Disposal - Repair or Replace?

[sunflower.mama]

Hello,
We have a garbage disposal on the fritz. I have tried everything I can find to fix it (using the allen wrench that came with it, and hitting reset button doesn't help). Nothing is jammed in it, it just humms. (I even took out the fuse from the fuse box and felt around. Bad, I know!!) Nothing *happened* to it, so it kills me to think that it might be dead.
But it may be. It came with the house, and the wiring looks pretty old, so it's probably at or near it's estimated life. I am at the point of calling a plumber, and part of me thinks I should have him just replace it, since a repair could wind up costing as much in time as a new unit. Any thoughts? It KILLS me that I could be "tossing" a servicable unit here.

[CameronsMama]

Are you (or is anyone you know) handy? Disposals aren't that hard to replace yourself if you're generally good at those small home repair type things. You can get them at Home Depot or Lowe's for pretty cheap. If you don't know anyone who can do it for you, maybe see if you can still buy your own replacement and just pay someone to install it, they often mark up ones you buy through them so they can make a better profit.

If you do call a plumber, have them come diagnose the problem first, then decide what you'll do, a good plumber will be able to tell you what the problem is and give you estimates on the cost to replace, and the cost to repair.

[SleeplessMommy]

There may be a "safety key" that is designed to fail if you try to dispose for a fork, for example. That would disengage the motor shaft from the blades. (an easy fix!) Google disposal repair.

If the motor is gone, you need to replace it. About $100 and a good DIY project I believe. You can send the metal blades recycling.

[shelbean91]

We replaced ours- bought it at sears which had a warranty. Took us about an hour or so- if you're replacing, it's not too hard.

[miss_sonja]

I had DH remove our working garbage disposal. I hated it, the noise was awful and, the switch was where little hands could reach it. I'm much happier without it.

We do compost all our kitchen waste. If you're in an apartment and can't compost, maybe fix it. But the noise, gosh, it's so awful. And hitting the switch accidentally? Oh, man, the horror, the horror. (I once saw a horror flick where the bad guy used a disposal on a living person---gosh, wonder if that's why I hate them so much???)

[Fuamami]

Sounds like your motor's gone. It just happened to ours, and it had to be replaced. Fortunately, we did it with our home warranty, so a plumber came and put in a $140 disposal for $50. But otherwise, I think you can do it yourself. Or bypass it, as the pp said. There's lots of negatives to disposals, especially on public sewer systems.

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/0...or-article.htm