How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

Pat Dixon wrote:
How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

Why would you want to run it dry ? Unless it's just to test ...

--
Snag

Pat Dixon writes:

How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

They are neither cooled nor lubricated by water.
Running dry only wastes electricity.

--
Dan Espen

On 6/12/2016 11:42 AM, Pat Dixon wrote:
How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?


What do you mean by running?

if it is empty it can go forever or until the motor eventually wears out.

If it is loaded with garbage, it will eventually plug the drain and
probably bind itself up. The water flushes the ground garbage down the
drain to the sewer.

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 11:57:55 AM UTC-4, net cop wrote:
Pat Dixon writes:

How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

They are neither cooled nor lubricated by water.
Running dry only wastes electricity.

--
Dan Espen

I agree, probably true indefinitely, but certainly true for any
occasional running for 30 secs or whatever. Unless of course
you're feeding it stuff at the same time, in which case you'll
clog the pipes. THAT is probably the reason for the caution
about always having the water running.

Terry Coombs wrote:

Why would you want to run it dry ? Unless it's just to test ...

I just want to know how to use it.
I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.
I've never had one before.

I don't know if it's critical that water always be run.
Or if it's just recommended.
Or if it doesn't matter in the least.

I just want to know how to use it.

On Sun, 12 Jun 2016 17:57:37 +0000 (UTC), Pat Dixon
wrote:

Terry Coombs wrote:

Why would you want to run it dry ? Unless it's just to test ...

I just want to know how to use it.
I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.
I've never had one before.

I don't know if it's critical that water always be run.
Or if it's just recommended.
Or if it doesn't matter in the least.

I just want to know how to use it.

Turn the water on. It washes stuff down the drain. It also dampens
sound in the unit while running.
--
"We recommend using your hand to replace the fuse as it will take much longer using your knee."

Dan Espen wrote:

They are neither cooled nor lubricated by water.
Running dry only wastes electricity.

I'm sorry that I don't understand those two sentences in series.
I understand each one alone.

1. The first sentence says you don't need to even use water.
2. The second sentence implies you need water.

Can you clarify for me?

Pat Dixon writes:

Terry Coombs wrote:

Why would you want to run it dry ? Unless it's just to test ...

I just want to know how to use it.
I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.
I've never had one before.

I don't know if it's critical that water always be run.
Or if it's just recommended.
Or if it doesn't matter in the least.

I just want to know how to use it.

Always helps to give this kind of background info.

Don't drop things like spoons in there, they'll come
flying back out pretty fast.

If it gets jammed, there is a place to put an
allen wrench in the bottom to turn it by hand.

You can look into it to see things like dropped
jewelry. People with small hands can reach a couple
of fingers in there. That's safe as long as you don't
turn it on. Otherwise use some implement.

Only put things in there that can be chopped up
easily. (Walnut shells are too hard, paper is no good.)

Some people complain about smell. Never had that problem,
just rinse after using.

Otherwise I find mine is a time saver and makes clean up
quick.

Enjoy.

--
Dan Espen

Oren wrote:

Turn the water on. It washes stuff down the drain. It also dampens
sound in the unit while running.

From what you imply, I'm going to guess there's nothing wrong with running it either way, with or without water.
Is that what you mean?

What you implied was that it's "better" with water, but that it's OK to run it without water too.

Did I understand you?

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

The water flushes the ground garbage down the
drain to the sewer.

I didn't even think of that clogging problem.
Now I see why water is a "good idea."

Thank you!

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 11:39:37 AM UTC-7, Pat Dixon wrote:
Oren wrote:

Turn the water on. It washes stuff down the drain. It also dampens
sound in the unit while running.

From what you imply, I'm going to guess there's nothing wrong with running it either way, with or without water.
Is that what you mean?

What you implied was that it's "better" with water, but that it's OK to run it without water too.

Did I understand you?

i think you may think that the water is a lubricant...?

the disposer has a sealed lubricant

i think the water is simply to help move the waste through the pipes,
and it also helps some cooling the disposer which eventually would get too hot if run too long dry, i think

marc


marc

On 6/12/2016 1:57 PM, Pat Dixon wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

Why would you want to run it dry ? Unless it's just to test ...

I just want to know how to use it.
I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.
I've never had one before.

I don't know if it's critical that water always be run.
Or if it's just recommended.
Or if it doesn't matter in the least.

I just want to know how to use it.


Run water when it is running and for a minute after grinding a lot of
stuff.
Works best with a mix of things hard and soft

Avoid large amounts of coffee grinds. Avoid things like corn husks,
corn cobs, banana peels, big bones, bacon grease and the like.

On 2016-06-12, Pat Dixon wrote:

Dan Espen wrote:

They are neither cooled nor lubricated by water.
Running dry only wastes electricity.

I'm sorry that I don't understand those two sentences in series.
I understand each one alone.

Apparently, not.

1. The first sentence says you don't need to even use water.

No, it does not. It sez a disposal "neither/nor" (someone who knows
grammer!) needs "water" for "cooling" or "lubrication", which is true.
A disposal needs water to flush whatever gets thrown into it.

2. The second sentence implies you need water.

Again, no, it does not! It sez, clearly, that running a disposal dry
"wastes electricity". No implication about it! If water is not
running, garbage is not being flushed down the drain, so running the
disposal "dry" is a waste of electricity. What don't you get?

Can you clarify for me?

Can we wait until yer brain has fully matured?

nb

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 10:42:31 AM UTC-5, Pat Dixon wrote:
How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

If you're going to use your in-sink garbage disposal to get rid of food scraps which is what it's meant to do, it's suggested that you use cold water because it will do a better job of washing the ground up waste down the drain. Hot water can melt some things and cause them to stick to the inside of the disposal unit. There is a lot of information on The Internet about the care and feeding of garbage disposals. ^_^

http://www.todayshomeowner.com/top-5...running-right/

http://tinyurl.com/jm3eeo3

[8~{} Uncle Garbage Monster

21blackswan wrote:

i think you may think that the water is a lubricant...?

I was thinking that!

Thanks for making it clear that the water isn't to be a lube but to prevent the pipes from clogging.

notbob wrote:

Can we wait until yer brain has fully matured?

Sorry I needed the clarification.
I get your jokes now about wasting electricity.
At first I took it at face value.

Thanks for the help!
Sorry I had missed the jokes.

On 2016-06-12, Pat Dixon wrote:

notbob wrote:

Can we wait until yer brain has fully matured?

Sorry I needed the clarification. I get your jokes now about
wasting electricity. At first I took it at face value.

Thanks for the help!
Sorry I had missed the jokes.

Pat, you did good. My smiley-face was sincere, so my post was only
half as facetious as it seemed.

If you let ppl get under yer skin, yer jes defeating yerself. That's
the nature of Usenet (newsgroups). No RULES ....so every
troll/bozo/malcontent fer a million miles makes it their home.

Regardless, there's two things you
need to remember:

1) Everyone is someone else.
2) No one is holding you here.

Enjoy =D
nb

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 2:59:24 PM UTC-5, notbob wrote:
On 2016-06-12, Pat Dixon wrote:

notbob wrote:

Can we wait until yer brain has fully matured?

Sorry I needed the clarification. I get your jokes now about
wasting electricity. At first I took it at face value.

Thanks for the help!
Sorry I had missed the jokes.

Pat, you did good. My smiley-face was sincere, so my post was only
half as facetious as it seemed.

If you let ppl get under yer skin, yer jes defeating yerself. That's
the nature of Usenet (newsgroups). No RULES ....so every
troll/bozo/malcontent fer a million miles makes it their home.

Regardless, there's two things you
need to remember:

1) Everyone is someone else.
2) No one is holding you here.

Enjoy =D
nb

I WANNA BE A TROLL!! CAN I, HUH CAN I?!! I WANNA BE A TROLL!! ME, ME, ME!! ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Troll Monster

On 6/12/16 3:37 PM, Pat Dixon wrote:
notbob wrote:

Can we wait until yer brain has fully matured?

Sorry I needed the clarification.
I get your jokes now about wasting electricity.
At first I took it at face value.

Thanks for the help!
Sorry I had missed the jokes.


I'm thinking you gotta be a Patricia Pat rather than a Patrick Pat cuz a
guy couldn't possibly be that dumb.

--
Life is tough.....it's even tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne

Dan Espen wrote:
Pat Dixon writes:

Terry Coombs wrote:

Why would you want to run it dry ? Unless it's just to test ...

I just want to know how to use it.
I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.
I've never had one before.

I don't know if it's critical that water always be run.
Or if it's just recommended.
Or if it doesn't matter in the least.

I just want to know how to use it.

Always helps to give this kind of background info.

Don't drop things like spoons in there, they'll come
flying back out pretty fast.

If it gets jammed, there is a place to put an
allen wrench in the bottom to turn it by hand.

You can look into it to see things like dropped
jewelry. People with small hands can reach a couple
of fingers in there. That's safe as long as you don't
turn it on. Otherwise use some implement.

Only put things in there that can be chopped up
easily. (Walnut shells are too hard, paper is no good.)

Some people complain about smell. Never had that problem,
just rinse after using.

Otherwise I find mine is a time saver and makes clean up
quick.

Enjoy.

And you're probably tossing a good bit of organic stuff that would be much
better off in a compost heap . Do you garden ?

--
Snag

On Sun, 12 Jun 2016 13:16:05 -0700 (PDT), Uncle Monster wrote:

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 2:59:24 PM UTC-5, notbob wrote:
On 2016-06-12, Pat Dixon wrote:

notbob wrote:

Can we wait until yer brain has fully matured?

Sorry I needed the clarification. I get your jokes now about
wasting electricity. At first I took it at face value.

Thanks for the help!
Sorry I had missed the jokes.

Pat, you did good. My smiley-face was sincere, so my post was only
half as facetious as it seemed.

If you let ppl get under yer skin, yer jes defeating yerself. That's
the nature of Usenet (newsgroups). No RULES ....so every
troll/bozo/malcontent fer a million miles makes it their home.

Regardless, there's two things you
need to remember:

1) Everyone is someone else.
2) No one is holding you here.

Enjoy =D
nb

I WANNA BE A TROLL!! CAN I, HUH CAN I?!! I WANNA BE A TROLL!! ME, ME, ME!! ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Troll Monster

Oh, crap! Now we're going to have to have troll bathrooms and then we're going to have to have twinky troll bathrooms to
satisfy the twinky trolls. When will this end?

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 5:19:28 PM UTC-5, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Sun, 12 Jun 2016 13:16:05 -0700 (PDT), Uncle Monster wrote:

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 2:59:24 PM UTC-5, notbob wrote:
On 2016-06-12, Pat Dixon wrote:

notbob wrote:

Can we wait until yer brain has fully matured?

Sorry I needed the clarification. I get your jokes now about
wasting electricity. At first I took it at face value.

Thanks for the help!
Sorry I had missed the jokes.

Pat, you did good. My smiley-face was sincere, so my post was only
half as facetious as it seemed.

If you let ppl get under yer skin, yer jes defeating yerself. That's
the nature of Usenet (newsgroups). No RULES ....so every
troll/bozo/malcontent fer a million miles makes it their home.

Regardless, there's two things you
need to remember:

1) Everyone is someone else.
2) No one is holding you here.

Enjoy =D
nb

I WANNA BE A TROLL!! CAN I, HUH CAN I?!! I WANNA BE A TROLL!! ME, ME, ME!! ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Troll Monster

Oh, crap! Now we're going to have to have troll bathrooms and then we're going to have to have twinky troll bathrooms to
satisfy the twinky trolls. When will this end?

I can't always get through the door to a bathroom. Not all of them are wide enough for a wheelchair. It's frustrating. o_O

[8~{} Uncle Toilet Monster

On 6/12/2016 5:49 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.

And you're probably tossing a good bit of organic stuff that would be much
better off in a compost heap . Do you garden ?


Not many apartments have room for a compost pile and garden. Possible
though.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/12/2016 5:49 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.

And you're probably tossing a good bit of organic stuff that would
be much better off in a compost heap . Do you garden ?


Not many apartments have room for a compost pile and garden. Possible
though.

Aw geez , I forget not everyone is blessed enough to live in a clearing out
in the woods . We're not goingto use a disposer , that stuff all goes to the
chickens or the compost heap .
Looks like the bees are going to give us around 10-12 gallons of honey
this year ...
--
Snag

On 2016-06-12, Gordon Shumway wrote:

Oh, crap! Now we're going to have to have troll bathrooms and then
we're going to have to have twinky troll bathrooms to satisfy the
twinky trolls. When will this end?

Damn! Fergot all about them "transgender trolls".

nb

On 6/12/2016 8:51 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:


Aw geez , I forget not everyone is blessed enough to live in a clearing out
in the woods . We're not goingto use a disposer , that stuff all goes to the
chickens or the compost heap .
Looks like the bees are going to give us around 10-12 gallons of honey
this year ...


Damn, how many bees do you have?
Mead sounds good though.

On 06/12/2016 07:08 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/12/2016 5:49 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.

And you're probably tossing a good bit of organic stuff that would be
much
better off in a compost heap . Do you garden ?


Not many apartments have room for a compost pile and garden. Possible
though.

When I was in second grade I lived in one that did. The land was about a
block away from the buildings, and there was a small area assigned to
each apartment.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

At a recent PTL convention, the hotel reported that over 80% of the
conventionites watched at least one x-rated movie on the hotel's ppv
cable...

"Pat Dixon" wrote in message ...
Terry Coombs wrote:

Why would you want to run it dry ? Unless it's just to test ...

I just want to know how to use it.
I moved to a new apartment, which has a garbage disposal.
I've never had one before.

I don't know if it's critical that water always be run.
Or if it's just recommended.
Or if it doesn't matter in the least.

I just want to know how to use it.

This is a good newsgroup, but you'll have to drop a dozen or so goofball posters in the disposal.

You might call the maker of the disposal and ask the person who does maintenance at the apartment. They will probably also have other tips also.

Myself, I generally wipe all dishes with a paper towel and put it in the trash can before anything goes in the sink or dishwasher, especially meat, oil and grease. The more I can keep out of the drain pipes the longer before they need rooted out. Hardly ever need the disposal any more, but I still run it at least once a week for about 30 seconds, alternating hot & cold water with dish detergent.

I have heard all kinds of stories about running it with ice, orange peels, etc., but my own personal opinion is just use water and detergent unless the maker has other recommendations.

About use life -- I installed our about 20 years ago and it never had a problem until about a month ago, when it had not be turned on for a long time, and wouldn't start turning. I felt around inside and couldn't find any thing jamming it.
The allen wrench at the bottom was not strong enough to turn it. , so I used a 1/2-inch wooden dowel to turn lever it loose (with power off). Then turned it on and flush with water & detergent. This happened again about a week or so later. Probably means it needs to be taken apart or replaced.

"Snuffy \"Hub Cap\" McKinney"
writes:

About use life -- I installed our about 20 years ago and it never had
a problem until about a month ago, ...

My first one was an Insinkerator installed by a contractor.
It rusted out in a year or two.

When I bought the replacement I found that the lowest priced models
are not really built to last. I bought a higher end Insinkerator
and I found it comes with a lifetime guarantee, to installed by
the company at their expense. Needless to say, it's still
running, and I expect it to never quit.

--
Dan Espen

On 2016-06-14, Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney wrote:

You might call the maker of the disposal and ask the person who does maintenance at the apartment. They will probably also have other tips also.

My old landlord owned/maintained several rental properties. He
claimed it was cheaper to install the cheapest hardware (disposal,
wall htr, window AC, etc) and replace 'em as needed, rahter than to
buy quality. I didn't necessarily agree with him, but he always was
Johnny-on-the-spot with those cheapo replacements.

Myself, I generally wipe all dishes with a paper towel and put it in
the trash can before anything goes in the sink or dishwasher,
especially meat, oil and grease. The more I can keep out of the
drain pipes the longer before they need rooted out.

Excellent tip.

I know it's a good tip, cuz I don't even have a sink disposal,
anymore. Plus, paper towels are a replentishable.

nb

On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 12:15:40 PM UTC-7, notbob wrote:
On 2016-06-14, Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney wrote:

You might call the maker of the disposal and ask the person who does maintenance at the apartment. They will probably also have other tips also.

My old landlord owned/maintained several rental properties. He
claimed it was cheaper to install the cheapest hardware (disposal,
wall htr, window AC, etc) and replace 'em as needed, rahter than to
buy quality. I didn't necessarily agree with him, but he always was
Johnny-on-the-spot with those cheapo replacements.

Myself, I generally wipe all dishes with a paper towel and put it in
the trash can before anything goes in the sink or dishwasher,
especially meat, oil and grease. The more I can keep out of the
drain pipes the longer before they need rooted out.

Excellent tip.

I know it's a good tip, cuz I don't even have a sink disposal,
anymore. Plus, paper towels are a replentishable.

nb

yeah,

i don't like to put much of anything down the drain

coffee grounds go in the garden,
and most other food waste goes in the trash can

marc

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 2:40:38 PM UTC-4, Pat Dixon wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:

The water flushes the ground garbage down the
drain to the sewer.

I didn't even think of that clogging problem.
Now I see why water is a "good idea."

Thank you!

And you want to run it a while after the disposal finishes - that food needs to get much further down the pipe.

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 11:57:55 AM UTC-4, net cop wrote:
Pat Dixon writes:

How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

They are neither cooled nor lubricated by water.

Several web sites do mention cooling as a reason to run cold water. Others disagree. I'd always been told cooling was part of the reason, so I dunno..

It does seem likely to me that a disposal has a light duty motor. If something is typically run for 15 - 30 seconds at a time, would you engineer it so that it can run continuously? I'm sure it can take 3 minutes or so but I'd be reluctant to let it run much longer without cooling off.

On 6/12/2016 8:42 AM, Pat Dixon wrote:
How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

Yes, every microsecond counts, idiot!

"Colonel Edmund J. Burke" wrote in message
...

On 6/12/2016 8:42 AM, Pat Dixon wrote:
How long can kitchen garbage disposals things run dry?
Are they ALWAYS supposed to have water every second they're running?

Yes, every microsecond counts, idiot!

mother is talking weird