opinions
Hello Chetlaham,
First, if it was a Permanent Magnet motor, it wasn't built by GE. General Electric only used induction motors and series-wound motors in their disposals.
In the early eighties GE quit making disposals and like so many others, they allowed Anaheim Manufacturing to use their logo on their permanent magnet motor machines.
These Anaheim units carried many trade names on their labels, including GE and Waste King along with many other nomenclatures such as Franke, Bone Crusher, etc.
They were built for a price. Beneath the turntable, was a plastic base/liner in the collection chamber. Over time, this plastic developed scratches from abrasive food particles and this allowed remnant food particles to collect and develop odors. That was one common problem I had in the few Anaheim units I had. They all stunk, literally.
No GE employee ever touched an Anaheim Permanent magnet motor disposer. GE did get a royalty from Anaheim for the right to use their logo.
You are correct in your observations, that disposers (other than Anaheim's) are self cleaning and one of the most trouble free of all appliances.
I would hazard a guess that the residential disposer is probably the number one appliance for being the victim of old-wive's tales. You ask ten people what you can't put down a disposer and you will get ten different responses. Seems virtually everyone has their favorite item that a disposer can't handle. And in most cases you have ten erroneous answers.
There a few things a modern disorder cannot handle. I and possibly our member Volsboy seem to be the most liberal when it comes to what we put in a disposer. My philosophy is to keep all the organics I can out of the solid waste stream.
If it fits in the opening of the disposer/disposal, if it grinds and if the plumbing doesn't clog...I put it down there. Eggshells, as you have discovered, are nothing to grind up. Bones create abrasive particles that keep the interior of the disposer clean and as well as the interior of the pipes clean of wall build-up
Banana peals, watermelon rinds, fruit rinds and pits are all standard items that can easily be disposed of.
When someone does have a clogging issue, I have usually found it to be due to two things. Not running water for a ten or fifteen seconds after turning off the disposal. This makes sure wastes have time to be carried out to the main street line. Otherwise, turning off the water prematurely, may cause the wastes to settle out in the bottom of the internal house pipes and over time may build up. One day the pipes diameter gets small enough that fouw stops. Of course, whst was being ground up at the time, is given the blame. Hence the birth of a new wives-tale. It was not the fault of what was being ground up, but the fault of the homeowner for not doing what all disposer manufacturers tell you, let water run for a short period after grinding.
The second most common mistake, I see is improper mounting/installation of the disposal itself. Instead of having the discharge in the back, through a separate dedicated trap and into the drain line, so many people use one of the disposer installation tubes.
They mount the disposal on one sink side and turn the disposer sideways and shoot the discharge directly into the other sink's drain line. To do this one has to use the homeowner installation tube available at the big box home stores. If you look If you look in the tube you will see a baffle at the disposal's entrance coupling. It forces the disposal's waste discharge to make an instant ninety degree turn in only half the diameter of the pipe. A perfect clog point.
Fibrous wastes can collect here. Another wives-take born, that you can't grind fibrous wastes. Yes you can, you just have to have the intellect to not force it to take an instant ninety degree turn in only half the diameter of the pipe.
These disposer installation pipes were born to allow consumers to have an easy way to go home and put in a disposer themselves. It doesn't take too much of an I. Q. To install a disposer correctly, with a dedicated trap and a wye fitting to discharge in the full diameter of the pipe with a effortless 45 angle flow.
I would hazard a guess that most people believe these wives-tales without questioning them or without scientic investigation, to see if they are true, through experimentation. Most people believe what they hear without questioning or it or gathering their own experential data through experimentation.
A residential garbage disposer is one of the most ecologically sound of all home appliances. Not only does it keep organics out of the food waste stream, where they contribute to the ovrtloading of our sanitary landfills, but organics are responsible for the methane production that occurs within the landfill.
Organics in trash cans, wastes collection systems and the landfill are contributing to the growth and reproduction of vermin (maggots, rodents, etc.) feeding on them.
We had a meeting with our city's utility manager a few years back, and I asked her about the impact of the residential disposer on the city's waste treatment facility. As far as the extra load applied to it, she said it was almost negligible. As far as the impact on the operation, she said the organics contribute to the anaerobic bacterial growth and helping the system. She said overall, the effect of the disposers on the system, was actually slightly beneficial.
I can't think of too many appliances, more reliable than a disposal, more conducive to cleanliness and more proactive in preventing methane releases, reducing loads in the solid waste stream and helping to prevent the spread of diseases by eliminating food sources for vermin.
The residential garbage disposal can cope with just about all food wastes, the only thing it can't cope with is human ignorance.
