Disposals are us. My garbage disposal went out several months ago. Not that big of a deal for me since I never used it much anyway. But, it was starting to wear on me. I noticed that Sears was running a sale on appliances and such and they had their "big deal super duper" disposal on sale this week...for about $10 more than their bottom-of-the-line model (which wasn't on sale). So, I went in and bought it. I checked out the installation instructions and figured I could probably install it myself. That was on Monday. After work. I came home and went to work getting the old one out. That went fairly smoothly. Hmmm...'turns out I needed plumber's putty to put around the flange of the new one. Okay, I could get that the next day on my way home.
I also noticed, though, that...uh-oh...there's the whole aluminum wiring problem. My townhouse was built back in the early 70s. Aluminum wiring was pretty much standard there for a few years and that's what's in my house. That meant I couldn't safely connect the new disposal with its copper wiring to the aluminum wiring coming out of the wall. The old disposal, by the way, had aluminum wiring so was not a fire hazard. So, I went looking online for some possible solutions. It turns out there's only one acceptably safe solution for connecting copper directly to aluminum and it requires a special tool which uses upwards of 10,000 pounds of pressure to make a "cold" weld between the two metals. And, you have to have special training in order to use the tool. So, I called for a list of Austin electricians certified on the equipment and there's one guy. One guy in Austin. One. The person manning the 800-number said there are only about 40 in the country. The whole country. Yikes! So, on Tuesday morning, I gave the Austin guy a call and he said he didn't really think he could do the job because it costs over $300 a month just to rent the special tool. Uh-oh. He said he'd look around, though, and see if he could work something out. So, we hung up and I started to get a bit depressed about the whole thing. Wasn't this supposed to be an easy job?
But then I remembered the salesman at Sears asking me if I had an outlet under the sink or if the disposal was hard-wired. Well, it was hard-wired. But, what if I installed an outlet? There are approved outlets that work with aluminum wiring. I know this because I had all the outlets and switches replaced with them when I moved into my house. So, when the electrician called later in the afternoon to tell me he couldn't find a solution to my problem, I asked about the outlet idea and he assured me with a bit of a Homer-ian "Doh!" that it would be a fine solution. So, I stopped at Home Depot on my way home and bought an outlet box, the appropriate co/alr outlet, some plumber's putty, and a power cord kit for the disposal (so I'd have something to plug into the outlet!). That was last night. (By the way, Happy Birthday, Dad!...look how much fun I was having on your birthday!)
I got home and immediately got to work. I installed the flange and bracket for the new disposal in the sink. I attached the power cord to the disposal. And then noticed that...sigh...that's not dry wall behind the sink. Nope. It's plaster. The outlet box I bought was for dry wall and wasn't gonna work. So, I packed it in for the night.
Which brings us to this evening. I stopped at Home Depot again, returned the outlet box, and went in search of something that would work in the space under the sink. I found a metal box that I could screw into a wooden support beam that runs along the wall under the sink and bought it. So, I came home and went about installing my new outlet. My drill was dead. So, I set the battery to charging and starting taking apart some of the pipes under the sink since the pipe going away from the disposal to the drain was now too long. The new disposal is about 4 or 5 inches wider in diameter than the old one. The rubber washer around one of the pipes crumbled as I loosened the pipe fitting. Hmmmm...that meant another trip to Home Depot since I hadn't purchased any of those. Ah well. The drill now had enough power that I could drill the pilot holes for the new outlet box. Got that installed and then attached the wiring to the new outlet. Woo hoo! Then, I proceeded to use my hack saw to cut the old pipe to its proper length. Sanded the edges. We must do things properly, doncha know? Then, a quick trip to get the new rubber washer. They came three to a pack. Which turned out to be good since I decided one of the other rubber washers should also be replaced. I fit everything together, tightened it all up, and turned the water on. Woo hoo! No leaks.
Then, the real test. I plugged the disposal into its new outlet and...with a bit of a cringe...flicked the power switch. Double woo hoo! It worked too. And, no explosions or fires! Yippee!
So, I guess that means I can install garbage disposals! Yay, me! Oh, and by the way, they're apparently called food waste disposers. They're not garbage disposals. I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to one as a disposer, though. Isn't that odd?
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