4 Tips for Troubleshooting Your Garburator
It’s easy to take your garburator for granted—easy to rely on it for waste disposal without ever really thinking about it, or doing much of anything to take care of it. Like any machine, though, a garburator requires proper maintenance if you wish for it to have a long and productive life—and when your garburator begins to lose its functionality, it is important to know what you can do about it.
Sometimes, of course, there really isn’t anything you can do. A garburator isn’t meant to last forever, and sometimes the thing may just need to be replaced by a professional plumber. Before you make that call, though, consider some of the following tips.
Use it Properly
The first and most important way in which you can care for your garburator is just to use it properly. We have said this before, but it is important: Your garburator is not a trashcan. Placing the wrong things into it can cause it to clog. Especially avoid:
Eggshells and bones
Meat fats and grease
Unpopped popcorn kernels and fruit pits
Fibrous fruits and vegetables—banana peels, celery, asparagus, etc.
Anything that expands—like rice
Anything that isn’t food
Keep it Sharp
Something else that is important is attending to the blades in your garburator; if the thing seems like it’s not working as well or as quickly as it used to, it may be because the blades have gotten dull over time. You can actually sharpen the blades quite easily; once a month or so, run the garburator and put a handful of ice cubes down it, and that’s all there is to it!
Unjam Your Garburator
Sometimes something will get caught between the blades of your garburator and make the unit slow to a standstill. Many jams can be fairly easily worked out, however; all you need to do is go to a hardware store and invest in a garburator repair tool, or just a ¼” Allen wrench. There will be a place under the unit where you can insert the tool or wrench and crank it by hand, usually allowing you to dislodge whatever is stuck.
Reset It
A final piece of garburator advice: You may not know it, but your unit has a little red reset button on it somewhere. If all else fails, use it! Often, hitting reset is all it takes for you to get your garburator back up and running.
For further garburator repair inquiries, we invite you to contact our Vancouver plumbing team at your convenience!
