Vintage InSinkErator installed and operating

[hoover1060]

A while ago I posted about a late 60's vinatge In Sink Erator disposal, and wondered if it would still be good after sitting unused for 38 years.
I didn't have the heart to install that one and possibly ruin it, so when one from 1976 popped up on ebay in early June I went for that one.
There is little difference in the 1968 and 1976 models, save for some sound insulation, and the 76 model draws 6.9 amps.
I installed the 1976 model after I got back from the VCCC convention in LA. All I can say is WOW, I could feed this thing pine logs and it would eat them!
The major difference between the '76 model and the current models today is the disk. Today's models are stamped stainless steel with the pivoting hammers. The 1976 model has a one piece cast disk, maybe even cast iron?
The motor of the '76 model is beefier sounding than the current models, but in operation its quieter as there are no movable hammers. The 76 model is also 1/2 the power of the disposal I had(1.0 HP model PRO77) but I bet it would give the current models a run for their money!
The picture is one of the EBAY ones. I'll upload an installed picture tomorrow

 

[retromom]

Insinkerator Power!

Wow Jeff!

That is one cool disposal! Now I know what will happen with this year's Thanksgiving turkey carcass! ;-)

 

[programcomputer]

Funny you brought up disposers.....

Hi Jeff,

Long time no talk. Just as I was reading your post here...I heard my dishwwasher (General Electric Potscrubber model GSD98X-02 complete with wood-tone front applique to compliment my wood cabinet kitchen no less) started gurgling back up into my sink.

Becasue it drains into the uppermost inlet of the grind chamber of my disposall, I quickly ran over and flipped the switch on the wall to get the disposer running and whaddaya know....NOTHING, NADA ZILCH.

I stopped the dishwasher and walked into the laundry room, and checked the fuse panel...everything was on and operating like normal. I stooped under the sink where I smelled that faint nastyness of burnt up motor/ electrical smell that both you and I definitly know from vacuum cleaners.

Just to be sure that the wall outlet wasn't dead...I plugged in a vacuum..(suprise,suprise) into the wall outlet under the sink that the disposer plugs into and lo an behold that worked fine...so the disposer just went to hell.....

My disposer is a "cheapo-nast-imatic" Emerson E30, which if you saw it in person would make you blanche and chastise me for having such BOL equipment. I reset the 'Limit switch/overload" on the rear right bottom, replugged it in again to the wall outlet....stood up and flipped the switch...and I heard a faint but powerdraining hummmm...then the switch aforementioned popped again and then silence.

Not wanting to give up quite yet...I used my small soft plastic wrapped malleable hammer and tunked lightly the lowermost bearing that is visible on the underside....about 5-8 times. Reset the switch again....flipped on the power above...and HMMMMMMMMMMM then pop, then nothing.

By this time I was panicking becasue I'm having company over tonight for the 4th after fireworks and neede my casserole dish clean for (grandma's) homeade mac and cheese and ham chunk bake thing that I make that for whatever reason my freinds love...so sweat is starting to bead up on me forehead for not being able to deliver the entree that all desire.

Noticing on the upper most part of the drain pipe that leads down...is this end cap/air-dam mechanism . So, I used my pipe wrench and popped it loose and unscrewed that off and left the uppermost inlet hole wide open. I unhooked the hose coming from the dishwasher and routed that, from the disposer... "riggem'up syle" to that upper orifice. And continued the diswashers cycle.

Now you have to realize here that... I think I've had my head "Way up" under the sink maybe once, twice at the most in the last year...and it was to try to find a Brillo Pad. I was out and had to buy more...but this arrangement will work until I find a suitable replacement her prolly Friday or so.

I wasn't quite done yet with the disposer tho....as a last and final measure of fighting with this decrepit thing...I used my wooden broom and tried to break free the mechanism by doing what all try once... And it diddn't work. HUMMMMMM, POP, then silence. And after that I tired of screwing around with my electrical system...putting all that load on the seperate line...so I just gave in....

My question is. Becasue I NEVER find anything vintage dealing with disposers, and see very few that are worthy of note in resale thrift...what would you reccomend that is made today that is worthy of note, will last me until im 40, I will be 28 on July 30 th BTW...LOL; and finally not cause me to loose blood as I pay for it?

Any Ideas would be super...

Blessed Be

Chad

P.S I just found two of my latest acquistions for the "save the vintage vacuum cleaner program" both being dare I say it....EUREKA'S...

One is the older Eureka upright style 260-B. IT's two tone blue...as if that suprises you, with a "Real" chrome hedlight bezel, metal undercarrige , a two position height adjustment adjusted from underneath, AND suprisingly to me has a square handle instead or a round one a'la Hoover model 60-61, with the three position switch behind the handle a'la Hoover. It's a Twin-Power Automatic...and suprisingly it has the original twill bag which mostly go the way of the Edsel as time passes.

The other one from the same estate sale Is a Eureka ESP Two-Speed Self Propelled,Rugulator with Triple-Filterouter bag and the wonderful chrome Vibra-Groomer II. This machine tomato soup or Crush orangy red with white trim and bumper. It is model 5071-D..the last vacuum cleaner purchased by this couple. Besides some light scratching to the uppermost hood portions of these cleaners..their in perfect shape.

Payment out for both: 260-B = $4.00 , and 5071-D = $10.00. No one can say that there aren't still great deals around. And other than cleanup/ olishing /touchup, new bags, belts and lightbulbs. These machines are ready to go.

The 260-B went to the collection, whereas the 5071-b went to the vacuum clener closet, replacing the Premier as my main upright. That poor girl needs a rest....and I still love it.

Anyway.....

 

[hoover1060]

Retromom: I am DYING to put bones down this thing. I may have to suffer through the indigestion of KFC just to see how this thing handles some challenging garbage.

Chad: Thats a low end Emerson, best to trash it. New ISE's are expensive too. I'd recommend a GE, maybe the 535? Should be about $60 and a decent machine including SS construction.
You could also check Sears, any of their higher end models with an SS grind chamber would be a good choice(made by ISE)
Attached is the 1976 model installed. Thank goodness it is exactly the same size as the 2002 model I had!

 

[tolivac]

also what I don't like in new disposalls is the STAMPTED stationary shred ring and not the Cast Sharpened shred ring on older disposers(esp ISE)If the disposer motor was auto reverse that would keep the cutting edges sharp.The stampted rings just wear out quickly and no longer shred the waste-causing large peices of it to try to go down your drain-clogging your plumbing.The cast shredders rotating and stationay-lasted so much longer-the Disposer companies today just want you to buy a new machine more frequently!!That is something I look for in dispoers and something you don't see anymore-and-the undercutters-Those were helpful as well Maytag and Waste King used them-the undercutter knives would slice and slash long stringy peices of waste to smaller bits so they wouldn't "ball up" and clog your plumbing.The undercutters were good for banana peels and other fruit-vegetable skins that were actually made up of long stringy fibrous matter.

 

[hoover1060]

shredder rings

I agree, the stamped rings wear out much faster. My former disposer(now stored downstairs for possible re-installation) has the stamped ring. In three years I could tell a difference in performance.
This retro ISE has the cast ring and disk. The word that best describes its performance is SMASH, whatever goes into it. As far as performance time, it seems slightly slower than my previous model, but not much.
Today the only model I know of with a cast ring and disk, plus the undercutters is the Viking, which is really the old Kitchenaid/National disposer. They cost $400+ but I suppose the quality/performance would be worth it.
Growing up where I did(Elk Grove Village Illinois) I remember ALOT of people with Waste King disposers, in fact the builder of 95% of Elk Grove(Centex Homes) used Waste King appliances for a time. My parents house was pre-Waste King, we had everything Hotpoint

 

[petek]

You say your 76 doesn't have the moveable hammers? Strange because the ISE we had in our house of the late 60's had moveable hammers and the reversing motor.

 

[tolivac]

If your "retro" machine seems "slower" its actually shredding the waste finer.The stampted cutters don't shred as fine.They are cheaper to implement in the newer machines-thats why the disposer builders have gone to them-but bad for the user.He may have greater wear(more frequent disposer replacement) and clogged plumbing-the "Roto-Rooter" man may have to visit more frequently to clean the clogged or slow plumbing.I have used Waste-Kings-they were excellent and generally cost less then the National or Vikings.The Kitchenaid-Viking-National had a form of under cutter by its toothed shredder wheel. the only bad thing about them is in the new ones the shredder wheel is Zinc instead of cast steel or iron-it will wear faster because of the softer less strong zinc.They still have the cast steel or iron shred ring.The rotating shred wheel has steel hammer inserts.They are cast into the wheel.also another precaustion with the toothed shred discs-you cannot stop the machine unless its completely done grinding-If you stop it too early it will jam badly-had to free up one.The newer models have the feature that vibrate the shred wheel to shake loose jams.

 

[hoover1060]

hammers and Waste King

The ISE in the pictures does not have the moveable hammers, the disk is one solid piece with 4 protrusions. Two towards the center(one shaped like a cone, the other just a bar) and two at the outer edge, shaped like wedges.
I can tell it chews finer than the newer model I had.

Waste King: These were everywhere when I was growing up, neighbors across the street and next door replaced their HOTPOINT disposals with Waste Kings in the early 70's(The Hotpoint stuff was vintage 1959) The Hotpoint in our house lasted til 1978, and was replaced by a batch feeder GE
I remember the Waste Kings to be very quiet, although I remember one neighbor not liking the permanant splash guard on her model. She eventually cut the little flaps off and used it guardless. Then it was very LOUD.

 

[tolivac]

I beleive in the 1970's was when ISE was changing over from the fixed hammers to the swing hammer rotating shredder.I have seen and used the fixed impeller ones-they are pretty nice and quiet.The fixed impeller machines tend to be quieter-the swinging impellers can be quite noisey.I have cut away the flaps on fixed guard ISE's(in apartment houses) and replaced them with a "general" fit splashguard.this allows you to remove it for cleaning but still have it when grinding-its dangerous to operate the disposer with the guard removed-esp with bones-they can get thrown out almost like something thrown from a lawn mower.I did operate a machine with the guard removed-to watch the shredding action-but with soft waste only.I did get a faceful of water though.

 

[kenmore1978]

Waste King

When I was growing up here in L.A, it seemed that EVERYBODY had a Waste King disposer. For years I didn't know anyone else made garbage disposers.

 

[kenmore1978]

Dishwasher/disposer connection

Chad, note that hoover1060's dishwasher is NOT connected to the disposer. Your problem is exactly the reason that our dishwasher in this house and our previous one drains directly into the sink tailpipe and not through the disposer. That disposer thing is a "quick and dirty" deal for the plumber that comes back to haunt you down the line.

 

[programcomputer]

Chad, note that hoover1060's dishwasher is NOT connected

Yes,

After inspection of the pic, I see that as again Jeff is light years ahead of me in installing things properly. BUt, in that I may shed light that my dad bought my house for Marty and I, and when we moved back from Ann Arbor, we moved in and decided to buy it from him virtually sight unseen, meaning all the high and low points that is..... I had visited it and we decided that we liked it alot obviously.

He got it on a deal from a freind at work that he's known since 1972. He, ( my dad) decided to purchase it to be closer to work, for under $ 88,000.00 built in 1957/58. Which for our area,is on the low side..but the guy was desperate to move as his job shifted to the Saturn plant in Tennesee, two years ago.

So anyways he ( my dad) bought it for himself to be accurate, but liked his old house too much to sell it...then offered it to Mart and Myself for what he paid.

As a final result, a year later my dad became sick with cancer, ( in remission) and he moved in with us along with Marty's younger brother...as is...LIFE!!!

Anyway all of my appliances are General Electric in the kitchen, and are period 1980's models. The guy who owned the house did most of the work himself on things and we have found TOO many half a**ed "Bojack repairs" over the years.

And knowing Lee as well as I do...since I was like 5 or so....Im not suprised that he took the easy way out and did this instalation halfa**. But slowly We are bringing it back to what we want and the garbage disposal is just another thing to deal with.

Jeff thanks for the ideas on what to buy. I saw at MeeeNards today that they have a GE model for $89.00? Of course I was too busy (had to get on to work) to get a model number but I wouldn't be suprised if it came close to your designation.

Anyway hope all is well with you and everything.

Thanks again

Chad

 

[hoover1060]

Waste Kings and Dishwasher connections

Waste King Disposals were made in LA, originally by Given manufacturing. That could account for so many of them in the LA area.
ISE is still made in Racine Wisconsin. I'd love to tour their factory sometime.

Toilvac you are correct, ISE switched to movable hammers on all of their models in the late 1970's. I have brochures from 1976 that do not mention movable hammers for their deluxe machines(77/17/707/107) and from 1979 that shows all models with them, introducing the CLASSIC models.

Splash Guards: I remember our 1959 Hotpoint had a removable guard, and by 1978 when that disposal finally expired the guard was all but gone. My mom used a basket strainer to keep things under control.

Dishwashers: I don't know that I am right, but I purposely did NOT hook my dishwasher up to the disposal. When I bought the house in 2002 I installed the ISE PRO77, and thats when I configured the kitchen pipes as they are today. A few months later when Sears came to install the new dishwasher, the installer was all bitchy about it being hooked to the disposal. I told him to leave it the way it is.
I lived in two apartments before buying the house, and know first hand how stuff can go into the disposal, and wind up in the dishwasher.
NASTY!

 

[westytoploader]

Nice vintage ISE, and very "beefy-looking" too!

I agree Rex, the swinging-hammer wheel can become quite noisy over time...our Kenmore 3/4 HP disposer has been here 7 years and there is a noticeable difference in the sound. Are there any manufacturers left that still produce fixed-hammer wheels?

 

[tolivac]

Thats an interesting point not hooking the dishwasher to the disposall.Could keep shredded waste from being flushed into the washer.Esp if there should be a very sudden pressure change in your drain pipes.
I beleive Viking is the only disposer buiolder thats makes the flywheels with fixed hammers.The wheel is zinc though-not Steel or cast iron. I would be concerned about waer since zinc is a soft metal. The SS hammers are molded into the zinc shred wheel.Maybe one of their really high end models has the cast steel wheel.Would be nice.
ISE is part of the Emerson group.that group is also comprised of Skil Tools,Bosch Tools,Dremel Tools and Emerson Motors.
Swing blade wheels get noisier due to the hammer mounts wearing and loosening over time.In one "off brand" disposer-one of the hammers actually came loose while grinding-made a horrible racket and tore a hole in the machines hopper!The apartment house managment never got another one of those machines.They used an ISE "Badger"(Builders brand ISE machine)
In an 1948 issue of "American Home" magazine-they showed an add for An ISE disposer-was interesting-so with this computer had a scanner--It had reversible rotation-and an offset hopper neck that you would usually see on commercial machines.Offset hoppers reduce the chance of you or other in the area from being hit by items thrown out of the machine while its shredding.I have seen those big commercial ISE disposers shred big bones,small bottles,even flatware!!A fellow who was operating one at a school cafeteria showed me-the unit had a 15Hp motor.Wouldn't dare throw those things in it if it didn't have the offset neck!!The big disadvantage of the offsets is if something you DIDN'T want to go into the disposer-you will have a hard or impossible time fishing it out!!

 

[hoover1060]

Offset neck ISE

Tolivac, I have a brochure for one of those ISE disposers, probably dates from about 1950 or so? I'll get it scanned and post it.
One interesting note about the offset neck machines were they needed support braces to hold them up from underneath...
Maybe the fact that they weighed 40+ pounds required the braces?

 

[tolivac]

For the offset hopper machine I saw in that college cafeteria-The machine rested on legs on the floor.That machine weighed in at about 400 lbs.The disposer in that setup actually supported the scrapping table(sink used to rinse dishes before they were put into a pass-thru dishwasher)The household one looked like it was hung from the sink-I will have to look at the picture in the add again to confirm.did the 1950 units need the support?The add for the one I saw was from 1948.Would like to see the 1950 add.

 

[hoover1060]

Old ISE Brochures

I have brochures from the early and middle 50's, and 60's as well...My mom saved the brochure they had from their first house, built in 1963 and equipped with an ISE.
I'll scan some of them and post them in an album for everyone to see. Some of the 60's brochures are quite campy!