Appliance man's Garbage Disposal Tips just may save yourself an appliance repair service call:)

April 23, 2010 - PRLog -- Garbage disposal, garbage disposer, or garberator...no matter what we call them, they are rather handy kitchen appliances. Most of the problems they can have, have fingers pointing back at us! Out of the 63,000 appliance service calls we've performed since 1993, several hundred have been for jammed or backed up disposals. The most common things retrieved by Top Cat Appliance Repair ( http://TopCatAppliance.com ) have been coins, nails, and gravel from aquariums. Gravel is best washer out on the other side of the sink. Why coins and nail are in there, I can't imagine?

  Can you guess what gives the most problems? Noodles and potato peels! Who'da thunk it! Let me explain why... The space between the disposal's cutting blades and the edges inside are about as wide as a dime. When you dump in a bunch of veggie peels, rice, or noodles that are soft, they fly right tough these blade so fast that they get caught up in the plumbing under your sink. Now your drain is backed up. Sometimes a plunger will get you out of this jam, though more than likely, you'll be calling the plumber, appliance man or having yourself an instant DIY project that day. Don't wait! A backed-up sink gets rather smelly pretty darn fast. Peeeee-yoooo-weeee!!!

General maintenance is pretty easy, and yes Mom was right... egg shells are great to clean the inside, but I've got one better...ice! Once every week or two follow these easy steps and you should be okay.

How to clean and perform general maintenance on a garbage disposal...

1. Though it goes without saying...Keep fingers away from inside cutting area!!!!!

2. Fill the unit full of ice.

3.Cover this ice with the cover that came with your disposal.

4. Now fill the sink with warm water.

5. After the sink is full, remove the cap, get your hand outta there, and turn the disposer on.

That's it! The hard, crushed ice will remove any "gobblely-goop" from around the cutting blade, and sharpen the blade at the same time! This lil' trick also removes rust, the main problem in garbage disposal failure. Hotdiggedee!!!

Now if yours gets jammed, push the reset button underneath, then with the unit on "OFF" get underneath with the tool supplied with the unit, or allen wrench, and try to break it free. Even the old broom stick trick may work. Remember to have it switched OFF if you attempt  these methods! If it keeps jamming repeatedly, or if it's leaking from underneath, it's probably rusted out internally. Replace it asap! Some appliance repair guys or handyman types will try to tell you to replace the seal or switches inside, but that only holds the problem off for a few months at best.

We all know that water and live electrical wiring don't mix! If you have a metal sink, and you're leaning against  it when they do meet, you may have the same hairstyle as Albert Einstein! Voltage as low as 120 volts can, and has killed grown men, though not too often. Don't take chances! These little guys have a strong motor, 1/3 HP for the Mr. Cheapo version, to 1 HP for the stainless steel Insinkerator. Whirlpool has an Insinkertor type copy that's just as good, but the GE disposers, and the Sears brands seem to bite the bullet a little faster. If at Lowe's (http://Lowes.com) or Home Depot, the Badger 5 by Insinkerator sold there should last 8-10+ years in most cases.

Fun fact: Do you remember the little green coca-cola bottles back in the day? Back then the first garbage disposals we're being installed in newly built homes. A common test after a new installation was for the appliance tech to cut the disposers on, then drop one of the lil' buggers inside to demonstrate it's power. Yes, it did grind it up. NO I've never done it, and of course...don't try this one at home!

If you found this info useful, there's more tips listed below. Feel free to send these links to friends and neighbors. If you have a pet cat, there's one blog there that could one day save it''s life! Enjoy:)

Delayne Hiott  
Founder and President of Top Cat Appliance Repair

Servicing Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee County
Areas serviced include:  Pinellas County / Anona / Bay Pines / Belleair / Belleair Beach / Belleair Bluffs / Belle Vista / Blind Pass / Boca Ciega / Bridgeport / Causeway Isies / Clearwater / Clearwater Beach / Crystal Beach / Coachman / Coquina Key / Dellwood / Dunedin / East Lake / East Lake Woodlands / Feather Sound / Fort De Soto / Four Corners / Gulfport / Gulfport Fl / Gulf to Bay / Harbor Bluffs / Highpoint / Indian Rocks Beach / Indian Shores / Innisbrook / Kenneth City / Keystone / Lake St George / Lakewood / Lake Shore Estates / Lansbrook / Largo / Lealman / Madeira Beach / NE St Petersburg / North Redington Beach / Oakcrest / Oldsmar / Osceola / Ozona / Palm Harbor / Park Blvd / Pasadena / Pass a grille / Pinellas Park / Placido Bayou / Redington Beach / Redington Shores / Safety Harbor / Safty Harbor / Snell Isle / Sunset Beach / Sunshine Beach / The Jungle / US 19 / Park Blvd / Ulmerton / East Bay / Gulf Blvd / Belcher Road / Jungle Terrace /  Allendale / Bahia Shores / Bay Vista / Pinellas Bayway / Bardmoor / Beacon Groves / Countryside / Cross Bayou /  Island Estates / Isle of Palms / Isle of Capri / Mainlands / Maximo Moorings / Meadowlawn / Mission Hills / Paradise Island / Point Brittany / Venitian Isles / Vina Del Mar / Wall Springs / Curlew /  Snell Isle / Big Bayou / Seminole / Seminole Park / Shore Acres / Shore Acrees / St. Pete / St. Pete Beach / St. Petersburg / Saint Pete / Saint Pete Beach / Saint Petersburg / St. Petersberg / NE St. Petersburg / NE Saint Pete / NE Saint Petersburg / NE St. Petersberg  Tampa Bay / Tampa Bay Area / Tarpon Springs / Tierra Verde / Twin Oaks / Yacht Club Estates / Treasure Island /  Hillsborough / Hillsborough County / Apollo Beach / Balm / Bayport Colony / Ballest Point / Beach Park / Bloomingdale / Boyette / Brandon / Brookshire Estates / Carrollwood / Cheval / Clair mel / Citrus Park / Copperfield / Del Rio / Davis Island / Drew Park / Feather Rock / Fish Hawk / Dover / Drew Park / Durant / Egypt Lake / Erie / Fort Lonesome / Gillette / Gibsonton / Golfview / Hyde Park / Lake Magdelene / Lithia / Lowry Park / Lutz / Mac Dill / Mango / Marvina / New Tampa / Northdale / North Bonair / Oakford Park / Odessa / Orient Park / Palm River / Parkland Estates / Pebble Creek / Plant City / Plantation / Port Tampa / Riverview / Rocky Creek / Ruskin / Seffner / Spivey / Sun City / Sun City Center / South Tampa / Sunsey Beach / Sun Bay South / Sydney / Tampa / Temple Terrace / Thonotosassa / Turkey Creek / Town n' County / Valrico / Valroy / West Chase / West Park / Westchase / Willow / Wimauma / Ybor City /  Pasco / Pasco county / Aripeka / Bayonet Point / Blanton / Crystal Springs / Dade City / Elfers / Forest Hills / Holiday / Hudson / Kathleen / Lacoochee / Land O Lakes / Lutz / New Port Richey / Odessa / Port Richey / Riverdale / Saint Leo / San Antonio / Seven Springs / Spring Hill / Trinity/ Trilby / Wesley Chapel / Zephyrhills / Manatee / Mantee County / Anna Maria / Ballentine / Manor / Bayshore Gardens / Bee Ridge / Bethany / Braden / Castle / Bradenton / Bradenton Beach / Cedar Hammock / Cortez / Duette / Eastgate / Edgeville / Elwood Park / FortHamer / Foxleigh / Gillette / Holmes Beach / Ilexhurst / Keentown / Longbeach / Longboat Key / Lorraine / Manatee / Manhattan / Matoaka / Memphis / Memphis Heights / Myakka City / Myakka Head / Oak Knoll / Oneco / Palm View / Palma Sola / Palma Sola Park / Palmetto / Parmalee / Parrish / Piney Point / Rubonia / Rye / Samoset / Sandy / South Bradenton / Tallevast / Terra Ceia / Terra Mana / Trailer Estates / Vamo / Verna / Waterbury / West Bradenton / West Samoset / Whitfield / Whitfield Estates / Whitney Beach / Willow /

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Top Cat Appliance Repair is BBB Accredited with an "A+" rating. We provide 2 HOUR Appliance Repair services in the Tampa Bay, Florida area including Tampa, Clearwater, St Petersburg, Largo, etc. Appliances include Your Refrigerator, Freezer, Washer, Dryer, Dishwasher, Stove, Oven, Disposal...