Garbage Disposal Repair & Installation

Series Summary

Garbage is the enemy, not just any enemy but one which refuses to die gracefully when its time is past. Like a battlefield opponent who continues to sob and whine about his family after he has been fatally stabbed, garbage continues to taunt you when it has no hope for survival. It smells, it stains, it is generally unpleasant until the garbage man claims it from the curbside. Now if you had a garbage disposal, you could put a quick end to this plague on your healthy habits and personal pride. Those plate scrapings and leftover grimes will no longer be able to taunt you from the trash can after your new disposal grinds them into tiny particles and sends them away through your kitchen pipes.

In this free diy plumbing series, our experienced plumber demonstrates how to install and repair a garbage disposal. Learn how to test a disposal for leaks and clogs, then how to seal the leaks and remove the clogs. If your old disposal is hopeless beyond repair, our expert shows you how to remove the old one and install a new garbage disposal. Learn how to manage your house electricity when installing your new disposal, and how to attach it to the drains in your sink.

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Michael Raines. And we're on Expert Village. Today, we're going to teach you everything you needed to know about a disposal unit but were too stupid to ask. That's right, we're going to teach you how to maintain it, how to repair it, how to diagnose the problems and install and anything else you could possibly imagine about a disposal unit. You're going to learn today. Now, what makes me qualified? Well, let's see. Fifteen years of residential and commercial plumbing and electrical should about do it. I've also done plumbing and electrical on boats and RVs. Yeah, pretty impressive, huh? Well, I guess that would make me kind of an expert. So, let's get down to it. First thing you want to do is assess your situation. Here's what's going to go on. We're going to diagnose the problem, starting with the switch, down to the disposal, down to the drain and the electrical hookup. We're going to check everything involved with making a disposal unit work. We're going to figure out what the problem is and we're going to show you how to solve the problem. So we're going to start first with the obvious problem, the switch. It could be bad. It could be good. We don't know. Got to find out, we have to test it. So let's get our hands dirty. Alright, let me show you some of the tools we're going to use on this job. This is a pipe wrench. Usually just used on pipes. We may use it, we may not. More common is the adjustable wrench. This is great for taking drains on and off. You'll see in a minute. Now, you also might be in need of a Tijuana socket set. Alright, adjustable wrench, you know how it works. And also, we're going to put together and use our trusty little test devices. One is a voltmeter, the other one is a test light. If you have either one, we're going to show you how to use both to diagnose the switch. So, now we're going to start to diagnose the whole system and the problem. We're going to start with the wall switch. That's the most common place to start. So let's have a look at the wall switch and start diagnosing."