an attractant for vermin
Paper towels soaked or laced with food wastes should be properly disposed of in a garbage disposal and handled with other "organic" wastes at the public waste processing center which is designed to handle cellulose wastes as well as organic type wastes.
Remember toilet paper and paper towels are made from the same base materials
GARBAGE DISPOSERS
This has been a very interesting discussion about disposers so far. Barry is largely correct about putting paper and anything else organic in a disposer whether you are on a septic tank or not.
Disposers do-not clog drains, badly installed and maintained drains cause clogs. The best thing you can do if you have a septic system is to put plenty of organic waste in it as it thrives on waste to keep the bacterial action alive and thriving. Do avoid grease which includes paper towels soaked in grease from cooking bacon in the MW oven.
Before I address a number of points that have been made in this fun discussion let me state my experience in disposers. For over 15 years we were the only authorized ISE servicer in Washington DC for thier products and we also did service on KA WP disposers. Keep in mind that disposers are required in WDC so thier are lots of them here, in fact disposers have been common place since the 1950s in a large % of homes. I feel that I have far more experience than anyone that I know in regard disposers.
A few points that have been made that I don't agree with.
ISE disposers do-not have copper windings, they are copper colored aluminum.
HP has little to due with longer life of a disposer or its grinding speed. It is mainly a selling feature, it is true that the more expensive higher HP models are often better built with more SS components which can make for a longer laster disposer.
A 90 degree bend in the plumbing and the direction it is pointing under the sink do not affect the tendency of clogs occurring. All disposers come with a 90 degree turn as the waste comes out of the unit to begin with.
No disposer has sharp blades on the turn table they grind by violence.
I don't see how Annaheim disposers [ which I consider junk ] can be considered good value as they are very little cheaper than comparable ISE built machines, and if you begin to factor the cost of early replacements and labor charges for such they actually end costing much more than a good disposer in the first place.
I was never a big fan of the GE series wound disposers, they made far to much noise, they always sounded like you were killing an animal while you were grinding heavy loads. The housings were too small to grind most bones and they did a very poor job of grinding food waste in a uniform manor so they just ended up throwing waste down the drain. I remember a friend of my moms that moved into a new apartment and had a party for a bunch of us and served water mellon. As I was putting all the water melon rinds down the disposer the straining sounds the motor made were ridiculous and the motor soon went out on the overload. We took a 20 minute break and reset the overload protector and preceded to try to finish the job this time there was a hot smell and that was the end of a brand new disposer, they came and replaced it the next week. Over the years we replaced hundreds of these units. Like most GE builder appliances DWs, disposers, washers and dryers they were pretty crappy. GEs electric ranges and refrigerators were and still are very good appliances.
My only other comments at this time is I prefer a batch feed disposer over a continuous feed model as the BF is far more convenient to use. I know most people have CF units and like them, but when I worked for the MT home appliance store in the late 1970s they had a double bowl sink on the show room floor. And it had a CFD in one bowl and a BFD in the other and guess which one everyone used whenever they had some leftovers or what ever to get rid of. Even thought all of them had CFDs at thier homes everyone always used the BFD. That convinced me and today I have three BFDs in my homes. One 1994 MT custom made FB-5, A real Viking BF and a ISE-17. They all have thier advantages, the ISE and Viking grind faster than the MT and the ISE has the biggest hopper.
This has been a very interesting discussion about disposers so far. Barry is largely correct about putting paper and anything else organic in a disposer whether you are on a septic tank or not.
Disposers do-not clog drains, badly installed and maintained drains cause clogs. The best thing you can do if you have a septic system is to put plenty of organic waste in it as it thrives on waste to keep the bacterial action alive and thriving. Do avoid grease which includes paper towels soaked in grease from cooking bacon in the MW oven.
Before I address a number of points that have been made in this fun discussion let me state my experience in disposers. For over 15 years we were the only authorized ISE servicer in Washington DC for thier products and we also did service on KA WP disposers. Keep in mind that disposers are required in WDC so thier are lots of them here, in fact disposers have been common place since the 1950s in a large % of homes. I feel that I have far more experience than anyone that I know in regard disposers.
A few points that have been made that I don't agree with.
ISE disposers do-not have copper windings, they are copper colored aluminum.
HP has little to due with longer life of a disposer or its grinding speed. It is mainly a selling feature, it is true that the more expensive higher HP models are often better built with more SS components which can make for a longer laster disposer.
A 90 degree bend in the plumbing and the direction it is pointing under the sink do not affect the tendency of clogs occurring. All disposers come with a 90 degree turn as the waste comes out of the unit to begin with.
No disposer has sharp blades on the turn table they grind by violence.
I don't see how Annaheim disposers [ which I consider junk ] can be considered good value as they are very little cheaper than comparable ISE built machines, and if you begin to factor the cost of early replacements and labor charges for such they actually end costing much more than a good disposer in the first place.
I was never a big fan of the GE series wound disposers, they made far to much noise, they always sounded like you were killing an animal while you were grinding heavy loads. The housings were too small to grind most bones and they did a very poor job of grinding food waste in a uniform manor so they just ended up throwing waste down the drain. I remember a friend of my moms that moved into a new apartment and had a party for a bunch of us and served water mellon. As I was putting all the water melon rinds down the disposer the straining sounds the motor made were ridiculous and the motor soon went out on the overload. We took a 20 minute break and reset the overload protector and preceded to try to finish the job this time there was a hot smell and that was the end of a brand new disposer, they came and replaced it the next week. Over the years we replaced hundreds of these units. Like most GE builder appliances DWs, disposers, washers and dryers they were pretty crappy. GEs electric ranges and refrigerators were and still are very good appliances.
My only other comments at this time is I prefer a batch feed disposer over a continuous feed model as the BF is far more convenient to use. I know most people have CF units and like them, but when I worked for the MT home appliance store in the late 1970s they had a double bowl sink on the show room floor. And it had a CFD in one bowl and a BFD in the other and guess which one everyone used whenever they had some leftovers or what ever to get rid of. Even thought all of them had CFDs at thier homes everyone always used the BFD. That convinced me and today I have three BFDs in my homes. One 1994 MT custom made FB-5, A real Viking BF and a ISE-17. They all have thier advantages, the ISE and Viking grind faster than the MT and the ISE has the biggest hopper.
No that's correct horsepower does not affect speed unless you look at it from the aspect that a high horsepower unit does not stall, or jam as frequently (which can slow you down, hehe). But, yes horsepower does make a difference in overheating and thermal cutout. Especially, as you say, with something like watermelon rinds. I have occasinally had a half horsepower unit cutout and need to let it cool for a few minutes when putting in a sink full of rinds.
I learned that just being patient solves the problem with the GE series. For example you put in once corn cob, then wait about twenty seconds, then put in another, etc. Straight feed in of bos or watermelon rinds, with no break, will cause overheating. It's grinding speed is so fast it will keep up with you, but the poor motor gets hot from working so hard.
I don't recall ever having one of my 1 horsepower units do this on rinds. All of my 1 hp units can grind watermelon rinds as fast as they are inserted (one at a time, yet continuously).
In the nineties, when GE was contracting Annaheim to make their series wound disposers, in their brief comeback period, they had a 3/4 hp model. This one never overheated under corn cob load, but there were minor differences between it and the original GE's which I didn't like.
Yes, noise is the only true disadvantage of a series wound disposer. In a larger horsepower version it overcomes the heating problem, you mentioned, but you still have that vacuum cleaner sound problem, if one does not like that. It is less noticeable when you have a heavy cast iron sink.
Yes, I have encountered some of GE series wound motor disposals oveheating, ( I have had eight of them) They pull more amps as they do under load so if you keep a load for a long time, like a sink full. But this rarely happens. You actually WANT a GE series motor to slow down, because that is when torque increases. The peak of the torque curve occurs near stall.
It's suppposed to do that. As it grinds the load it speeds back up. Overall, I have found my series GE's to be the fastest dispoers I have ever had. Especially on pork chop bones and corn cobs. Now corn cobs, if put in too quickly, will oveheat a GE Series. Once again its, because of it being a small 1/2 motor.
The unit your friend had may have been defective. My parents second disposer, after the 1967 Westinghouse bit the dust, was a GE series wound.
When it met its glory, dad bought a Sears Lady Kenmore (ISE) and kept it about a week and pulled it out. My mom didn't like it and my dad hated it because of the slow 1725 rpm motor. He didn't even try totake it back to Sears, we gave it to our church to use in the church kitchen.
He bought another GE Series wound. He wouldn't have anything else (and my dad wan't necessary a GE fan) as nothing could compare with the grinding speed. Since my mom canned all the time, the sink was always full of tomato peels, vegetable peels, you name it. Nothing took care of a sink full of vegetable wastes like a GE series. The Westinghouse and the Sears were only minor contenders, ha. My mom loved the GE Series and she sure put it through some torture with her canning. Mom rarely used prepackaged food, so there was always potato peels, onion skins, carrot ends, cantalop rinds,fruit pits or something like this going into it every night. The GE Series models are real troopers.
Speaking of pits. Most disposers bounce fruit pits (like peach pits) around the hopper for a while before the grind up. The GE series disposers are the ONLY ones I have ever had, out of inumerable brands I have performance tested, that take carae of pits nearly instantly. The Carbaloy cutter, coupled with the high speed motors, takes them down to nothing very quickly.
I have ISE KitchenAid 1hp in my kitchen now, and a GE "Pirahanna" series in my kitchenette in the lower level. If I have a lot of peach or plum pits, I take them downstairs and the GE series takes care of them in a hurry.
The ISE/KitchenAid will eventually take care of them, but somewhat more slowly and I guess I am impatient. So overall, if I had to to choose a favorite out of all of the disposers (probably 30+) I have performance tested over the years, the GE series wound is the best, overall. Not that evey single feature it has is the best.
Best virtues. Unbeatable grinding speed and can handle things most disposers only dream of. Stainless hopper, stainless turntable, stainless impellers, stainless cutter. Even in GE's bottom of the line line models. And of course, #1 in speed for pork chops bones and fruits pits over any machine I have ever had...period. (but even wild man Barry didn't put beef bones it it ).
With that being said, no it's not perfect because of only two things:
1.) very noisy motor -- which can't be helped in series (universal)motors. You can try to sound insulate, but you still have an 8000 rpm motor.
2.) GE only made them in a one third, and a half-horsepower version. But back the sixties and seventies, I don't think you get get higher in a home unit. So yes, a continuous load of very heavy materials would cause the cutoff breaker to kick in. The cooled quickly though and you were back about your business shortly.
Whether ISE's winding are copper or copper clad, I don't know. The gigantic spool they were showing, at the factory, did not say. As long as it provides it's rated horsepower, it's fine by me either way.
You made a mis-statement, John. Disposers do not have cutters on the turntable. The turntable's job is to drive the food, onto the cutter ring, at the periphery of the turntable.
The cutter is usually a circular ring at the base of the hopper, where the turntable's impellers come closest to meeting the hopper walls.
The number of "teeth" vary. The Hobart KitchenAids had the most "teeth" (or cutter bars, or "blades") I have seen.
None are razor sharp, but if you put your and in there and rub your finger along it there is a very mild sharpness, or dege, you can feel.
Now the GE Series wound are quite unique in that they had only one cutter, welded
about halfway up the stainless steel hopper. In their upper line sries wound models, there was a small square Carbaloy cutter. Once again, not sharp like a knife but you could feel the mild edge on it. One cutter is all you need, however, when you combine it with 8000 rpm.
KitchenAid (Hobart) advertised its undercutter too (beneath the turntable), to cut stingy waste like corn husk and silk, into even finer particles before the wastes exited the unit.
Remember the good old "Wham Jam Breaker" on the Original Hobart Kitchen Aid. Those were the days! Never was fortunate to own one of these, almost bought one but was waiting for Hobart to come out with a 3/4 unit, and about this time, they decided to get out of the household disposer business.
I did have the Hobart "National" branded disposer. It had the fixed impeller turntable, like the KitchenAid, but did not have the Wham Jam feature, as well as no sound insulation.
I did buy a Viking clone of the Hobart KitchenAid, before Viking contracted ISE to build them. The Wham Jam Breaker did work. On the rare occasions it did jam, you reached down and pushed the "Wham Jam" button and the turntable vibrated very rapidly, usually breaking the jam loose.
The other neat thing abaout the Viking/Hobart is it had the best auto-reversing system I had encountered. Jams occur a little more freguently with a fixed impeller system, as the impellers cannot swing away from the item lodged in the cutter blade. The Hobart design sensed the speed decrease and reversed, so normally there was no reason to even use the Wham Jam Breaker, only once in a great while. Too bad, because it was fun.
It was really cool. Sometimes it occurred so fast you rarely even realized it went to stall, reversed, and got back up to speed in about a second or fraction over. Bravo to the Hobart engineers!
I learned that just being patient solves the problem with the GE series. For example you put in once corn cob, then wait about twenty seconds, then put in another, etc. Straight feed in of bos or watermelon rinds, with no break, will cause overheating. It's grinding speed is so fast it will keep up with you, but the poor motor gets hot from working so hard.
I don't recall ever having one of my 1 horsepower units do this on rinds. All of my 1 hp units can grind watermelon rinds as fast as they are inserted (one at a time, yet continuously).
In the nineties, when GE was contracting Annaheim to make their series wound disposers, in their brief comeback period, they had a 3/4 hp model. This one never overheated under corn cob load, but there were minor differences between it and the original GE's which I didn't like.
Yes, noise is the only true disadvantage of a series wound disposer. In a larger horsepower version it overcomes the heating problem, you mentioned, but you still have that vacuum cleaner sound problem, if one does not like that. It is less noticeable when you have a heavy cast iron sink.
Yes, I have encountered some of GE series wound motor disposals oveheating, ( I have had eight of them) They pull more amps as they do under load so if you keep a load for a long time, like a sink full. But this rarely happens. You actually WANT a GE series motor to slow down, because that is when torque increases. The peak of the torque curve occurs near stall.
It's suppposed to do that. As it grinds the load it speeds back up. Overall, I have found my series GE's to be the fastest dispoers I have ever had. Especially on pork chop bones and corn cobs. Now corn cobs, if put in too quickly, will oveheat a GE Series. Once again its, because of it being a small 1/2 motor.
The unit your friend had may have been defective. My parents second disposer, after the 1967 Westinghouse bit the dust, was a GE series wound.
When it met its glory, dad bought a Sears Lady Kenmore (ISE) and kept it about a week and pulled it out. My mom didn't like it and my dad hated it because of the slow 1725 rpm motor. He didn't even try totake it back to Sears, we gave it to our church to use in the church kitchen.
He bought another GE Series wound. He wouldn't have anything else (and my dad wan't necessary a GE fan) as nothing could compare with the grinding speed. Since my mom canned all the time, the sink was always full of tomato peels, vegetable peels, you name it. Nothing took care of a sink full of vegetable wastes like a GE series. The Westinghouse and the Sears were only minor contenders, ha. My mom loved the GE Series and she sure put it through some torture with her canning. Mom rarely used prepackaged food, so there was always potato peels, onion skins, carrot ends, cantalop rinds,fruit pits or something like this going into it every night. The GE Series models are real troopers.
Speaking of pits. Most disposers bounce fruit pits (like peach pits) around the hopper for a while before the grind up. The GE series disposers are the ONLY ones I have ever had, out of inumerable brands I have performance tested, that take carae of pits nearly instantly. The Carbaloy cutter, coupled with the high speed motors, takes them down to nothing very quickly.
I have ISE KitchenAid 1hp in my kitchen now, and a GE "Pirahanna" series in my kitchenette in the lower level. If I have a lot of peach or plum pits, I take them downstairs and the GE series takes care of them in a hurry.
The ISE/KitchenAid will eventually take care of them, but somewhat more slowly and I guess I am impatient. So overall, if I had to to choose a favorite out of all of the disposers (probably 30+) I have performance tested over the years, the GE series wound is the best, overall. Not that evey single feature it has is the best.
Best virtues. Unbeatable grinding speed and can handle things most disposers only dream of. Stainless hopper, stainless turntable, stainless impellers, stainless cutter. Even in GE's bottom of the line line models. And of course, #1 in speed for pork chops bones and fruits pits over any machine I have ever had...period. (but even wild man Barry didn't put beef bones it it
). With that being said, no it's not perfect because of only two things:
1.) very noisy motor -- which can't be helped in series (universal)motors. You can try to sound insulate, but you still have an 8000 rpm motor.
2.) GE only made them in a one third, and a half-horsepower version. But back the sixties and seventies, I don't think you get get higher in a home unit. So yes, a continuous load of very heavy materials would cause the cutoff breaker to kick in. The cooled quickly though and you were back about your business shortly.
Whether ISE's winding are copper or copper clad, I don't know. The gigantic spool they were showing, at the factory, did not say. As long as it provides it's rated horsepower, it's fine by me either way.
You made a mis-statement, John. Disposers do not have cutters on the turntable. The turntable's job is to drive the food, onto the cutter ring, at the periphery of the turntable.
The cutter is usually a circular ring at the base of the hopper, where the turntable's impellers come closest to meeting the hopper walls.
The number of "teeth" vary. The Hobart KitchenAids had the most "teeth" (or cutter bars, or "blades") I have seen.
None are razor sharp, but if you put your and in there and rub your finger along it there is a very mild sharpness, or dege, you can feel.
Now the GE Series wound are quite unique in that they had only one cutter, welded
about halfway up the stainless steel hopper. In their upper line sries wound models, there was a small square Carbaloy cutter. Once again, not sharp like a knife but you could feel the mild edge on it. One cutter is all you need, however, when you combine it with 8000 rpm.
KitchenAid (Hobart) advertised its undercutter too (beneath the turntable), to cut stingy waste like corn husk and silk, into even finer particles before the wastes exited the unit.
Remember the good old "Wham Jam Breaker" on the Original Hobart Kitchen Aid. Those were the days! Never was fortunate to own one of these, almost bought one but was waiting for Hobart to come out with a 3/4 unit, and about this time, they decided to get out of the household disposer business.
I did have the Hobart "National" branded disposer. It had the fixed impeller turntable, like the KitchenAid, but did not have the Wham Jam feature, as well as no sound insulation.
I did buy a Viking clone of the Hobart KitchenAid, before Viking contracted ISE to build them. The Wham Jam Breaker did work. On the rare occasions it did jam, you reached down and pushed the "Wham Jam" button and the turntable vibrated very rapidly, usually breaking the jam loose.
The other neat thing abaout the Viking/Hobart is it had the best auto-reversing system I had encountered. Jams occur a little more freguently with a fixed impeller system, as the impellers cannot swing away from the item lodged in the cutter blade. The Hobart design sensed the speed decrease and reversed, so normally there was no reason to even use the Wham Jam Breaker, only once in a great while. Too bad, because it was fun.
It was really cool. Sometimes it occurred so fast you rarely even realized it went to stall, reversed, and got back up to speed in about a second or fraction over. Bravo to the Hobart engineers!
ninety-degree turn
John,
What I was talking about was a SHARP ninety degree turn within the disposal branch tailpipe, in an environment less than half the diameter of the pipe.
The tailpiece of a disposer is, of course, is ninety degrees, obviously. It's curvature achieves the ninety degrees in a wider arc and utilizes the full 1 and a half inch inner diameter of the pipe, however.
If one goes to Lowes, Home Depot or Ace, and looks at one these wretched disposal unions pipes, one will see inside is a flat divider. As soon as disposer wastes enters opening, inside the pipe, it makes an instant 90 turn with less than half of the pipe diameter. There is no gradual turn as in the tailpeice (at least by comparison). You can make a 90 degree turn in a large arc or a small arc. A large arc takes more space, and there isn't room inside the confines of less than half a pipe.
The waste water hits the deflector and cause a decrease in velocity of the stream as it has to instantly deflect. A larger diameter would compensate. Not only does it get deflected, but constricted at the same time. Natually you have a "bottle neck" effect to put in non-technically.
One of the apartment complexes I lived at, when I first started working had all the disposers installed ths way by the builder. The apartments were about nine ten years old when I moved in, and after this amount of time disposers' cutters are losing sharpness and waste material is getting more course.
The maintenance man, was beside himself trying to keep the plumbing lines operational in the large complex.
Being the maverick, I am, I changed the plumbing under the sink with new PVC and put in a Y connection with each side of the sink going into a separate trap. (The way a competent plumber would have done to begin with) One trap for the sink side and one for the disposer side.
I never encountered a clog. I did take out their old, bottom of the line, ISE Badger, and replaced with a newer ISE, also.
After I moved out, I often wondered if the maintenance man (or the management) ever realized I made the change.
John,
What I was talking about was a SHARP ninety degree turn within the disposal branch tailpipe, in an environment less than half the diameter of the pipe.
The tailpiece of a disposer is, of course, is ninety degrees, obviously. It's curvature achieves the ninety degrees in a wider arc and utilizes the full 1 and a half inch inner diameter of the pipe, however.
If one goes to Lowes, Home Depot or Ace, and looks at one these wretched disposal unions pipes, one will see inside is a flat divider. As soon as disposer wastes enters opening, inside the pipe, it makes an instant 90 turn with less than half of the pipe diameter. There is no gradual turn as in the tailpeice (at least by comparison). You can make a 90 degree turn in a large arc or a small arc. A large arc takes more space, and there isn't room inside the confines of less than half a pipe.
The waste water hits the deflector and cause a decrease in velocity of the stream as it has to instantly deflect. A larger diameter would compensate. Not only does it get deflected, but constricted at the same time. Natually you have a "bottle neck" effect to put in non-technically.
One of the apartment complexes I lived at, when I first started working had all the disposers installed ths way by the builder. The apartments were about nine ten years old when I moved in, and after this amount of time disposers' cutters are losing sharpness and waste material is getting more course.
The maintenance man, was beside himself trying to keep the plumbing lines operational in the large complex.
Being the maverick, I am, I changed the plumbing under the sink with new PVC and put in a Y connection with each side of the sink going into a separate trap. (The way a competent plumber would have done to begin with) One trap for the sink side and one for the disposer side.
I never encountered a clog. I did take out their old, bottom of the line, ISE Badger, and replaced with a newer ISE, also.
After I moved out, I often wondered if the maintenance man (or the management) ever realized I made the change.
90 DEGREE DRAIN TURNS
Barry it sounds like you are talking about a Y connector that is not considered a 90 degree elbow. Disposer installion instructions have always said not to use those Ys for a disposer drain or at least to remove the baffle if you do.
I for got to mention that in my bar sink I have one of the WP built Through-the-sink 11,000 RPM fixed blade disposers this thing makes food waste disappear and grinds much more uniformly than the GE series disposers.
Barry it sounds like you are talking about a Y connector that is not considered a 90 degree elbow. Disposer installion instructions have always said not to use those Ys for a disposer drain or at least to remove the baffle if you do.
I for got to mention that in my bar sink I have one of the WP built Through-the-sink 11,000 RPM fixed blade disposers this thing makes food waste disappear and grinds much more uniformly than the GE series disposers.
Growing up we had an ISE disposer and I don't remember there every being any problem with it. When we bought our first house back in Calgary I bought one, a Badger I think because it was inexpensive (something like $70) but I had numerous backups that I attributed to the drain pipe which crossed the basement not having enough of a slope, hence the grindings just piling up along inside it. Our second house in the country had a septic field so I wasn't too keen on "adding" to its load. Now I'm still a little disposer shy about putting one in this house after all the grief that other one gave me.. plus I'd have to have some electrical work done, no power under the sink 
BTW does anyone refer to them as garburators? That's the term most people here use
BTW does anyone refer to them as garburators? That's the term most people here use
I have about 25 or so disposer's from the 50s and up.I don't know why I was so fascinated in them as a kid.I have been collecting them for years.I have Waste king Universal,Maytag,Calloric,Induction motor Sinkmaster which is rare,National by Hobart,Viking,G.E.,and many more.The G.E. is a cool disposer I have 3 types of them the High speed 8000 R.P.M. the induction motor type with the Carboly cutter which is the hardest metal I have come across in a disposer reminds me of Tungsten or something like that.I have in my Sink right now a 1970 Wasteking SS 8000 it is one of the best disposer's I have ever used.This thing cost $299 bucks in 1970 the price tag was still on the box.It is just a 1/2 H.P. but it has a weight under the flywheel and under cutter blades and a cast grind ring everything.It's a huge machine and never clogs my sink and will grind anything I throw at it.Old Maytags are another of my favorites they a great disposer's as are the Old G.E.s they sound like a Vitamix and perform like one also.The best part about them is there is nothing to dull over time really.The shear speed of them is what does the work and they are so fast at grinding anything that it's very different experience when you use them compared to any other type of disposer.I can't use a Kenmore or a I.S.E. in my house otherwise it will stop up my lines bad.The new I.S.E. Excel only I can use and is a very quite disposer but kinda slow at grinding.I have a Old Kenmore that has the cast grind ring and a switch that is on the bottom that reverses the motor,I have never used that one yet it's a neat disposer.I have batch feed disposals but I don't use them like that I just make is a continuous feed.The disposers that are out today are just junk for the most part there are a few that are not bad but they can't hold a candle to the ones I have.
jakeseacrest
Well-known member
Volsboy could you post some pics of your collection?
Yea sure here are a few.I was wondering is there away to put more than one pic on here at a time?Here is a Batch feed K-Aid.
Here is that old Kenmore
This is my old National disposer I have never used this disposer it is old.The instructions tell you that you can grind wax paper,paper towels,cigarette butts,bones, you name it.
Here is the grind chamber of that National disposer.The grind ring is sharper than they Kitchenaid and it has the a center ripper blade.I have tested the National and it seems to grind finer than the Kitchenaid,I have no idea why but it does.When I was testing it the National ground a huge turkey bone with no problems but the Kitchenaid jammed kinda it does a back and forth thing when it gets strained to prevent a jam.
I will take some more pics tomorrow I don't have any batteries for my good camera.I have a commercial Waste king well I have many Wastekings the old ones they are one of the best ever made Wasteking Universal...
Here is one of my Maytag's I have a Fc-10,Fb-20 and this one.
Nice collection of disposers-I have a small collection.The ones I have used are from the homes Myself,My Mom,Dad and freinds live in-so you get a variety.If I had the money and space--another waste disposal device I like are trash trucks-esp Leach and EZ-Pack Rear loaders-they can crush just about anything you can throw into their hoppers.In the "Classic Refuse Trucks" website videos they show a Leach-Schorling 2R crushing a smaller car!Commercial establishments now use "Pulpers" to handle their food waste and food handling-packaging paper waste-its a very large high HP commercial disposer(ISE and Sonomat) make these systems-the disposer is at the "scaping" sink in the establishment.The waste -whatever is shredded in the disposer-the water is even recirculated to save on it.Then the shredded waste goes into an auger type dewatering press and compactor.the waste goes into a trash bag or can for usual disposal----think of it--if you could process waste this way-then compact it again in the trash truck-it would be so heavy it couldn't move!Many companies and even localities like these systems-it does make waste disposal cleaner.-and keeps the paper waste and fibrous waste out of the drain systems.The soluable waste goes into the drain system as before.
and "Carboloy" is a Tungsten carbide material that GE used to make their "Carboloy" lathe and milling cutters for machine shops.It is also used for cutting edges on woodworking shaper cutters,planer cutters,and sawblade teeth,circular,chain,bandsaw.
and "Carboloy" is a Tungsten carbide material that GE used to make their "Carboloy" lathe and milling cutters for machine shops.It is also used for cutting edges on woodworking shaper cutters,planer cutters,and sawblade teeth,circular,chain,bandsaw.
Guys, as you're talking about disposers, let me ask something...
I have an ISE disposer and I really don't know which model it is, I just remember it's black with some stainless steel detais on it and very big.
My question is Before it I was always used to throw some caustic soda crystals down the drain, to prevent clogs (1 tablespoon, once a month, with some hot water).
I never had any kind of clogging, before or after the disposer was installed. but after the disposer, I quit doing this, afraid of damaging the disposer.
Is it safe to throw caustic soda in the disposer?
The pipes in my building were so well designed that once my nephew trew a long neck bottle in the disposer and absolutelly nothing happened. It clogged briefly during the glass shredding process, but after a few seconds, the water drained ok like always and more than a year passed and it never cloged.
My knowledge about disposers is very low because they are completelly rare here in Brazil. only a few years ago some stores started selling them. They are very expensive (BOL ISE model costs something around 400 or 500 dollars). Mine costed the equivalent to 1500 dollars.
I just know mine is great and shreds everything, it also never got jammed because i always shred slowly and using a lot of water. Also, when i have too much things to shred, i tend to pause for about 10 minutes in the middle of the process to give it some time to cool down. After everything is done (when I have lots of things to shred) i put the drain plug, fill the sink with water, turn it on and pull the plug to let a lot of water go into it at the same time, to rinse it.
Am I doing the right things?
I have an ISE disposer and I really don't know which model it is, I just remember it's black with some stainless steel detais on it and very big.
My question is Before it I was always used to throw some caustic soda crystals down the drain, to prevent clogs (1 tablespoon, once a month, with some hot water).
I never had any kind of clogging, before or after the disposer was installed. but after the disposer, I quit doing this, afraid of damaging the disposer.
Is it safe to throw caustic soda in the disposer?
The pipes in my building were so well designed that once my nephew trew a long neck bottle in the disposer and absolutelly nothing happened. It clogged briefly during the glass shredding process, but after a few seconds, the water drained ok like always and more than a year passed and it never cloged.
My knowledge about disposers is very low because they are completelly rare here in Brazil. only a few years ago some stores started selling them. They are very expensive (BOL ISE model costs something around 400 or 500 dollars). Mine costed the equivalent to 1500 dollars.
I just know mine is great and shreds everything, it also never got jammed because i always shred slowly and using a lot of water. Also, when i have too much things to shred, i tend to pause for about 10 minutes in the middle of the process to give it some time to cool down. After everything is done (when I have lots of things to shred) i put the drain plug, fill the sink with water, turn it on and pull the plug to let a lot of water go into it at the same time, to rinse it.
Am I doing the right things?
NO!!!!! Never put any caustic soda or any Drain cleaner in a sink with a disposer.Now you can put it in the sink that does not have the disposer in it but be very careful and I don't really advise that.Lye will ruin your disposer and eat it up it will ruin the seals in the disposer and the steel in it.It will ruin any disposer even the best of them.I.S.E. disposer's are not my favorite unless there the old types with the Cast flywheel,Cast grind ring and the fixed hammer's.I don't use any drain cleaners in my disposer's at all.I do put rock salt and Ice down it and a little dishwasher detergent and run it but that is it.That will clean the grease build up in the grind chamber.I also will put a huge pot of boiling water mixed with Miele dishwasher detergent and pour down my sink but that is about it.Lye or Drain crystals is acid and acid eats metal and everything else plus they are very dangerous to mess with because they heat up so fast it can blow out and blind somebody.For what you have to pay for a disposer I would not put any drain cleaner at all in it even if it says disposer safe..
Yes!! I agree with Wes. Caustic soda is a very strong alkali and can damage your disposer, permanently. If a seal goes bad, and water seeps into your motor, its goodby. Even if it didn't the danger to you, as Wes says, is very great.
One trick I learned from one of the disposers, manufacturers owner's manual (can't remember which) was to partially the sink with water. (I usually fill it full with very warm water.) Hold your hand down hard, on the other sink stopper. Turn on your disposal and pull out the stopper.
Your disposal will suck down the water fairly quickly and send it through your piples, under pressure. If you have minor gunk build up it will usually flush it away. Before you do this, make sure your plumbing connections are tight. hehe
Do this weekly or biweekly. Just keeps build ups away and things draining smoothly.
All disposals suck the water down quickly, but the GE 8000 rpm series motor is phenomenal....kinda scary. It makes a gigantic vortex and then a whoosh and and the sink is empty, in a few seconds. Any deposits in the pipe don't stand a chance.
John, I've used several types of "Y" junctions depending on the undersink configuration. Usually, I like a 45 degree wye going into the main drain line.
No constriction whatsover, no 90 degree turns in a confined environment. Never had one clog.
When one uses those cheap little "disposal installation drain pipes, without a trap on both sides of the sink, I have noticed noise from the disposer comes up from the other sinks drain, as sometimes some suds as well, when I let the disposer pull down sudsy water. That's another reason I got rid of the one when I lived in the apartment with the cheap plumbing. With two separate traps, one on the sink side and one on the disposer one gets much quieter operation as sound does not funnel up and out the other side.
These wretched little dissposer drain piples are made for one reason. To allow a homeowner, ignorant of plumbing, to be able to install a disposer themself. However, plumbers like them, because they are cheap (saving them money) and quick, so they can get on to the next job (making them more money).
They put back-pressure on a disposer. You wont's see as quick a drawn-down of a sink full of water if you have a disposer installed this way. It still will, but not as dramatically, and you lose a effectivness in cleaning pipes.
John, yes, I had one of the Whirlpool models. I think it was 1 1979 or 1980 model. I haven't thought about it in a long, long time. Oddest looking disposer I ever had.
It, like the cheap disposer junction pipe, was made for installation by ignorant people. One actually lowered the skinny disposer down the sinkhole fron the top and let it hang by the lip. Talk about quick installation! You just dropped it in and tightened it up a little. Not like the three bolt mounting system.
Unlike the GE series 8000's, it did not hang by a rubber vibration absorbing ring and transmited horrible vibrations to the sink. I had a cheap, thin, stainless steel sink. and it resonated with the disposer, which was MUCH, louder than a GE 8000. As I remember, the hopper was fairly skinny and deep. It didn't seem to that well with that teeny diameter turntable. It was a lackluster performing disposer to say the least. I couldn't take that noise, though.
I give credit to Whirlpool engineers for thinking outside of the box, on that one. Unfortunatly, it seems they lost sight of the box altogether.
I got rid of it, after short while, and put it in the trash. Whirlpool, to their credit, discontinued it. And shortly therafter discontinued their regular disposer series, too. (They called them the "bone specialists".) and contracted ISE to stick the Whirlpool logo on some their models.
The regular Whirlpools didn't get a very good rating in Consumer Reports in the late seventies. So it was just as well Whirlpool dropped them, but they were nice looling esthetically, pretty blue. One of the few disposers I never had. Would like to have one, just to see what it was like.
Anyone of you ever had one of the Whirlpool made disposers ("Bone Specialist") from the 1970's? Be great if yo could post some pictures.
Boy Wes, you brought back some great memeories. That is a beautfiul KitchenAid!!
I loved my Maytag made disposer. Probably my favorite, after the GE series wound models. And that's only by a very slight margin. Maytag built them heavy, had a great sound insulation shell of molded polyfoam, which made it very quiet.
It was very quick, and ground up most anything I threw its way. What a pity, Mayatg went to the, "let's contract ISE to stick our name on their disposers" route.
One trick I learned from one of the disposers, manufacturers owner's manual (can't remember which) was to partially the sink with water. (I usually fill it full with very warm water.) Hold your hand down hard, on the other sink stopper. Turn on your disposal and pull out the stopper.
Your disposal will suck down the water fairly quickly and send it through your piples, under pressure. If you have minor gunk build up it will usually flush it away. Before you do this, make sure your plumbing connections are tight. hehe
Do this weekly or biweekly. Just keeps build ups away and things draining smoothly.
All disposals suck the water down quickly, but the GE 8000 rpm series motor is phenomenal....kinda scary. It makes a gigantic vortex and then a whoosh and and the sink is empty, in a few seconds. Any deposits in the pipe don't stand a chance.
John, I've used several types of "Y" junctions depending on the undersink configuration. Usually, I like a 45 degree wye going into the main drain line.
No constriction whatsover, no 90 degree turns in a confined environment. Never had one clog.
When one uses those cheap little "disposal installation drain pipes, without a trap on both sides of the sink, I have noticed noise from the disposer comes up from the other sinks drain, as sometimes some suds as well, when I let the disposer pull down sudsy water. That's another reason I got rid of the one when I lived in the apartment with the cheap plumbing. With two separate traps, one on the sink side and one on the disposer one gets much quieter operation as sound does not funnel up and out the other side.
These wretched little dissposer drain piples are made for one reason. To allow a homeowner, ignorant of plumbing, to be able to install a disposer themself. However, plumbers like them, because they are cheap (saving them money) and quick, so they can get on to the next job (making them more money).
They put back-pressure on a disposer. You wont's see as quick a drawn-down of a sink full of water if you have a disposer installed this way. It still will, but not as dramatically, and you lose a effectivness in cleaning pipes.
John, yes, I had one of the Whirlpool models. I think it was 1 1979 or 1980 model. I haven't thought about it in a long, long time. Oddest looking disposer I ever had.
It, like the cheap disposer junction pipe, was made for installation by ignorant people. One actually lowered the skinny disposer down the sinkhole fron the top and let it hang by the lip. Talk about quick installation! You just dropped it in and tightened it up a little. Not like the three bolt mounting system.
Unlike the GE series 8000's, it did not hang by a rubber vibration absorbing ring and transmited horrible vibrations to the sink. I had a cheap, thin, stainless steel sink. and it resonated with the disposer, which was MUCH, louder than a GE 8000. As I remember, the hopper was fairly skinny and deep. It didn't seem to that well with that teeny diameter turntable. It was a lackluster performing disposer to say the least. I couldn't take that noise, though.
I give credit to Whirlpool engineers for thinking outside of the box, on that one. Unfortunatly, it seems they lost sight of the box altogether.
I got rid of it, after short while, and put it in the trash. Whirlpool, to their credit, discontinued it. And shortly therafter discontinued their regular disposer series, too. (They called them the "bone specialists".) and contracted ISE to stick the Whirlpool logo on some their models.
The regular Whirlpools didn't get a very good rating in Consumer Reports in the late seventies. So it was just as well Whirlpool dropped them, but they were nice looling esthetically, pretty blue. One of the few disposers I never had. Would like to have one, just to see what it was like.
Anyone of you ever had one of the Whirlpool made disposers ("Bone Specialist") from the 1970's? Be great if yo could post some pictures.
Boy Wes, you brought back some great memeories. That is a beautfiul KitchenAid!!
I loved my Maytag made disposer. Probably my favorite, after the GE series wound models. And that's only by a very slight margin. Maytag built them heavy, had a great sound insulation shell of molded polyfoam, which made it very quiet.
It was very quick, and ground up most anything I threw its way. What a pity, Mayatg went to the, "let's contract ISE to stick our name on their disposers" route.
I will also add--NEVER put lye or any other drain cleaner or caustic,or acid in your disposer.Lye is opposite of acid-but eats metal,hair,flesh just the same.Thats why it does a good job cleaning drain lines.But it is going to damage disposer parts-esp the motor seal.
and---NEVER-EVER shred bottles in the disposer-this will eat away the shred ring impact edges,damage corrosion preventive coating in the machines hopper.and remember--Shredded glass doesn't float or dissolve in a drain system.Would you put sand in your waste plumbing system--hope not-these are a good thing for the Roto-Rooter man.Bottles are another thing to put in the trash can or compactor.Trash trucks and compactors,recycling bins can handle bottles better than disposers and sewer systems.--and oh yes--lye and drain cleaners will void the warrantee on your disposer-the company inspectors can tell if it was used in the machine.same with bottle shredding.Bottle grinding was used at one time to remove the "scum" from shred rings in disposers that had a "soft" diet-user didn't put bones or ice cubes in it.the bones and ice cubes will clean the shredding parts safely without any worry of clogging your plumbing.bone chips safely float down waste lines.If the waste can make it to the sewer company processing plant---their Muffin Monster sewage shredder will take care of it----POOR NEMO!A large Muffin Monster sewage shredder will even grind logs!They have an excellent website-has videos showing their Muffin Monsters shredding things.Maybe some households need Muffin Monster!In one horror movie I watched the Muffin Monster was a breif star---it ground up the monster!and on "Dirtest Jobs" a Muffin Monster sewage shredder was shown being cleaned.
and---NEVER-EVER shred bottles in the disposer-this will eat away the shred ring impact edges,damage corrosion preventive coating in the machines hopper.and remember--Shredded glass doesn't float or dissolve in a drain system.Would you put sand in your waste plumbing system--hope not-these are a good thing for the Roto-Rooter man.Bottles are another thing to put in the trash can or compactor.Trash trucks and compactors,recycling bins can handle bottles better than disposers and sewer systems.--and oh yes--lye and drain cleaners will void the warrantee on your disposer-the company inspectors can tell if it was used in the machine.same with bottle shredding.Bottle grinding was used at one time to remove the "scum" from shred rings in disposers that had a "soft" diet-user didn't put bones or ice cubes in it.the bones and ice cubes will clean the shredding parts safely without any worry of clogging your plumbing.bone chips safely float down waste lines.If the waste can make it to the sewer company processing plant---their Muffin Monster sewage shredder will take care of it----POOR NEMO!A large Muffin Monster sewage shredder will even grind logs!They have an excellent website-has videos showing their Muffin Monsters shredding things.Maybe some households need Muffin Monster!In one horror movie I watched the Muffin Monster was a breif star---it ground up the monster!and on "Dirtest Jobs" a Muffin Monster sewage shredder was shown being cleaned.
Thanks for the advices guys!
Of course I NEVER do bottle shredding... that happened only once when a child did it. Luckily, it was a very small bottle and nothing serious happened (at least until now).
But knowing glass, it would have glogged the pipes almost instantly. (I was really lucky)
I always do the full sink "water shredding". it works great! Also, ice and dishwashing detergent or sometimes CIF degreaser.
Hot water isn't a problem, right? Always I cook pasta or eggs, I throw the water in that sink, with the disposer on. A few seconds after, I open the cold tap.
Of course I NEVER do bottle shredding... that happened only once when a child did it. Luckily, it was a very small bottle and nothing serious happened (at least until now).
But knowing glass, it would have glogged the pipes almost instantly. (I was really lucky)
I always do the full sink "water shredding". it works great! Also, ice and dishwashing detergent or sometimes CIF degreaser.
Hot water isn't a problem, right? Always I cook pasta or eggs, I throw the water in that sink, with the disposer on. A few seconds after, I open the cold tap.
Hot water can be drained thru the disposer without problems.
DISPOSERS AND DRAIN PROBLEMS
Liquid drain cleaners that contain lye and are labled as safe for disposers will NOT hurt them. Lye does NOT attact steel, SS, plastic, and rubber, and yes Barry if the shaft seal is already leaking into the motor area the drain cleaner may finish off the motor but it only has a few weeks to live once water is in there anyway. Lye will attack aluminum but no decent disposer has used aluminum in there units in the last 30 years.
If you have good draniage in your plumbing you could gring glass bottles all day long and never clog your drains. ISE and WK used to domostrate and ISE actually recommended gringing a bottle perodcally to clean out thier disposers. If ground glass like sand didn't go down drains the U traps would all slowly fill up with sand and clog. I have never even seen sand in traps even when working on peoples showers at thier beach houses.
It is always intersting how these old wise tales get started, I have never heard of a disposed damaged by drain cleaner. And I have never heard of a drain clogged by grinding paper, glass or sand. Remember we worked on thousands of disposers in homes here in the Washington area. And I have seen lots of people put drain cleaner down the drain to avoid a service call, and I have seen plenty of people wash out things like flower pots and not clog thier drains.
Liquid drain cleaners that contain lye and are labled as safe for disposers will NOT hurt them. Lye does NOT attact steel, SS, plastic, and rubber, and yes Barry if the shaft seal is already leaking into the motor area the drain cleaner may finish off the motor but it only has a few weeks to live once water is in there anyway. Lye will attack aluminum but no decent disposer has used aluminum in there units in the last 30 years.
If you have good draniage in your plumbing you could gring glass bottles all day long and never clog your drains. ISE and WK used to domostrate and ISE actually recommended gringing a bottle perodcally to clean out thier disposers. If ground glass like sand didn't go down drains the U traps would all slowly fill up with sand and clog. I have never even seen sand in traps even when working on peoples showers at thier beach houses.
It is always intersting how these old wise tales get started, I have never heard of a disposed damaged by drain cleaner. And I have never heard of a drain clogged by grinding paper, glass or sand. Remember we worked on thousands of disposers in homes here in the Washington area. And I have seen lots of people put drain cleaner down the drain to avoid a service call, and I have seen plenty of people wash out things like flower pots and not clog thier drains.
turquoisedude
Well-known member
Garburator, eh??
Pete, I think that may a unique Canadian expression!! I have heard the term 'cochon' (literally 'pig') used by folks in the French-speaking parts of New Brunswick, too. My friends in Boston always called a food waste disposer a 'Disposall' even if it was an ISE or a Frigidaire...
Pete, I think that may a unique Canadian expression!! I have heard the term 'cochon' (literally 'pig') used by folks in the French-speaking parts of New Brunswick, too. My friends in Boston always called a food waste disposer a 'Disposall' even if it was an ISE or a Frigidaire...
whirlcool
Well-known member
As for disposer plumbing, how is it supposed to go?
I looked under our sink and the PVC drain pipes under there look quite small in diameter. We have a double SS sink and from each drain is a drain with a trap in it going into a 3 pipe adapter in the wall. Two holes accommodate the sink drains and the third is a clean out.
I looked under our sink and the PVC drain pipes under there look quite small in diameter. We have a double SS sink and from each drain is a drain with a trap in it going into a 3 pipe adapter in the wall. Two holes accommodate the sink drains and the third is a clean out.
Whether lye damages a disposer or not (although manufacturers specifically state NOT to put caustic or acid drain cleaners in), I would be cautious as splashing could get a lye solution on the face or in the eyes.
If the drain cleaner does not work, you will have a disposer hopper full of a lye or acid solution you will have to carefuly drain away when you remove the trap.
One can use it if they want, but for safety, I think there may be better alternatives.
Enzymatic cleaners will often work, if left in over night. Sometimes they require two treatments. Yes, there are slower than caustic soda,or sulphuric acid, but a whole lot safer. Whether you use them in a disposer or any other plumbing fixture.
Better yet, use a plumber's snake. Best of all, keep your lines consistently clear by using the weekly flush method above, and grind plenty of abrasives, like bones, which help keep the lines scoured when the tiny sharp particles are forced through the lines under pressure, by the disposer. Over time they can remove grease deposits on pipe wall. which if unabated, can continue to collect and eventually constrict water flow.
Remember back in the 70's when Consumer Report tested the life of disposers by simulating years of usage with ground up glass.
I don't personally condone grinding up glass in a disposal, but my record in not unblemished.
There have been times, when I have broke a drinking glass on the counter or in the sink. I picked out the largest pieces, and washed the smaller shards down the disposer, with the sink sprayer, and ground them up.
The disposer will certainly handle them, but I always have a fear of a small glass particles shooting out.
So I always make sure the disposer cover is on and turn off the disposer before turning off the water (as one is supposed to do all the time anyway.) and only then remove the cover.
If the drain cleaner does not work, you will have a disposer hopper full of a lye or acid solution you will have to carefuly drain away when you remove the trap.
One can use it if they want, but for safety, I think there may be better alternatives.
Enzymatic cleaners will often work, if left in over night. Sometimes they require two treatments. Yes, there are slower than caustic soda,or sulphuric acid, but a whole lot safer. Whether you use them in a disposer or any other plumbing fixture.
Better yet, use a plumber's snake. Best of all, keep your lines consistently clear by using the weekly flush method above, and grind plenty of abrasives, like bones, which help keep the lines scoured when the tiny sharp particles are forced through the lines under pressure, by the disposer. Over time they can remove grease deposits on pipe wall. which if unabated, can continue to collect and eventually constrict water flow.
Remember back in the 70's when Consumer Report tested the life of disposers by simulating years of usage with ground up glass.
I don't personally condone grinding up glass in a disposal, but my record in not unblemished.
There have been times, when I have broke a drinking glass on the counter or in the sink. I picked out the largest pieces, and washed the smaller shards down the disposer, with the sink sprayer, and ground them up.
The disposer will certainly handle them, but I always have a fear of a small glass particles shooting out.
So I always make sure the disposer cover is on and turn off the disposer before turning off the water (as one is supposed to do all the time anyway.) and only then remove the cover.
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