A kitchen garbage disposal unit or garburator makes your life more convenient. With a garbage disposal unit installed, keeping the sink free of food waste becomes relatively easier. Instead of putting waste in the bin where it can go bad and create bad odors, you can conveniently get rid of them with the garbage disposal.
But at the same time, warns HMR Management, a waste disposal unit can become a problem if you do not use it in the right way. Do not make the mistake of treating your garbage disposal as a replacement for your garbage bin. As useful as garburators are, they are not designed to handle all kinds of kitchen waste. Failing to understand this is the main reason waste disposal units get damaged.
In addition to following the manufacturer’s recommendations, the garbage disposal needs regular cleaning. If you follow the instructions for using the unit but don’t clean it regularly, you will still have problems. Below are some of the potential issues you can face when you use a garbage disposal in the wrong way or neglect it.
1. Leaking waste disposal
There are three major reasons a garbage disposal unit leaks. The most common one is misuse. For instance, when you pour boiling water into a garbage disposal or a hard object gets into it and cracks the casing. Garbage disposal units may also leak from damaged plumbing connections. This can happen because of poor installation or the way a disposal unit is being used.
A waste disposal unit can also leak from natural wear and tear, worn O-ring, gasket, or flange, and leaky seals. If the problem is a poor connection between the waste disposal and drainpipe or dishwasher, all that is needed is to tighten the connection. For leaks around the reset button or walls of the disposal unit, you may need to replace the garbage disposal altogether.
2. Bad odors from the garburator
Since garbage disposals handle food waste, you will sometimes have to deal with smells from the appliance. These odors come from old food scraps lodged inside the unit. The problem is mostly caused by not flushing the unit with enough water during and after use.
Also, if you feed large chunks of food into the garbage disposal, you make it harder for the grinders to cut up the waste, resulting in food pieces getting stuck inside the appliance.
In addition to odors being inconvenient and embarrassing, stuck debris can lead to other kinds of waste disposal problems like blocked drain pipes. To solve this problem, pour half a cup of baking soda with a cup of white vinegar into the garbage disposal. Leave for ten minutes and then run the unit with cold water.
3. Jammed waste disposal
You know that your garbage disposal is jammed when it makes a humming sound but does not grind. The possible cause of this problem is the wrong kind of food waste inside the garbage disposal or feeding too much food waste into the unit at once. This can also happen if the waste disposal has a motor problem.
There are three ways to deal with a jammed garbage disposal. You can often get the appliance to work by pressing the reset button (which should have popped out), you can open the bottom of the waste disposal (the unit often comes with a wrench for doing this) and remove whatever is blocking the flywheel, or you can get a professional plumber to deal with the issue (do this if you have pressed the reset button without any results and if you did not find anything blocking the flywheel).
4. Waste disposal backups
Water and waste will back up from the waste disposer, usually into the dishwasher, if the drain pipes are blocked and the food waste in the appliance has nowhere to go. This problem mainly results from overusing the waste disposal without cleaning it or putting the wrong kind of food waste into the appliance.
Examples of food waste that can clog the drain pipes and cause the unit to backup include fruit pits, stringy veggies or fruits, coffee grinds, starchy foods (pasta, potato peels, and beans), grease, oil or fats, and eggs.
5. Slow draining garbage disposal
You will have this problem if you have a clog in your drain pipes or the blades of the waste disposal have become extremely dull. Waste disposals are designed to grind food and drain in seconds. If your appliance is not doing this, you may need to get a plumber to take a look at it.
6. Grinding noises from the waste disposal
The garbage disposal should make some noise when it is working, but when the sound is irregular or you hear the sound of metal on metal, there is a problem with the appliance. The most probable cause of the noise is stuck food that has caused the parts inside the appliance to move incorrectly.
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