Disposal (garbage) spitting out

[Richard]

Nice imagery huh?

Anyway, I'm visiting dear old Mom today in Atlanta /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seems her disposal is spitting back out the mouth. I've discovered the dishwasher isn't plumbed into disposal, but had it's own drain. I just got done replumbing dishwasher.

None the less...guy at Lowes, said perhaps the disposal is wired "backward" /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I said, I thought it worked on AC, and therefore, shouldn't rotate backwards (as was his contention).

He said he's not an electrician and that's only thing he could think of that would do it. Sooooooooooo

That sound right?

I looked inside, the impeller is rotating clockwise (as viewed from topside)

An aside if it matters... the output pipe on disposal goes STRAIGHT sideways until it meets other drain at other sink bowl. It does NOT exit disposal and do "immediate" 90 degree turn as I expected. Could THAT be part of the issue?

(guy at Lowes said he didn't think so)

Sooooooo, the mystery essentiall is, why is the disposal upchucking? (I presume it's not from one of those haunted scary movies and therefore posessed /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif)


Any ideas?

(off now back to get parts to finish current plumbing)

 

[mark1]

Hi Richard:
1st.110 volt wiring doesn't matter if it's wired backward.It wouldn't be electrically safe but it would not run backward.I have seen several units piped straight into the "T" across from the other sink drain and they never acted up..What sometimes does happen especially with people who seldom use the disposer is that the fingers on the revolving plate rust in place and do not make it grind up good.or the regular sink drain is "slow"and backs up. good luck..

 

[PineRidge]

Richard some AC powered motors are indeed reversible. Normally there will be instructions to reverse rotation on a removable plate in the area were the power is supplied to the motor. It usually involves reversing two leads but they are not the hot and neutral lines that power the disposal.

I doubt if rotation is the problem anyway. Has this been spitting since the disposal was new?

 

[beenthere]

Have had that problem, and if it is taking all the cold water that is running into it at the same time, it may just be 'clogged' up and full of gunk, at and around the sides.

What I do to mine to keep it 'clean' is put 2 or 3 trays of ice cubes through it. Not enough to freeze it up, but enough of a steady diet of ice to knock all the 'gunk' off that accumulates over time. The ice seems to work to freshen it up when the 'gunk' begins to take on an odor all its own.

The only other times that mine spits anything back out is when there is something in there that won't 'break-up' (glass, silverware, etc.) and has to be removed (while checking that out, feel around in there to find out if the inside is clean or 'gunked' up).

 

[BillyP]

I agree with beenthere, you have a partially clogged drain. Most likely right at where the disposal drain meets the main sink drain. Pretty simple fix, if it's plumbed with PVC.

 

[beenthere]

Not sure I said it was clogged drain (post disposal), but that could be determined quickly.
If it is taking away (draining) all the water fed to the disposal, then probably not a clogged drain. From the original description, I am assumming that the drain isn't clogged, but instead gunked up in the disposal bowl where the chopper blades are at (prior to getting into the drain). This can be cleaned out with the ice cubes.

 

[Junkman]

Most garbage disposals reverse the blades each time they are run. My neighbor had the same problem last year and we took everything apart and checked for clogs. Nothing could be found wrong with it, but it still wouldn't work properly. I had an old unit that was still attached to the sink that had been removed. I suggested that we try that one by just dropping the entire sink into his counter and plumbing it to his drain. It worked flawlessly and we just left it connected. We then further dissected his old disposer and never could find anything that was causing the problem. It is now part of some car in Japan after being sent to the trash re-cycler. A new unit isn't that expensive and they are fairly easy to install. I suggest purchasing the higher priced units, because they will last longer. The one that I gave away was first installed in 1973 and went through 2 kitchen remodels before it was retired in 2002. It now is back in service and probably will last another 10 years. It was the top of the line Kitchen Aid. We has a inexpensive one in the summer cottage, and that one needed replacing after 5 years. Kitchen Aid and In-Sink-Erator are the two top brands in my opinion. Don't forget to purchase a can of setting putty.......
I once saw a garbage disposal that had a solenoid in the water line. When you turned on the garbage disposal, it would feed water into the side of the unit until it was turned off. Seemed like a good idea since many people forget to run the water while grinding. Has anyone seen this model available recently?????

 

[Richard]

Pineridge... Yes, spitting out since new. AND I just found out, her old one also regurgitated which makes me think it's plumbing was more of the issue.

What I found:

The left basin had tail attached. the disposal "T'ed" into the tail piece at the TOP (right after sink connection). Tailpiece went down to p trap into a "Y"

The dish washer was plumbed into the OTHER part of the "Y" was stepped down from 1 1/2" pvc (sch 40 from the wall) to a 1/2" female fitting. Inside this fitting, was a 1/2" male adapter that you might use on that black plastic hose outside & use a hose clamp to attach. (struck me as a cheese job) This is what the dishwasher attached to, instead of attaching to the disposal.

I've since put a plug into the 1/2" hole blocking that part of the "Y" all together. The dishwasher is now plumbed into the disposal.

Also, the little plastic flapper around edge of disposal had individual pieces of flapper, each one being able to flip backwards. I'm going to replace that (with new sink too) with one that has the pieces kinda connected to help hold anything inside the disposal.

She's also had issues of coffee grounds making way from disposal INTO dishwasher. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I dont' see how, but she swears by it.

Presuming true, I think having it dump into disposal now, with the internal drop from dishwasher input, to disposal output will keep anything from backwashing into the dishwasher.

Time will tell on that one.

 

[beenthere]

That "reverse the blades each time they are run" is a new one on me. Mine doesn't, nor any that I have worked on, to my knowledge. Learn something new every day. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I wonder how they make that switch, from clockwise to counter clockwise?

As to running water, seems if we didn't they would plug up right away if the water (preferably cold water) wasn't turned on each time.

 

[Junkman]

Check out the In-Sink-Erator web page. Click on 777SS and you will see what they refer to as Auto Reverse... I also learned that they now manufacture a model specifically for homes with septic systems. According to the manufacturer, it </font><font color="blue" class="small">( injects Bio-Charge into the grind chamber every time the disposer is activated. Bio-Charge is a fresh, citrus-scented solution featuring natural microorganisms that help break down food waste.)</font>
My old Kitchen Aid had reversing blades also and if there was a jam, you just kept turning it on and off to clear the jam. The In-Sink-Erator has a button on the bottom that you push that clears the jams also. Don't know what it does, because it has never jammed....

 

[BillyP]

<font color="blue">the output pipe on disposal goes STRAIGHT sideways until it meets other drain at other sink bowl. It does NOT exit disposal and do "immediate" 90 degree turn as I expected. Could THAT be part of the issue?
</font>

I guess I misread or didn't read it good enough. You need the 90 to keep the water from the sink from backing up into the disposal. Especially if the main sink drain past the disposal is a little clogged.

As far as the coffee grounds getting into the dishwasher, not an uncommon problem. The dishwasher drain should have some sort of check valve. This keeps anything from the sink/disposal drain backing up to the dishwasher.

 

[Richard]

General update:

Started taking it all apart to replace things (ended up with new faucet/sink/disposal) Got some plumbing parts "just in case".... seems "just in case' was pretty smart.

One of her problems was a terrible stench. Long story short, there was some goo /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif built up in all her drain pipes. And I mean GOO. Guess it'd built up over the years. So, out with the bad pipes, in with the new.

She's just a beaming fool with her deeper sink (8 1/4" verses 6") and a doubly beaming fool now that we know why it was smelling and got rid of the pipes.

I got a new disposal for her just in case it was the smelly item. As I was looking at all the stuff I noticed more than one published example of the disposals exit tube being straight out, verses dropping down with an immediate 90 degree.

Unfortunately, given the parts we had, her situation, we had to use a straight out and not use the 90 that came in the disposal. I think some of the regurgitations was because of the slimy blockage that was in the disposal outlet. I also think that blockage was allowed to build up over the years, because the dishwasher was NOT hooked up to the disposal and never really helped rinse/wash that line out. All of that has now been changed fixed.

Thanks all, Mom is HAPPY! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif