Garbage disposal Blade loose

[Deanq4]

Hello all,

Last night I noticed that one of the two blades in my Badger 5 disposal was loose. It spins freely on top of the rotating motor. When I first start it if it is empty (water ontly) it makes a click sound. I attempted screw it back down... but appears that there is more to it than that.

Any advice?

Deanq4

[Dan O.]

Replace disposal?

Usually those 'hammers' are part of the top "rotating shredder" and on upper end models are designed to spin on it. If one is substantially loose causing it to strike the surrounding housing hard, the disposal would usually need to be opened up and that whole rotating shredder replaced. I don't know if that repair would be worthwhile to do on that model, you can get whole replacement units pretty cheaply.

JMO

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[LazyPup]

The part your are looking at is not a cutter nor is it a hammer, it is a "Slinger" and by design it is intended to be loose, although most become stuck in place with age.

If you look on the outer edge of the wheel you will see a small gap between the edge of the wheel and the inner wall of the disposal body. The actual cutters are machined grooves on the outer edge of that wheel which look much like the teeth on a metal cutting file. As material is dropped into the disposal body the slingers literally sling the material against the disposal body wall where it is then drawn down into the grove and ground between the rotating wheel and a corresponding set of grooves on the interior of the disposal body in much the same manner as a mill wheel grinds wheat to make flour. The discharge port of the disposal in directly in line with the edge of the wheel so as the material is gound it is then thrown out the discharge port.

The slingers that you are looking at are mounted in place by means of a factory set rivet and cannot be serviced in the field, however even if they become stuck in place they still serve their intended purpose so there is no cause of action to be taken.

[Dan O.]

Terminology

The part your are looking at is not a cutter nor is it a hammer, it is a "Slinger"

JFYI. In-Sink-Erator (whom makes Badger disposers) calls the knuckles (for lack of a better term) "hammers" (or sometimes "grinding lugs") in their service documentation.

by design it is intended to be loose

While those hammers are designed to swivel on the rotating shredder (spinning plate), they can wear at their rotation point, causing too much play which can allow them to strike the stationary shredder (outer ring with teeth) too hard. If those hammers are worn in such a way, only replacing the rotating shredder (or the whole disposal) will eliminate the noise. The disposal might be able to be used as it is while it lasts... if you can stand the noise.

JMO

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[Deanq4]

Thanks

I did a little looking and it appears that they are not supposed to be tight (I thought they needed to be stationary. It is not loose then, it just rotates. If it is Too loose... who knows, but chances are I will wait till the whole things breaks, as it is only $80 at Lowes to get a new one, and more in time and money to fix it. It appears to have stopped the noise for now (once I moved to the outside) and seems to work fine.


Thanks for the help, the advice is appreciated from both of you.


Deanq4

[cva39]

Badger Knuckles

I had a situation where one of the knuckles was loose and the other stuck. Result was an inbalance and severe vibration. Sounded like a jet airplane was in the kitchen. My question is how to get it un-stuck. I ended up replacing the whole thing.