February 23, 2012
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HomeShow Radio | Tom Tynan | Home Improvement Answers
Home remodeling, renovation, and repair tips with Tom Tynan
A typical garbage disposal in America goes through tons of trash each year. In fact, Americans dumps around 30 million tons of food waste every year. All that junk grinding through your disposal wears it down to the point of failure. How does a disposal get replaced?
Bryan Mizell from Abacus Plumbing is here to show you how to install a new garbage disposal and keep it running longer than the old one.
Americans dump about 30 million tons of food each year. Most of it goes through your garbage disposal, which wears it down over time. It could be time for a replacement.
The main steps for taking out the old disposal and installing a new disposal are, first of all, prepare the area with drop cloths and protective cloths. Empty everything out from underneath the sink. The tools you need, generally, are a flat and Phillips head screwdrivers, channel-lock pliers, and plumber's putty.
Ensure that the electricity is off, or the disposal's unplugged. Drain the trap assembly, disconnect the drain and the dishwasher drain assembly. Remove your old disposal, remove your sink flange, clean the sink.
Before you put the new flange in, apply a nice layer of plumber's putty. Reinstall the disposal, connecting the dishwasher drain assembly. Fill the sink up with water, and water test the drain to ensure you have no leaks, and run the disposal to ensure that it will run properly.
Setting in the new disposal isn't enough. Make it last longer and smell better with a few simple tips.
Things to avoid going down a disposal are onions skins, or banana peels, or celery, anything that's stringy. Bones will cause the disposal to breakdown prematurely. Rule of thumb, if you can't eat it, don't put it down a disposal.
Every once in a while, you can run a handful of ice, it'll help clean the inside of the grinding chamber. You can run small portions of lemon rind, that will help it keep smelling fresh.
Turn your sink into a garbage grinding machine with these simple steps. Disconnect the old disposal from power. Disconnect the p-trap and sink drain. Remove the old disposal, and then the sink fittings. Attach the new disposal, and reset the connections. Plug it in, and test it out. Disintegrate your food with a properly installed garbage disposal.
For homeshowradio.com, I'm Tom Tynan.
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