We talked at length recently about the right way to treat your garbage disposal so that the stuff you send down it doesn’t gum it up, cause it to stop working, and lead to unnecessary drain cleaning. But there are a few things that can happen even if you’re taking care of it.
Keep It Clean: Because garbage disposals are constantly chopping food, parts of the food are going to get tossed to the side and stick to the inside of the disposal. The food starts to rot, and the stink begins. Grinding ice can be a good way to clean it, as the ice will bounce around and knock the food off without damaging the blades. Chopping small pieces of citrus fruit peels can can freshen it up.
Use It Often: If you don’t know much about garbage disposals, you might be curious when you open the box and find a hex wrench (or maybe you moved in and found it under the sink. Or maybe whoever performed your last garbage disposal installation failed to tell you about it).
This hex wrench fits a hole in the bottom and can be used to manually move the blades in the garbage disposal. Why is this necessary? Well, sometimes the garbage disposal might lock up, usually due to disuse for some time. For instance, we’ve come back from a two-week trip, tried to turn it on, and found that it simply doesn’t work. Unplugging it and moving that hex wrench back and forth just a few times should get it up and running again.
Getting stuff out: If something hard goes down into the garbage disposal, like a hard fruit pit, a broken piece of glass, or a piece of silverware, don’t stick your hand down there. Unplug it and get the offending item out with tongs.
And if it doesn’t work?: What happens when you’ve tried everything and yet your garbage disposal still isn’t working? What if you’ve cleaned it out in every possible way and yet you know it’s still the source of the bad smell, and that it’s worth the money to you to replace it? Perhaps your 30 year old disposal sounds like a garbage truck eating a metal garbage can and you need a quieter one to deal with your new jittery dog. In all of these circumstance, give Garvin’s Sewer Service a call and we can get your garbage disposal properly installed!
