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What’s wrong with my Garborator

leer | Posted in General Discussion on November 14, 2006 07:43am

So my garborator is acting up.  It sounds normal but has no effect at all.  It is a 6.5amp In-sink-erator Badger1.  Let’s say you peel an orange and end up with 4 pieces of peel.  Throw it down the sink, run the water, run the garborator.  Sounds like its working, then sounds like it is running clear so you turn it off.  Look down there and if you look close the 4 pieces of peel are still intact like nothing happened.  I’ve also run it pushing the rubber splashguard to the side and it is turning and throwing the contents around, just not chopping it up at all.  It looks like the contents are riding on top of the cutters?  Anyone have any ideas where to start?

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Replies

  1. JulianTracy | Nov 14, 2006 07:51am | #1

    Your the 2nd person I've heard call a garbage disposal a Garborator. I've never heard it called that before a few months ago.

    Where did you get that name from?

    JT

    1. User avater
      Dinosaur | Nov 14, 2006 07:55am | #2

      Garborator is a fairly common locution for a garbage disposal unit here in Canada. I think it must have been (maybe still is) a brand name.Dinosaur

      How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

      1. JulianTracy | Nov 14, 2006 07:59am | #4

        That's interesting. A client of mine was calling it that and I just thought it was because she was of middle eastern descent and was garbling up the words a bit.Now I know.JT

        1. User avater
          Dinosaur | Nov 14, 2006 09:10am | #7

           A client of mine was calling it that and I just thought it was because she was of middle eastern descent and was garbling up the words a bit.

          First guy I ever heard use the term has a Scots brogue as thick as Glencannon's. By the time he got finished rolling all the R's in 'garburator', the whole kitchen had vibrated loose and slid into the dining room....Dinosaur

          How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          1. plumbbill | Nov 15, 2006 10:26am | #15

            But if it would have made it to the living room would it have landed on the couch, sofa, davenport, or the chesterfield?“It so happens that everything that is stupid is not unconstitutional.” —Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

      2. User avater
        BillHartmann | Nov 14, 2006 08:16am | #6

        I think that you might be right that it was a brand name at one time.Or some pundent labled it that and the name stuck.http://www.vancourier.com/issues02/102202/opinion/102202op2.html"Digging into the slimy truth about garborators"http://www.nationalplumbing.com/tips.php"FOOD DISPOSER
        *When using a Food Disposer (Garborator) always run the cold water before you switch the Disposer on and for a few seconds after the grinding has stopped. Once a week, fill the kitchen sink compartment in which the Food Disposer is located, with water. Plug the other compartment with a stopper or a rag, and drain the sink while the Food Disposer is on (always run it with water). This will force some water down the drain and will wash out the grounds.
        Do not throw banana peels, artichoke leaves, rhubarb or anything else with a lot of fibers in a Food Disposer. If your garborator stopped working, don't panic quite yet. Check our REPAIR department under Food Disposers (Garborators) ."http://ep.typepad.com/whats_going_on/2006/09/index.html"Many of the coffee ground pellets fall apart in the sink, so I just wash them down the drain. Why else do we have a garborator there, or as it is so coyly referred to in California, the Insinkerator, or under sink garbage disposal unit. Do not try to google garborator on Google.com, by the way. It wants you to look up carburetor instead. You need to go to Google.ca and then you will have hundreds of results. I was hoping for thousands, but it is a sparsely populated land, and we are not given to writing about household appliances. Until we move south, that is."

      3. WayneL5 | Nov 15, 2006 01:27am | #9

        If it is from Canada I'd expect it to be a Beaver, not a Badger.

        1. User avater
          Dinosaur | Nov 15, 2006 02:29am | #10

          Har-de-har-har   <;o)>

           Dinosaur

          How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

        2. woodway | Nov 15, 2006 02:57am | #12

          I had one for awhile, it had the name "Bone Crusher 6" proudly stamped on the side in big letters. Now if that doesn't persuade you to keep your fingers out, nothing will.

    2. User avater
      IMERC | Nov 14, 2006 07:56am | #3

      routering thread... 

       

      Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->

      WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->

      Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

  2. User avater
    BillHartmann | Nov 14, 2006 08:12am | #5

    There are several "hammer" (3 I think) that slide on posts against the outside "grater".

    My guess is that the those hammers are corroded and frozen in place.

    I had one once where the head on the pivot pin (or the slot in the hammer) wore and it threw the hammer out of the unit.

    " It is a 6.5amp In-sink-erator Badger1"

    I believe that is a very low end unit. Probably best to replace it.

    1. leer | Nov 14, 2006 10:10pm | #8

      Thanks for the reply Bill, you were right the cutters were corroded and not sliding with centifical force anymore.  I've managed to get one lose and have the other one coated with penetrating oil at the moment.

      Thanks to all for the input.

  3. woodway | Nov 15, 2006 02:47am | #11

    Do like I do every once in awhile, turn it on and drop a spoon in there. If all hell breaks loose you know it's working. If the spoon doesn't move at all, get a new disposer.

  4. DanH | Nov 15, 2006 04:18am | #13

    How old is it? It's possible that the cutter wheel has actually broken loose from the motor shaft and isn't turning. Also, it's not unheard of for the swinging cutter teeth to break off, eliminating most of the grinding action.

    Look in the unit while it's running -- make sure the cutter wheel is turning full speed, more or less.

    With the unit off, look in and identify the cutter teeth. There should be two or four, around the edge of the cutter wheel. The teeth are on pivots and should be free to turn on them -- check this. (Best way is to unplug the unit under the sink and then just reach in there and verify with your hand that each cutter spins freely on its pivot.)

    Finally, look at the slots around the edge of the grinding chamber (these don't move, but the cutter teeth spin close to them). If these are all crammed with bits of bone, etc then the unit won't work.

    People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck
    1. leer | Nov 15, 2006 06:47am | #14

      Yeah, its fine now.  The cutters were stationary, not swinging out and doing any grinding.  I got them loose and its working like normal now. 

      Thanks to all again for the help.

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