mm wrote:
On Sun, 17 Oct 2010 13:40:50 -0400, jeff_wisnia
wrote:


I'd never run into this failure before, have any of you?

SWMBO reported finding water on the floor of the cabinet under the
kitchen sink at 10:30 PM one evening last week.

Taking a look see with a flashlight and mirror I spotted a vertical
crack in the backside of the black PVC upper housing of the garbage
disposer, running from near the top down to where it mated with the
motor housing.

Water was seeping through that crack anytime a liberal amount of H2O was
poured down the drain.

I dried the housing off and covered the crack with silicone caulk so we
could still use the sink (without running the disposal) for a day or so
until I could pick up a replacement disposal.

The cracked disposal was a bottom of the line InSinkErator and my notes
on the saved instruction sheet and receipt told me I'd installed it
seven years ago. Not too bad a run for a $59.95 unit.

So, I bought another low end InSinkErator (A "Badger 1") which appeared
identical to the failed one in all respects save one, The price had
increased to $79.95 at the same big box store I'd bought the old one at. G

Swapping it in was a snap job and If I get seven years out of this one
too I'll be happy that I'm still on the right side of the grass and able
to change it out again.

Momentary angnst when I flipped the disposal's wall switch on and
nothing happened. That's when I realalized a first hand exposure to a
ground fault breaker tripping because I'd shorted the neutral to ground
while wiring the Romex power feed into the new disposal and didn't think
about the instant hot water dispenser which was intermittently drawing
power from the same circuit the disposal was on. G


I should learn by now that things usually don't work on the first try
for a reason like that. I have learned that a bit and sometimes don't
have the sinking feeling I used to.


Has anyone else encountered a cracked PVC housing on one of those
cheapie disposals? I have no direct knowledge of anyone putting
something like a rock into it and running the disposal for a while so
the rock kept whacking the housing, but you never know.


I have nothing but cheapie disposals, but OTOH, if it has a badger
inside, how cheap could it be. They are really good at shredding
things.

Was the crack at the weld? IIRC, the case is a piece of sheet metal
wrapped into a circule and welded.

No, as I said in my OP, the housing which cracked was PVC (black
plastic), and I probably could have tried to "weld" the crack with a
soldering iron and a scrap piece of PVC, but I doubt if the repair would
have held up for very long.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

Mine have failed when the bearings or something rusted and it wouldn't
rotate..