Not so Disposable

When we lived in Florida, the best part was meeting Jane. And of course the beach & Disneyworld. The worst part was that our sink didn't have a garbage disposal. The lack of dishwasher I lived with, but I hated not being able to put anything down the sink, having to always be so careful not to clog the pipes. We suggested one to our landlord & even offered to put it in ourselves. Afterall, I'm handy like that. I installed a new garbage disposal in our home in Arizona.

And a couple weeks ago it was looking like I needed to install another disposal. It had been getting a little more sluggish. Then one day, it just stopped. There was power - it was humming away. But no spinning. And it's not exactly like you can stick your hand down there to check things out. Please don't do that.

And so I took it off. The garbage disposal, that is. It's easier than you might think. A few things first though. Unplug the disposal, turn off the water running to the sink, and unhook the pipes running into and out of the disposal. I left the flexible pipe running to the dishwasher because I didn't ever pull my disposal all the way out. Here's a picture.

Then I looked inside & this is what I saw. Yes, that's macaroni. And peaches. We have little boys here. And then there's the 12 tons of gross, unidentifiable goop! And I want to say that I cleaned it all out & disinfected it - but remember, there's no water & at that point the hole in the bottom of my sink lead straight down to the cabinet. So let's pretend.


Also at this point I realize that the rusty bottom of the disposal is supposed to spin & mine obviously doesn't. Also, if you squint really hard you can see the writing on the garbage disposal reads "3 year warranty," and you guessed it - I put it in just over three years ago. So I was bemoaning the cost of a new one, and checking prices online, when I had the bright idea to check for repair help online too. The internet is my friend!

Here's what I found on About.com. They listed common problems, like the disposal not turning on at all, and no movement, while making a humming sound. Bingo. Then they told me how to fix it. And provided a handy diagram so that when they talk about the "flywheel" I can associate that with the rusty bottom of my disposal. And although I had no idea where the special wrench that came with my disposal was, I used a paint stir stick until I got it unstuck. And it didn't cost me anything, thanks to About.com. And my well-rounded woman-ness.