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When my garbage disposal was running I touched the stainless steel sink and got an electrical shock. Same when I touched the disposal. I removed the disposal, removed the plate on the bottom that gives access to the wiring, and found that the inside of the compartment was slightly damp. I had a bad clog, and used the plunger so hard the a joint in the pvc pipes under the sink came apart. Could that somehow have forced water into the bottom part of the disposal? If I let it dry thoroughly will it be safe to use? It was plugged into an outlet that was not ground fault protected, and I have changed that to a ground fault outlet. The disposal is five years old.
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Last edited by Cameron58; 10-13-2011, 02:52 PM. -
Unless the water got in there when you blew the pipes apart the shaft seal is leaking and the disposer is toast...
As for the shocking experience you have faulty wiring and the disposer probably is ungrounded... A GFCI should be installed on the circuit as well...
As for a new disposer I highly recommend the Insinkerator Evolution product line....I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Now I can Plumb!
For great information on the history of sanitary sewers including the use of Redwood Pipe
Visit http://www.sewerhistory.org/
Did you know some Redwood Pipe is still in service today. -
the seal between the grinding chamber and the motor is a ceramic/carbon disk type seal. being spring loaded it is possible to force water and debris into the motor. the motor uses a capacitor to start the motor and bring it up to speed. the bottom end of the motor has the centrifugal start switch and could be wet with stagnant water, grounding out your hot and neutral. as Redwood said, the absence of a gfci protection, which would blow isn't there, you could have a hazardous potential there. change out the disposal and make sure the new one is grounded.Comment
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