DIYbanter - View Single Post

Kyle

wrote:
I am an amateur artist, just beginning to learn this craft. Last night
I made the boneheaded mistake of pouring leftover acrylic paint into my
garbage disposal. Now my poor garbage disposal appears to be jammed
tight - it only hums when I switch it on (which I only do for a second,
because I don't want to burn out the motor).

You haven't mentioned in the discussion whether or not you were running
water when you poured the paint, or just poured it. If you were running
water, chances are something else is jamming it, if you just poured the
paint, then, yeah, you may have painted the sucker stuck.

If you go the hex wrench route in trying to free up the disposal,
MacGyver yourself a long handle for the wrench - at least 12". You want
as much leverage as possible to free up the blades.

Whether or not you do that, I would recommend pouring acetone down the
disposal only under the following conditions: (1) that the disposal has
no plastic pipe leaving the disposal chamber, and (2) that you remove
the disposal from the sink and drain and pour the acetone in the unit
outside.

And I'd like to put in my 2 cents' worth about not putting stuff other
than water down the kitchen drain. Garbage disposals are more problems
than they're worth - all that food doesn't get ground up finely enough
and if you have any kind of low spot or belly in your sewer line, it
lays there, hardens and blocks the drain. Since I stopped using my
garbage disposal two years ago, I haven't had to have the plumber out
to auger the line...