What joy. Yet another in a long line of garbage disposals has perforated on us and is now an under-sink garbage fountain. It wasn’t much of a machine, anyway. Does anybody know what brands and models are actually, genuinely high quality and worth the money?
Joe
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Replies
Ever since I watched a blade launch itself from within a disposal right past my wifes eyes, I've decided that all the interior parts need to be SS. That one had rusted and disintegrated.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
Good point about the stainless, and I will look into Insinkerators.
Joe
Look for one that has SS grinders and chamber. Also 3/4HP and reverses direction.
I've used the ISE PRO333.
Joe, we've found for good price and good chopper-3/4hp Insinkerator Badger.
If you want to spend more, do so. The stainless units are nice.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
My plumber will only use Insinkerator
I've only had experience with InSinkerator - their founder invented the garbage disposal I believe. I've never had any problems apart from the odd chunk of something that didn't belong getting in there and needing to be cleared by turning the shaft.
The one in my current house has been there 20 years.
Insinkerator. Stay away from the Badgers.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Look for an Insinkerator Pro 777
It's 1 HP, auto reversing, stainless steel, larger "chamber" and according can my plumber it can "Grind a cue ball"
not that I think he's tried.
We've installed a few in our up scale kitchen remodels and they are fairly quiet and seem very powerful.
Edit: They are about 300, so much more then a "typical" disposal, like most things though, you get what you pay for
Edited 3/20/2008 7:26 pm ET by CAGIV
Joe,
I just got me the 1 HP model that CAGIV talks about. My wife simply cannot hear it operate. I couldn't without my hearing aides. You may need an indicator lite switch on it.
Absolutely the quitest machine I've ever heard.
Edited 3/20/2008 8:14 pm ET by peteshlagor
Careful--if they can't hear them operate, how do the kids know not to stick their arm in there?
Kids can hear better than old hippies.
The cutting mechanism is pretty harmless. You'd have to try pretty hard to hurt yourself sticking your hand in an ISE disposal. You're more likely to experience a bruise than a cut.
However, I will grant you that you are more likely to accidentally leave it running . . . . (sheepish grin)
I beg to differ.
You stick an appendage into any disposer while it's running it will rip skin & break bones.
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” —Albert Einstein
Depends on how hard you push and whether you come down in the middle (harmless) or near the side (lots of skin lost and maybe a few broken bones).But the thing is not like a meat grinder and won't suck your hand in, and the dangerous part is all the way at the bottom. You gotta be trying pretty hard to be injured by one.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Know what a "grapefruit sppon" is?
I never bought any, but now I have 4 or 5 of them. ;-)
I agree that it won't "suck you in".
But during a safety seminar I did see several pics of torn up hands most with a broken bone or two.
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” —Albert Einstein
Joe,
The best way to avoid any injuries, either to children or adults, is to get a batch feed model instead of the continuous feed model. The stopper must be in place in order for the disposal to go on, but don't use it as a substitute for the wall switch.
Geoff
Hey guys, I just had to post this"Garbage disposal ban takes effect"http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6024332kinda makes us look like a bunch of uneducated rednecks.Seems like the Europeans may have proper concern for their trash problemhttp://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/02/28/environmental-concerns-give-garbage-disposals-new-life-in-europe/
I went back and read/edited my post. My aim was to inform but it came off a little preachy so I edited it. I'm to the point where I question a lot of stuff I do and change it if I can. That's just me though. If people want to grind up food and send it down pipes that's their business. If there is a energy crisis and it is a problem the government should change the way people do things. Just ban a lot of the practices people do. Or let the chips fall where they may. It's not up to me and in a way I don't care. Personally, I'm trying to change some of the things I do. But I certainly don't want to lay guilt on anyone. I don't think it works. If it were up to me I'd just ban certain things and be done with it. I really dislike the messages we get about the impending doom and then no one does anything. It's just stupid.
Did I come off as preachy again? Sorry. I don't know how else to put it.
Any InSinkErator with a stainless steel chamber. Doesn't need to be the top of the line unless you make a practice of grinding pork chop bones.
Don't judge power by the physical size of the unit -- they just add a plastic cowling to make them look larger. (And the larger unit will be harder to install.)
They are stainless steel and the housing for the motor is insulated for noise.
Insinkerator SS is the one. Choose your preferred level of power and quietness. One of the best features is the S-shaped hex wrench that fits into the shaft at the bottom to un-jam the machine if something gets caught in it.
Get the lowest model of the highest quality line. If you get a big one, beware. Our friends spouse was so happy to have a super grinder. So she stuffed huge amounts of celery and what have you into it to show a friend. Hit the switch a blew a big wad of cellulose into the plumbing. The grinder packed the pipe solid as she had no water going either.
http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
Bad memorys there. LOL
Doesn't matter what brand, enough long stalks of celery will either plug the grinder or the drain lines.
Sounds like you got some good advice above.
What caught my attention was the "Yet another in a long line of garbage disposals has perforated on us "
No doubt - there are good ones and cheap ones, but I'll submit that just about any unit should give years of service. Sounds like you-all are abusing them in some way.
A non-SS unit can be expected to have a 5-10 year lifespan in normal use. A stainless steel InSinkErator can be expected to last 20-30 years if you don't abuse it.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
We'ver lived here 18 years. The present disposal is either the third of fourth we have had. Until we figured out what a bad deal it was, we used an American Home Shield warranty, so the earlier replacements were "builder standard." We knew what that meant, but didn't worry too much about it as we compost a lot of waste and really give the disposal only light duty.
That said, it appears that our units are failing in 4 to 5 years because of corrosion, and not due to use. A stainless tank should make a difference.
Joe
You might want to look at Waste Kings.http://www.anaheimmfg.com/products/wasteking/legend_ez.htmThe 3300 has a 10 year in home waranty and lifetime anti corrosion.And the 8000 is lifetime in home waranty.http://www.waste-king.com/?gclid=COLH0-ygopICFQEpxwodVQ_DQgNow I have never used a Waste King GD. But I do have there Quick & Hot instand hot water dispenser. And I think that it is make better than the ISE version.That said I have been in my house 30 years and on my 2nd (or maybe 3rd) ISE. One think is that I don't run the DW discharge through the GD. Don't know how much that helps..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
The new evolution line from ISE is nice. The lowest end evo gets you the noise attenuation benefits of the new design. The highest end gets you the auto reversing in a jam.
One of the most significant changes with the new line is the isolation of the connection to the sink to cut down on transmitted vibration. The connection of the grind chamber to sink connection collar is flexible.
The old style SS units are high quality, but check to make sure you are getting SS in the grind chamber and not a plastic grind chamber with an SS cover.
It is my understanding, all of the other brands - regardless of name unless they are GE - are all from the ISE facility. This is not a promo or knock on GE, but I do think they make their own.
I watched an episode of TOH where Rich visited ISE. They run 1" pine cubes through them for testing (and bones, and food). I knew they were tough, but geez!.
I sell factory automation and ISE is a customer of mine. At their peak, they can turn out nearly 20,000 per day (3 shifts, about one every 4 seconds). I don't recall ever replacing an ISE disposer so I was amazed when I saw that.
Anaheim Manufacturing (Waste King, SinkMaster, Whirlaway) is the other major manufacture, but I have no idea of what percentage of the market that they have..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Grand daddy.
FD500-9 5 HP
IN STOCK-QUICK SHIP!
Disposer, basic unit only, 5-HP motor, aluminum housings, adjustable feet
What I have in my house
In-sink-erator Garbage Disposal. Model 777ss [ In-sink-erator Insinkerator, ISE 777ss ]
(MPN: 777SS)
$10.00 Bonus available
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” —Albert Einstein
I got this ISE Evolution Excel:
http://www.in-sink-erator.com/product/product.php?id=206&template=hhd
It was $299 at Blowes. Sounds similar to yours.
I don't mean to bust your chops but we have stopped using ours for the most part. We have a large rectangular plastic container on the counter that gets all the food scraps. When it is full it goes out to the compost pile.
Edit: I'm not trying to save the planet or set myself up as the better person here. It just makes sense to me in a practicle way. Grind away to your hearts content. It really doesn't make a big difference in the grand sceme of things. After eading my post I wanted to lighten it up a bit.
A compost pile is a wonderfull thing. It turns your food ( no meat) into the richest soil you have ever been blessed with.
Even if you don't garden you can just pile it out there and let nature run it's course.
It does get you outside a bit more. I'll use any excuse I can.
If you don't put it some sort of bin outside it will attract animals. They know a good thing when they see it unlike humans who do things that don't make any sense whatsoever.
Do yourself a favor ( and the enviroment) and build /buy a bin outside and start a compost pile. If you have questions just ask. I know a little bit ( how much is there to know) about them.
Edited 3/24/2008 8:40 am ET by popawheelie
That would attract bears in these parts. Had one two years ago come by and tear up my birdfeeder.
I've had racoons go for my feeders in our last house. I figure racoons are just small bears the way they are always eating and getting into things. I knew a guy from Alaska. He carried a 45 and a flashlight on his hip everywhere he went.
I have read of people using worms in a kind of super compost. It's small and practicly odorless. With the worms with a certain amout of air coming in holes they digest stuff really fast. Kind of like having pets.
I can get worms around here for free for composting. Maybe that is the next step for me.
I had a "worm barrel" for a number of years until I changed jobs and moved from my house into an apartment. My worm barrel was simply an old garbage can with a lid that I tossed the scraps into. I just tossed a handful of red worms into it that I dug out of the back yard. It had surprisingly little smell, but I never put meat into it. I had mine in my back yard, but I understand some people have them indoors. I did have, and would recommend having, a garbage disposal for the few things that you didn't want to dump in on the worms. One thing about the traditional compost bin, however, is that if done correctly, it will get hot enough to pretty much sterilize the soil. That is not the case with worm composting. A web site on worm composting:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/compostfacility/worm1.htm
Worm beds and barrels work very well for household scraps (not meat and bones). They are limited, though. They actually create a high-quality fertizer that is more powerful than normal compost, because the worms are digesting the scraps and forming worm castings.
Our composting involves tons of material a year out of the horse barn, along with household scraps. If we feel so motivated at the right times of year, we'll balance out the pile and run the internal termpreature up to 160 degrees or so to kill seeds and pathogens. Most of the time, though, we allow slower decay and use annual rotation. That causes some loss of soil nutrients, but is what we have time to do. We use the resulting compost in vegetable and flower beds, and around orchard trees.
In the late fall we use sheet composting on the empty vegetable beds. To do that we just pile fresh stall cleanings on the beds up to 6 or 8 inches. By planting time we have decent copost and mulch, and by the end of the year it has reduced by 80% in volume and enriched the beds.
However, as mentioned before, a disposal is a great convenience in some circumstances.
Joe
Edited 3/24/2008 11:50 am ET by Joe Sullivan
Although I don't have a disposal, I do have a septic system and if I ran my garbage thru the disposal into the septic system then that's kinda like recycling and composting.
We compost a great deal, including tons of horse manure and bedding and vegetable wastes. However, there are times when a disposal is a great convenience -- and we have one now that I need to replace.
I find one of these models work the best:
I've been using 3/4 hp model from WasteKing,
http://www.plumbingworld.com/garbagedisposer.html
I've been happy with it, and I've installed 3 of them. Pretty quiet, at least more quiet than old models of Emerson or whatever. New models from other manufacturers might be more quiet now.
I was able to buy it locally for about $99.
Of course there has been a name change, and who knows what else.