I have seen the universal motored GE's along with the induction ones at a GE dealer years ago.You could buy either one.The induction one was more expensive.I liked the earlier ISE machines that had the cast shredders as opposed to the stampted ones today.Just wished ISE used undercutters.They do now--but their present machines shred SLOWLY!!!and would waste time and water.My Mom lived in a house with a universal GE and NEVER had a clog.The earlier Waste King machines were plain awesome!!Efficient,quiet and shredded very fine-no clogs there!Bring that design back,PLEASE!!The Aneheim deseign is CRAP!!!
RETRO FRIDAY--Say Goodbye to Garbage!
- Thread starter bwoods
- Start date
Help Support :
Enjoying Retro Friday videos, Barry. Looking forward to this week's edition.
For those interested
That's a 1960 GE set kitchen; we've all seen it before in a multitude of print ads, sometimes it's Petal Pink, sometimes it's Turquoise Green. The oven and the dishwasher (neither Princess, nor Empress, but a very fine "Custom 4-Cycle" with Plate Warmer button) are without a doubt from that year. I'd kill for one of those dishwashers.
I'd love to have a disposal unit, but my septic engineer explained to me that disposers actually do <span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;">too</span> good a job of grinding food up into small bits and those small bits don't spend any time decomposing in the septic tank but head straight to the leaching fields where they clog up the works. So now I compost which is a smelly, messy chore that I do out of the conviction that I'm doing some small good for the land around me.
BTW, I'm told that the Custom 4-Cycle in the picture below is floating around out there. If whoever has it ever wants to sell it to a good home...
That's a 1960 GE set kitchen; we've all seen it before in a multitude of print ads, sometimes it's Petal Pink, sometimes it's Turquoise Green. The oven and the dishwasher (neither Princess, nor Empress, but a very fine "Custom 4-Cycle" with Plate Warmer button) are without a doubt from that year. I'd kill for one of those dishwashers.
I'd love to have a disposal unit, but my septic engineer explained to me that disposers actually do <span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;">too</span> good a job of grinding food up into small bits and those small bits don't spend any time decomposing in the septic tank but head straight to the leaching fields where they clog up the works. So now I compost which is a smelly, messy chore that I do out of the conviction that I'm doing some small good for the land around me.
BTW, I'm told that the Custom 4-Cycle in the picture below is floating around out there. If whoever has it ever wants to sell it to a good home...
I have a friend in the UK who used to have a Waste King made in Anaheim, would be about 15 years old now I guess. Very small unit with small grinding chamber and quite noisy but high RPM (I think about 2700) and used to grind very fast. Would grind anything no problem. Then she moved to a new home with a big ISE unit that was quieter. Now she has moved again and has the TOL Insinkerator Evolution model which is very quiet and has the under cutter.
Here in Spain I have the BOL Insinkerator and it is ok but noisy and slow with Parmesan rind and also I have always found that BOL Insinkerator models struggle with lemons. They do grind lemons eventually but they sometimes get wedged. Interestingly I have never known a disposal to jam. I have also never used a batch-feed model. They are sold in the UK and Spain but I have never used one. Never seen one in the USA either.
I did once cause the mother of all clogs in a vacation rental house in Arizona. I put down a whole load of uncooked spaghetti and it did clog in the trap. So I put boiling water down -- obviously a mistake with pasta! The result, having left it overnight, was a congealed mess in the trap that resembled concrete! Pretty easy to remove the trap, then had to poke a stick through to get rid of it LOL! Other than that, I have never had a problem with clogging except I used to live in an apartment in Brighton, UK and it had a BOL Insinkerator that was installed when the place was built in 2005. This would clog constantly even with the most basic small amounts of food going down. I had to get Dyno-Rod out several times. Presumably something wrong with the plumbing.
Here in Spain I have the BOL Insinkerator and it is ok but noisy and slow with Parmesan rind and also I have always found that BOL Insinkerator models struggle with lemons. They do grind lemons eventually but they sometimes get wedged. Interestingly I have never known a disposal to jam. I have also never used a batch-feed model. They are sold in the UK and Spain but I have never used one. Never seen one in the USA either.
I did once cause the mother of all clogs in a vacation rental house in Arizona. I put down a whole load of uncooked spaghetti and it did clog in the trap. So I put boiling water down -- obviously a mistake with pasta! The result, having left it overnight, was a congealed mess in the trap that resembled concrete! Pretty easy to remove the trap, then had to poke a stick through to get rid of it LOL! Other than that, I have never had a problem with clogging except I used to live in an apartment in Brighton, UK and it had a BOL Insinkerator that was installed when the place was built in 2005. This would clog constantly even with the most basic small amounts of food going down. I had to get Dyno-Rod out several times. Presumably something wrong with the plumbing.
Who makes the Evergrind brand for Menards?
Who makes the Evergrind brand for Menards?
The Emerson Electric Company - in other words, InSinkerAtor.
Which brings up Barry, if the GE disposal is superior why is just about every disposal, at least in our area, is an Insinkerator? Could it have something to do with there being a Kenmore version?
Also, ISE hypes that once the collar with the drain flange is installed on the sink, it is possible to simply screw connect in a new ISE into the old drain flange, kind of like when they dock spacecraft to the International Space Station. But I find usually by the time they need a new disposal the flange is so beat up and ratty that I end up replacing it anyway.
Here's a tip: The drain flange with the snap ring with the other parts is a real pain to install under a sink, so it can help to duct tape the flange in the sink and then tape up the other parts on the underside of the sink. That way it is possible to get that pesky snap ring snapped so it can support all the parts.
The Emerson Electric Company - in other words, InSinkerAtor.
Which brings up Barry, if the GE disposal is superior why is just about every disposal, at least in our area, is an Insinkerator? Could it have something to do with there being a Kenmore version?
Also, ISE hypes that once the collar with the drain flange is installed on the sink, it is possible to simply screw connect in a new ISE into the old drain flange, kind of like when they dock spacecraft to the International Space Station. But I find usually by the time they need a new disposal the flange is so beat up and ratty that I end up replacing it anyway.
Here's a tip: The drain flange with the snap ring with the other parts is a real pain to install under a sink, so it can help to duct tape the flange in the sink and then tape up the other parts on the underside of the sink. That way it is possible to get that pesky snap ring snapped so it can support all the parts.
GE disposals
Hi Bob. General Electric has not manufactured disposers since about 1980. Anything after that time is Annaheim manufactured who paid GE a royalty to stick their logo on their machines. For a brief time in the late eighties and early nineties, Anaheim manufactured a unit with GE's logo based on the old series-wound motor design, but after a few years dropped it.
Waste King, Whirlaway, GE, BoneCrusher, etc. are now all Anaheim Manufacturing built units.
I remember throughout most of the sixties and early seventies General Electric disposers were found in most of the major department stores appliance departments where I lived and were the choice brand for many builders who put in the series-wound units in new homes.
Can you remember the days when builders often put in kitchens with all the appliances being one brand? Then they would advertise it with "Kitchen Equipped with Appliances by General Electric" etc. Often in this area the homes had GE heating/cooling systems as well.
Hi Bob. General Electric has not manufactured disposers since about 1980. Anything after that time is Annaheim manufactured who paid GE a royalty to stick their logo on their machines. For a brief time in the late eighties and early nineties, Anaheim manufactured a unit with GE's logo based on the old series-wound motor design, but after a few years dropped it.
Waste King, Whirlaway, GE, BoneCrusher, etc. are now all Anaheim Manufacturing built units.
I remember throughout most of the sixties and early seventies General Electric disposers were found in most of the major department stores appliance departments where I lived and were the choice brand for many builders who put in the series-wound units in new homes.
Can you remember the days when builders often put in kitchens with all the appliances being one brand? Then they would advertise it with "Kitchen Equipped with Appliances by General Electric" etc. Often in this area the homes had GE heating/cooling systems as well.
neptunebob -- Thanks!!
So who makes the best modern disposal? Is the InSinkErator Evolution worth it?
So who makes the best modern disposal? Is the InSinkErator Evolution worth it?
I would say not...
The evolution has more sound insulation but I think if you get the lowest price that has a stainless steel turntable inside should be good. Even the low priced one with the galvanized turntable will be ok. Disposals eventually leak in the bearings after about 10 years so you will end up replacing an evolution anyway at the time and since most people don't run a disposal for a long time (we don't)why not save any extra 100 dollars. The Evergrind is like the Badger disposals ISE makes for Home Depot, OK but not an evolution.
The evolution has more sound insulation but I think if you get the lowest price that has a stainless steel turntable inside should be good. Even the low priced one with the galvanized turntable will be ok. Disposals eventually leak in the bearings after about 10 years so you will end up replacing an evolution anyway at the time and since most people don't run a disposal for a long time (we don't)why not save any extra 100 dollars. The Evergrind is like the Badger disposals ISE makes for Home Depot, OK but not an evolution.
What would be the best on the market? As far as performance and reliability?
My best friend has the TOL Insinkerator Evolution 200 (known as Evolution Excel in USA) and I have the BOL Insinkerator. Is the Evolution worth it? My friend would say definitely yes. It's much quieter and seems to grind very well. She is very glad she spent the extra money.
Of course, it may not last any longer. And even if it actually breaks sooner, you could still say it's worth it because it's so much quieter and more pleasant to use.
Some people notice that the sink drains slower and food takes more of a push through the splash guard. My friend hasn't noticed this. It's also quite a large unit and will fill the space in the cabinet below.
I guess it depends on what is important to you and also what you want to pay.
Of course, it may not last any longer. And even if it actually breaks sooner, you could still say it's worth it because it's so much quieter and more pleasant to use.
Some people notice that the sink drains slower and food takes more of a push through the splash guard. My friend hasn't noticed this. It's also quite a large unit and will fill the space in the cabinet below.
I guess it depends on what is important to you and also what you want to pay.
An interesting thread. Glad to see you back posting after a (rather long) pause, Barry.
It sounds as though GE had among the best disposers back in the 1960s and 1970s. Really, it is a shame they let the production go to pots after all those years, having established such a positive brand reputation.
Unfortunately, I can't make much more of a meaningful contribution on this thread, as disposers are practically unheard of in Australia. Brand-new, they command prices that most home-owners simply cannot justify. This, combined with the fact Australians have been led to believe they are a waste of energy, increase burden on the sewerage system AND apparently clog drains have all contributed to this "stalemate" of sorts.
With regards to the person who cannot use a disposer with a septic tank, I wonder if perhaps there are means of running the kitchen's drain to a composting unit, which allows drainage into the garden, but with a fine screen to capture kitchen scraps and compost them?
It is unfortunate the disposer works so well as to circumvent the septic system altogether; all those food scraps would be wonderfully beneficial for the microbial life that exists in such a system and would certainly balance out the problems associated with using harsh(er) cleaners for the bathroom and toilet.
It sounds as though GE had among the best disposers back in the 1960s and 1970s. Really, it is a shame they let the production go to pots after all those years, having established such a positive brand reputation.
Unfortunately, I can't make much more of a meaningful contribution on this thread, as disposers are practically unheard of in Australia. Brand-new, they command prices that most home-owners simply cannot justify. This, combined with the fact Australians have been led to believe they are a waste of energy, increase burden on the sewerage system AND apparently clog drains have all contributed to this "stalemate" of sorts.
With regards to the person who cannot use a disposer with a septic tank, I wonder if perhaps there are means of running the kitchen's drain to a composting unit, which allows drainage into the garden, but with a fine screen to capture kitchen scraps and compost them?
It is unfortunate the disposer works so well as to circumvent the septic system altogether; all those food scraps would be wonderfully beneficial for the microbial life that exists in such a system and would certainly balance out the problems associated with using harsh(er) cleaners for the bathroom and toilet.
syndets2000
Well-known member
My experience with the series motor disposer was in early 1965, when my Dad moved into a new apartment after he n my mom split- So I wonder if they were in production as early as maybe 1964?
I never liked this model- It was way too loud....I think I remember a consumer report rating of disposers, and these models did not grind material as fine as the induction units- and when the bearings go bad, the noise level is far more worse-if it was improperly mounted in a cheap stainless steel sink, you could see the water vibrating in it-
ISE seems to make every brand of disposer nowadays-I like the evolution line, for now, they are quieter than the older models-there are so many store branded models, I think ISE has saturated the market.
We had an induction GE (1960), a Wast King (1966) and there after, always this series motor GE- they seemed to be everywhere-I would never own one....
I never liked this model- It was way too loud....I think I remember a consumer report rating of disposers, and these models did not grind material as fine as the induction units- and when the bearings go bad, the noise level is far more worse-if it was improperly mounted in a cheap stainless steel sink, you could see the water vibrating in it-
ISE seems to make every brand of disposer nowadays-I like the evolution line, for now, they are quieter than the older models-there are so many store branded models, I think ISE has saturated the market.
We had an induction GE (1960), a Wast King (1966) and there after, always this series motor GE- they seemed to be everywhere-I would never own one....
loudness
Yes that is the nature of a the beast. When you have power, you area often going to have some noise. While griding, as Rex said, it wasn't much noisier than the conventional induction motor disposers. But as they chamber clears, the rpms increase and you can definitely hear it! That is one of the good advantages, you definitely know when the chamber is cleared of food.
Builder, in my area, frequently put in the series units without any sound insulation. I have had both. I currently have Carbaloy sound insulated model from the later '70's (its called the "Piranha" and makes things quieter. The bearings are just fine. They are very good bearing actually. When I turn it off with no food waste in it, the turntable actually coasts.
As Rex says one of the advantage of the series units is that they are ideal for someone with marginal plumbing as the force with which the food wastes are expelled is great to prevent clogs that one may get with conventional disposers.
Yes that is the nature of a the beast. When you have power, you area often going to have some noise. While griding, as Rex said, it wasn't much noisier than the conventional induction motor disposers. But as they chamber clears, the rpms increase and you can definitely hear it! That is one of the good advantages, you definitely know when the chamber is cleared of food.
Builder, in my area, frequently put in the series units without any sound insulation. I have had both. I currently have Carbaloy sound insulated model from the later '70's (its called the "Piranha" and makes things quieter. The bearings are just fine. They are very good bearing actually. When I turn it off with no food waste in it, the turntable actually coasts.
As Rex says one of the advantage of the series units is that they are ideal for someone with marginal plumbing as the force with which the food wastes are expelled is great to prevent clogs that one may get with conventional disposers.
syndets2000
Well-known member
well.....the bearings were always gone in the ones I replaced with ISE units- then there were shredder plates that always come loose.. :/
bearings
never had a bearing go out or shredder plate loosen in all the GE series or induction disposers I have had/now have. I did have Maytag (a "real" pren-ISE Maytag) in which one of the impellers came off of the turntable. I probably should have attempted to repair it, but just junked it as it was about eight years old at the time.
never had a bearing go out or shredder plate loosen in all the GE series or induction disposers I have had/now have. I did have Maytag (a "real" pren-ISE Maytag) in which one of the impellers came off of the turntable. I probably should have attempted to repair it, but just junked it as it was about eight years old at the time.
I have a GE Piranha machine and it seems like that is the TOL of the GE series disposers.The sound insulation quiets it somewhat-but you can still hear the shredding action.The real Maytags were also a beast of a disposer.I have one that replaced an ISE Evolution model.The Maytag is so superior-faster and more thorough grinding.the ISE took FOREVER to grind waste.It is showing some of the disposer designs from the PAST are BETTER than what is used today.the bearings in both the GE series and induction motor disposers are pretty tough.Seen more recent ISEs go bad before the GE machines-and of course about anything will outlast the Chinese made disposers!Their PM motors need to be better quality along with the shred systems.The few PM machines that failed on me-a "GE" marked one and Waste King-the motor rectifier failed.Radio Shack used to carry those-but not anymore.When they did it was only a 15 min fix to replace the diode bridge stack.
easyspindry
Well-known member
It's been interesting . . .
. . . reading about disposals. All I can add to the thread is that I have a Maytag that is about 38 years old. It replaced a Kitchen Aid which didn't last nearly as long as I thought it should. I chose the Maytag because I was told that if and when the motor failed, it could be removed and replaced without having to buy the whole disposal.
Well, it's the same disposal -- motor and all -- and has shredded anything I've put in it -- bones, corncobs, vegetables . . . anything I've put in it.
It's a batch feed model
Jerry Gay
. . . reading about disposals. All I can add to the thread is that I have a Maytag that is about 38 years old. It replaced a Kitchen Aid which didn't last nearly as long as I thought it should. I chose the Maytag because I was told that if and when the motor failed, it could be removed and replaced without having to buy the whole disposal.
Well, it's the same disposal -- motor and all -- and has shredded anything I've put in it -- bones, corncobs, vegetables . . . anything I've put in it.
It's a batch feed model
Jerry Gay
Hang onto your Maytag-as long as it still works--most of the disposers sold today are----JUNK!!!!Sadly Maytag won't be able to service your older machine.They are no longer in the disposer business.--except as ISE units with Maytag stampted on them.
