Stinky...stinky...

[MoodyBlues]

No, I'm not pinging stinky stinky! :laugh:

I'm talking about my STINKY garbage disposal. Oh my goodness does it ever stink. I had a new one installed a year ago--because the old one STANK. So the new one was okay--for a few months. Then it started to stink, too.

I don't know what the problem is.

I have an endless supply of lemons, so I've done the lemon thing--but it hasn't helped. And bleach, Mr Clean, coffee grounds, you name it.

Maybe it's just not getting used enough, I don't know. It's usually run once a day, and flushed with plenty of running water.

Any suggestions?

 

[general eclect]

Google? I can't suggest more than that as I've never lived in a house with one. They're not exactly common in Australia, though far from rare. How many spoons have you destroyed?

 

[Clementine_3]

Vinegar and baking soda. My drains (not a garbage disposal, granted) get a horrid smell about once a year so I dump baking soda down them and follow up with vinegar. It bubbles and gets that stanky out. I do about three 'batches' in each side, it really does work well.

 

[zuben el genub]

Sewer or septic tank? Just thinking somehow gas might be coming back up from a tank. We've had that. Ridex fixed it.

Or else there is a glitch in the plumbing somewhere beyond your install that is retaining stuff it shouldn't.

 

[rabidhunter]

Once I had a piece of chicken stuck in the plastic things on top of the drain. Did you clean that?

As far as the disposal itself, you could try Plink. It's designed just for cleaning disposals.

Mayby Stinky Stinky has other suggestions. :smokingsomb:

 

[MoodyBlues]

Google? I can't suggest more than that as I've never lived in a house with one. They're not exactly common in Australia, though far from rare.

When I was living in Dallas I had a friend/neighbor who was a contractor--and he HATED garbage disposals with a passion. He said they were nothing but trouble and they should all just be removed! I ended up letting him do just that, but it was a side-note to the real job he did (I had him gut one of the cabinets and install a built-in dishwasher). Since he was RIGHT THERE anyway, fiddling with the plumbing and all, out the garbage disposal went!

How many spoons have you destroyed?

:laugh: :rofl: Would you believe zero? Seriously, my sinks have Rubbermaid protector mats in them (they make it less likely that something will break if dropped in the sink), and the slits in them don't allow anything larger than bits of food to pass through. Good guess, though!

 

[general eclect]

Rubbermaid? Sounds like something inappropriate to be posting about here...

 

[zuben el genub]

Garbage disposal or not, stuff gets stuck in the trap. Remember the Drano or Liquid plumber commerical that blasted a hairball out?

I haven't ruined many spoons, but I have had rings slide off my fingers. Then it's disconnect and get the flashlight. The kids would drop pop tops from cans in there at times. We've been lucky - disposal has only crapped out twice, and once was from old age. Hasn't ever smelled, either.

The leaching field for our septic tank got a little funky after heavy rain. The type of rain that sits and dumps at one inch per hour.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Rubbermaid? Sounds like something inappropriate to be posting about here...

And I thought *I* was the only one with a dirty mind.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Sewer or septic tank?

City sewer system.

Or else there is a glitch in the plumbing somewhere beyond your install that is retaining stuff it shouldn't.

There'd better not be! Considering the pipes, including those under the house, were replaced recently.

 

[Member243850]

This is just the job for! ...

The Nice Smelling Aroma Man with many Aromas that no one else can command!

Spoiler

I hear he only charges 500 000 dollars a day!

Not too shabby... I might give this crazy looking man a call!

 

[MoodyBlues]

There's Stinky Stinky!

This is just the job for! ...

The Nice Smelling Aroma Man with many Aromas that no one else can command!

Spoiler

I hear he only charges 500 000 dollars a day!

Not too shabby... I might give this crazy looking man a call!

Your posts always crack me up. :laugh:

 

[zuben el genub]

The city sewer pipe was added when your home was built. How old would that be? City don't do crap unless the pipe breaks.

Around here, it's the water. City says you can't tell when chlorine is added. BS. The smell is so damn bad it gags you. We use Britta pitchers. As long as no one important is affected, the city will do nothing.

I can sympathize with under the house. The idiot builder ran the hot water pipes under the kitchen concrete floor as far away from the hot water heater as you can get. We put in a 5 gallon heater for hot water on demand. We had a plumber out to fix a leak, and he ran the regular hot water, and said that he would have installed the external heater too, if he had the problem.

We did have a leak in the water pipe under the cellar floor. That was a mess.

http://www.onsiteinstaller.com/editorial/2011/08/dont_always_blame_the_installer

 

[MoodyBlues]

The city sewer pipe was added when your home was built. How old would that be?

I can't recall offhand, but I think these houses were built in the 1950s. But I'm not seeing a connection between my stinky garbage disposal and the city's sewer pipe. There aren't any other stinky, plumbing-related places in the house, just the garbage disposal.

Around here, it's the water. City says you can't tell when chlorine is added. BS. The smell is so damn bad it gags you. We use Britta pitchers. As long as no one important is affected, the city will do nothing.

I hear you.

I can sympathize with under the house. The idiot builder ran the hot water pipes under the kitchen concrete floor as far away from the hot water heater as you can get. We put in a 5 gallon heater for hot water on demand. We had a plumber out to fix a leak, and he ran the regular hot water, and said that he would have installed the external heater too, if he had the problem.

We did have a leak in the water pipe under the cellar floor. That was a mess.

Oh dear...

 

[zuben el genub]

I was thinking of a small baffle for sink waste. You don't usually dump much garbage down a bathroom sink and the toilet has a larger volume of water sitting in it as a baffle.

Did you check the underside of the rubber flaps and that nothing is stuck sitting in the elbow? Bits of food can get in there. Did you try filling the sink and letting it drain fast?

 

[MoodyBlues]

I was thinking of a small baffle for sink waste. You don't usually dump much garbage down a bathroom sink and the toilet has a larger volume of water sitting in it as a baffle.

True. Honestly, though, there's nothing but very small bits of food [that pass through the aforementioned Rubbermaid sink mats] going down the garbage disposal.

Did you check the underside of the rubber flaps

Yes.

and that nothing is stuck sitting in the elbow?

No. Not really.

Did you try filling the sink and letting it drain fast?

Yes. I filled a dishpan and then dumped it all at once into the garbage disposal drain opening.

 

[zuben el genub]

It could be from lack of use. If you don't flush it out every day ----

I have an Oreck vac that will mess up the belt for the beater bar if the vac isn't used regularly. We were warned to watch the dishwasher since we only use it once a month. Don't have enough dishes. Wait until the blender and the coffee carafe need a good hot water with wetting agent scrub. That has smelled.

 

[MoodyBlues]

It could be from lack of use. If you don't flush it out every day ----

I'm leaning toward this as the explanation. After initially posting this thread, I realized I'm NOT necessarily running the garbage disposal every day. I thought I was, but now that I've paid more attention to what I actually do (my nightly routine--washing dishes, getting the coffeemaker ready, etc.), I've realized that wasn't quite accurate. It seems to be more like running it (with lots of water while it's running) every two days or so, and flushing it (with a large volume of water) maybe once a week or so.

My plan right now is to make a conscious effort to run/flush it daily and see if that helps.

I have an Oreck vac that will mess up the belt for the beater bar if the vac isn't used regularly. We were warned to watch the dishwasher since we only use it once a month. Don't have enough dishes. Wait until the blender and the coffee carafe need a good hot water with wetting agent scrub. That has smelled.

Interesting...

 

[MoodyBlues]

Okay, here's what I hope will be a final update.

IT DOESN'T STINK!

After I realized that I actually WASN'T running the garbage disposal and/or flushing it every day, I started doing that. Plus, one night I poured some bleach in and let it sit overnight.

So far, so good. I didn't have any baking soda, but I do now and will do the vinegar/soda combo as preventive maintenance.

It's strange how we can THINK we're doing something, until we actually, consciously pay attention to what we're really doing. Once I did that, and saw that I wasn't running it nearly as often as I THOUGHT I was, well, it's MUCH, much better now.

Thanks for the great tips and everything.

 

[rabidhunter]

Glad you got the stink out of your disposal. That's not fun to put up with.

 

[zuben el genub]

Be glad it wasn't this:
FATBERG! 15-Ton 'Lump Of Lard' Removed From London Sewer : The Two-Way : NPR

 

[MoodyBlues]

Be glad it wasn't this:
FATBERG! 15-Ton 'Lump Of Lard' Removed From London Sewer : The Two-Way : NPR

A " 'bus-sized lump' of food fat mixed with wet wipes" has been removed from a southwest London sewer...

 

[nickdalzell]

I clicked on this thread expecting to read about Microsoft's latest tactic against Linux (especially with Moody blues having started it) boy was I wrong...

 

[MoodyBlues]

I clicked on this thread expecting to read about Microsoft's latest tactic against Linux (especially with Moody blues having started it) boy was I wrong...

:rofl: :laugh: :rofl: