What's inside your garbage disposal can cost you money
Blog post description.
Garbage disposals are expected to last anywhere from 8-15 years, but I am on my third one already in the twelve years of being in my home, what gives? I must admit that inadequate maintenance on our part perhaps led to premature failure to some degree, but are there other factors that play a bigger role? Surely, by the end of this article you will know more about garbage disposals than you ever thought you wanted to know. You're welcome?...I'm sorry? Either way, let's get started!
There are certainly multiple ways that a garbage disposals can fail, but I'm going to focus on the end result that has caused me to replace two disposals to this point, and that is that water starts to leak out of the bottom of the unit. The cause in my case appears to have been a rusting through of the lower piece of metal in the area depicted with the red arrow in the illustration below. This is the chamber where the liquified food particles are deposited after being pulverized by the action of the spinning lugs/sidewall grind ring combination above it.
I have come to learn that the entry-level garbage disposals (those that are likely to be installed by a builder at the time of construction) are made with galvanized steel grind chamber components, whereas the more expensive higher-end garbage disposals are made with stainless steel. Though, both types of steel are known for their corrosion resistance, stainless steel is far more durable than galvanized steel when it comes to corrosion resistance is certain environments. Stainless steel is made by mixing in chromium among other elements with molten iron. Galvanized steel on the other hand is simply steel with a protective corrosion resistant coating of zinc on the outside. This zinc coating can last for a really long time, but it is also susceptible to chipping off and exposing the underlying steel to corrosive elements. It is also interesting to note that the zinc coating of galvanized steel can be deteriorated by acidic liquids and foods. I wonder if acidic drinks or foods ever spend any time in contact with a garbage disposal!
There are ways to extend the life of your galvanized steel garbage disposal, such as making sure to run enough water after putting anything down the drain (especially acidic foods and drinks) or periodically grinding ice cubes. Grinding ice cubes can work to remove gunked up food particles from the metal, and always running (cold) water during and after use can help keep acidic food and liquids off of the metal. However, if you are in the market for a new garbage disposal, I would suggest you make it a stainless steel version. The additional cost to get into stainless steel will not be greater than the cost of going through two cheaper galvanized steel units in less than ten years.
One final note, manufacturers advertise disposals as having stainless steel "grind components". The question becomes what is all included in the term "grind components"? Does it for sure include the metal in the lower chamber (red arrow above) where I have experienced rust through, or are they simply referring to everything above it where the food first drops in? In writing this article, I contacted insinkerator to inquire, and I was told that all of the metal that would be exposed to food is in fact stainless steel in their units advertised as stainless steel. Whether that is the same for all manufacturers or whether I was given an accurate answer, I do not know for certain.
That's it, until next time!