"N Hurst" wrote in message

Leon, I think they say to run water when running the disposal because
otherwise all the ground up gunk would never leave the disposal, and
just sit there and rot. I don't think it provides any service to the
motor or anything like that.

Most GD's benefit from, if not require the water as a coolant for any long
term use/longevity. Just try running most models without the water flowing
for any length of time and you'll quickly see this is the case.

I routinely disable/unplug newly installed GD's in new houses because of
this very reason. Electricians are famous during trim out for firing up a
circuit without checking to see if any appliances are attached and "on" and
this is guaranteed to either fry a newly installed GD when no water is
running, or cause the thermal protection switch to trip within minutes.

While the newer GD models have thermal cutoff switches, this was not always
the case and it was easy to burn out a motor quickly with no water running.

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Last update: 2/20/07