How to Change an Old Garbage Disposal or Disposal

Instructions

Things you will need:

One Pair of Channel Locks/Slip Joint Pliers One flat head screwdriver One #2 Phillips head screwdriver Small adjustable wrench. A new grinder/shredder. Plumber’s putty or putty.

The first thing to do is make sure your old one isn’t just stuck. Each disposer comes with a key, if you can’t find yours they are available at hardware stores like Home Depot. There is usually a circuit breaker at the bottom of the disposer. Don’t assume your disposer/shredder is broken just because it stops working. You should check inside to see if there is anything that may be lodged in the openings of the drum.

Remove any obstruction with needle nose pliers. If you can’t see anything inside the disposer, insert the key into the bottom of the unit and turn it clockwise and counterclockwise. If the motor spins freely, make sure the breaker hasn’t tripped by pressing the reset button, usually a small black or red button on the bottom of the unit. If these two things don’t work and your warranty has expired, it’s time to replace it.

I recommend you shop around before you buy, the alienators/eliminators usually sell for between $50.00 and $300.00, they are all pretty good. When I do repairs on a rental, I use the cheapest one I can get, usually a badger because the renters don’t care what they put in it. Under normal use, a 1/3 hp will generally last 10 to 15 years and most come with at least a 1 year warranty. Since they all have different connections, I recommend taking the old one with you to make sure the new one works for your particular application.

Let’s start removing the old disposer/shredder. Clean everything under the sink. Some installations have the power cord plugged into a wall outlet and others have direct wiring. The next thing to do is turn off the power. If the unit is plugged into the wall, simply unplug it from the wall. If it’s directly wired, you’ll need to turn off the power at the breaker box. When powered off, remove the panel on the bottom of the disposer/disposer, the only screw on the small panel next to where the cord enters. Remove ground screw and 2 wire connectors (note wire colors and locations). Remove all hoses and pipes from the disposer/disposer, there are normally 2 connections, one for the dishwasher and 1 for the discharge.

Now that everything is disconnected, there is a large mounting ring on the top of the garbage disposal with 3 tabs that hold the garbage disposal from the bottom and turn this ring counterclockwise until the disposer of garbage is released from the sink. (Note: This ring can be quite tight, you may need to hit it with a hammer or put a screwdriver through one of the tabs and turn the ring counterclockwise.) Be careful as some of these units are a bit heavy when upside down under the sink. Empty excess water and take unit to store for new garbage disposal/disposer. Try to get one with a similar drain location so it’s easier to install later.

Now that you have your new garbage disposal/disposal, let’s finish. Let’s remove the sink flange assembly, loosen the 3 mounting bolts, just enough to get to the retaining ring under the lower mounting ring, slide the lower mounting ring up and pry off the retaining ring with a screwdriver. Slide the lower mounting ring and push the sink flange up through the sink. Clean all caulking and/or caulking from sink.

Now find the new parts to assemble the sink flange, you should have a new sink flange, rubber grommet, cardboard grommet, metal backing ring, bottom mounting ring and retaining ring. Take some plumber’s putty and roll it into a snake (just like you did with your playdough when you were a kid), about 1/2 to 3/4 inch and about 10 to 12 inches long. Press it around the bottom of the sink flange, from the top of the sink press it firmly into place, trying to keep it as centered as possible. Next, from the bottom of the sink, slide the rubber grommet, cardboard grommet, and metal mounting ring into place. Next comes the lower mounting ring, the one with the bolts. Slide it all the way up, just enough to snap the retaining ring into place, when the retaining ring is in place, tighten the bolts evenly until a little bit of caulk comes out of the top of the sink flange.

It’s time to put the new garbage disposal/disposal in its place. It’s much easier to connect the wires while the disposer/shredder is outside, so let’s do it that way. If your new disposer/disposer came with a plug already attached and has an outlet under the sink, all the better, if not you will need to connect the old cord you removed during disassembly to the new garbage disposal/disposer. Remove the cover from the bottom of the new disposer/disposer and connect the black wire to the black wire coming from the new garbage disposal/disposer and the white wire to the white wire with wire nuts, they should come with the new disposer/disposer. . Next, connect the green ground wire to the green ground screw on the new disposer/disposer and replace the cover.

Your new garbage disposal/disposer comes with a nipple to connect to the discharge hose coming from your dishwasher, which is usually clogged. If you are going to use this nipple, you will need to pry the plug out with a screwdriver and pry it out from inside the new disposer/disposer. Now lift the new disposer/disposer up to the sink flange and push the mounting ring up and turn it clockwise to mate with the lower mounting ring (the one with the bolts) continue turning until it is tight. Tighten the bolts just enough to hold it in place, we may still need to rotate the grinder/grinder a bit to line up the drain assemblies.

To connect the disposer/disposal drain outlet, slide the new rubber grommet over the tube and onto the flanged end of the plastic cross member, then slide the metal flange from the other end. Angle the bottom of the metal flange into its slot in the disposer/disposer and tighten the clamp bolt through the top of the flange. Make the rest of the drain connections. When all the connections are made, tighten the three bolts in the flange evenly until most of the caulk is out and the sink flange is tight and centered. Wipe off excess putty. Congratulations once you’ve put back all the stuff you pulled out from under the sink when we started! Hope this was helpful and good luck.