Return of the King

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sudsmaster

sudsmaster

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Dec 23, 2004
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A while ago in another thread I related some problems I was having with my vintage Waste King garbage disposal. I estimate this unit is about 30 years old - maybe more.

Anyway, it was tripping its motor breaker switch, after only a minute or less of operation. I tried servicing the plug, thinking that would fix the problem (if the problem was due to loose connections/low voltage). Initial results seemed promising, but then it started quitting again.

So I got out the trusty flashlight and tried to see if there was anything jammed in there. Then I got out my trusty stainless tongs, normally used for retrieving pickles from big jars, and rummaged around. Among other things, I retrieved a ball of string that I had used to truss up a rotisseried chicken. Still the Waste King would trip its switch. In desperation I put the tongs back in, and rotated the blades on the disposer this way and that.

For some reason, I must have dislodged something, because now the disposer works just fine, running for extended periods without complaint, digesting half the bones of the aforementioned chicken without complaint. Whatever was jamming it, beats me.

I'm just happy to witness the Return of the King.
 
Just for fun

Disposer care, this stuff is fun, and can be very entertaining at a party..
I am SO not kidding about that one
Anyway I pulled the guard from the Waste King so we can watch the fun
 
after 1 minute

the foam comes up this high. I always need to adjust the water dribble some to get the right amount, and once I get ot right, this occurs.
 
after about another minute

the foam retreats, and it continues to work. Leave the disposal and water on until all the foam disappears, usually 2-3 minutes beyond this.
When done, you'll have a squeaky clean disposal!
 
I used to feed a disposer in an apartment LOTS of ice when I defrosted the fridge there-it was a manual defrost model.That disposers "teeth" were well cleaned-I found when large amounts of the ice were put in-it developed "ice lock" cured that by running hot water down it.Thats weired about the onion parts in a disposer-Never had that-usually shredded them just fine when other things put in as well-disposers like their waste "mixed"-helps aviod that.
Nut hulls or crushed nut shells are used by cartridge reloaders in either rotary or vibrator tumblers to clean or polish shell casings before reloading-have done that-put the shells and nuts in the tumbler and let it run overnbight-result-beautifully cleaned shell casings ready for reloading!and the finished cartridges look like factory and the polished ones feed in gun actions better-less jams.
Hoover1060-Love the sequence of pictures showing the foaming disposall cleaner-like that blue-green color-wonder if that would "clean" the old Vita-Mix" container I use as my disposer.
the last time I ran a beef bone thru a dispoer-a big chunk of it was thrown and protruded from the hopper-was an older apartment unit.They replaced it-the hopper was rotted.And the cabinet floor under the disposer got pretty wet and me feet did too!!I remember that apartment house used "Bus-Boy" brand disposers.They were a swivel hammer units--and those hammers were heavy!!
 
woohoo

How about a pic of that King? That would make it easy to date.

I have a vintage 1989 Waste King installed presently, it really works very well!
 
The Label

Can you determine the date of manufacture?

I'm wondering if the "86" that starts off the serial number signifies 1986...?

In any case, this thing is HUGE. Which is another reason why I think it's a vintage unit.
 
Yes

thats an 86 model, and for Waste King at the time, their TOL model.
I have one here in my collection unused from about 82 or 83 maybe?
Nice machine!
 
Thanks, Hoover.

I am wondering. How long are garbage disposers supposed to last? Do the blades/grinders get dull and need to be sharpened or replaced in time? Is there a way to service them in this machine?

Thanks
 
There's really nothing to service in a disposal, usually its the water seal that goes and then its dead.
the teeth in that WK are cast steel, and won't wear much. To keep them and the disposal clean grind bones now and again, and once a week fill the sink with water, turn on the disposal, and then let the water run thru.
acording to ISE the avg life of a disposal is 8-12 years
 
The WK machines shown in these pectures are excellent-better than whats sold now.Keep-em going-their swivel hammers and cast shredders are espcially effective.You won't find cast shredders in machines built today-those miserable stampted ones.also these machines may have the undercutters-small circular knives under the flywheel that cut and slash stringy matter before going thru to the waste plumbing.
 
I've also read in various sources that grinding a tray of ice cubes from time to time is helpful at keeping the blades sharpened and citrus fruit peel eliminates odors and keeps everything smelling fresh.
 
Grinding ice cubes really doesn't "sharpen" a disposers shredders-or blades-just clears the food matter or "scum" from the cutters.The scum builds up in machines that get a "soft" diet-mostly soft foods and no bones or ice cubes.In terms of bones-cooked chicken bones only-no beef or pork bones.A very occasional one my not hurt-but frequent grinding of beef-pork bones will rapidly wear the rotating shredders.If you shred citrus rinds-yes they smell very good and help clean the shredders-but be sure they are thouroghly ground and rinsed thru the machine-if any linger-they can corrode metal parts-the citrus rinds are very acidic.
 
I've also heard that bleach and certain other types of cleaners and/or septic tank related products, can cause breakdown of seals or other malfunctions in disposers, and basically kill them. Is any of that true?

And if bleach is a bad thing for disposers, what about a) if you have your washer in the kitchen, discharging into the sink, a bleached load every couple of weeks, and b) occasionally bleach the sink itself for sanitation reasons? If you follow that with adequate rinse water to clear the bleach from the disposer, will there still be trouble?

I like the ice cubes idea. Can be done any time rather than waiting for chicken bones. Aside from which, when bird flu gets to the USA this fall (in bird form, not human-to-human yet), expect the price of chicken to increase due to flock culls and protective measures (ahh, life in the 21st century!).

Question is, how many ice cubes for this treatment? Drop them through one or two at a time, or fill up the grinding chamber and then let it run until they're cleared?
 
It seems to work better to feed the cubes in small batches, four to six at a time. A couple of trays is probably sufficient. If you fill the chamber, they turn into a crushed frozen mess. My ice maker produces tons more than I can possibly use so my disposer gets frequent frozen treats!
 
HAs anyone ever used

You can get it at the grocery store, little packets you grind and they foam out and clean the disposal.

When putting ice cubes down don't run the faucet, just turn on the disposal and drop in the cubes.

Peach pits will clean/scour out the disposal as well as chicken bones, so will walnut shells.

I've put pork chop bones down the disposal with no problem. About the only think I won't put down is onion skins... for some reason they won't grind!
 
Disposer Care

I have 4 boxes of Disposer Care under my sink and I love it. It really does dislodge any bits stuck to the sides of the hopper. Plus it leaves the drain with a nice lemon fresh smell. Besides it is a lot of fun to watch the foam come up from the opening...hehehe. I also grind bones in my ISE 777ss. It handles them with relative ease. Makes a bit noise but it is still neat to listen to. As far as onion skins are concerned, if you mix them with other food waste such as vegetable peelings and such, they'll grind right up for you.

Chris
 
I've noticed this with onion skins...they just sort of paste themselves to the chamber walls, out of reach of the hammers. You don't even know they're there until a few days later when the stench is overwhelming and you have to reach in and pull out half-rotten onion skin. Grinding them down with other things doesn't seem to help either--they immediately sort themselves out and take shelter.

T.
 
I have a number of citrus trees, and the King gets regular feedings of citrus peels. Seems to smell nice after that.

I don't often send bones down the disposer, and have never deliberately used it to crush ice. Mostly I use it for stuff that would otherwise cause a stink in the garbage.

Occasionally I'll fill up the sink with hot soapy water and then send that down the disposer, with the disposer on. Seems to flush it out pretty good. I like that snapping suction sound it makes as it grabs onto that column of H20.

I would think that walnut shells would be rather abrasive. They are used in the metal industry for abrading off paint/rust and leaving a satin finish (finer than glass bead or sand blasting).
 
Most anything that will fit, goes...

My trash cans sit outside, so I use the disposal alot.
Bones and hard stuff keep them clean, and every now and again I put a lemon down, as well as using disposer care.
I have yet to have one that will eat onion peels though, they seem to go right through and clog the drain really well...
 
Most disposer makers use removable splash guards-you can replace them when rotted-or remove them for cleaning-the scum that collects on their bottoms can smell.ISE doesn't use removable splash guards.
 
Sudsmaster thanks for the item about nut shells and metal finishing; I can make practical use of that doing geekstuff. And Tolivac thanks for the further item about using them for reloading, I'll relay that to friends who have rifles. And Hoover1060 thanks for the blue blob, I can see how that would go over at parties as well as for practical use. That's one of the cool things about this place; lots of good ideas going around.
 
funny....

I've never lost a spoon to a disposal, a few dishrags but never any silverware.

Suds: the guard on your WK will come right out, just grab it and pull it up...they are however kinda tricky to replace mainly because they don't sit in the sink flange but down in the WK's rubber throat.

Blue Blob: When I was in college in Nebraska, my apartment was equipped with an ISE model 333ss. I remember cleaning up after one dinner and then getting out the disposer care. My guests were fascinated, and watched this stuff OOOOHHH-ing and AHHHH-ing like it was something special. At some of the parties the "blue stuff" was even asked for!
College students...we were easily entertained!
 

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