How to Replace the Splash Guard on a Garbage Disposal?
The lifespan of your garbage disposal can be extended by years if you limit the number of times you feed waste into the disposal and maintain a regular cleaning routine for the rubber gasket surrounding the drain of your disposal. The fact that it has fractured or become brittle, on the other hand, is only a valid reason to put off the process of replacing it for as long as is necessary. Gaskets can typically be purchased at your neighborhood hardware store for less than ten dollars, and replacing them will take no more than fifteen minutes at the absolute most.
Get Ready to Work
To start this project, you only need a bucket, a replacement splash guard, and a screwdriver. The sort of screws that are used to connect the drain pipe and the dishwasher line to the side of the disposal will determine whether or not you require a screwdriver with a flathead or a Phillips’s head. Verify that this is the case before you start, and while you’re there, clean out the cabinet completely, so you have room to move about.
After that, remove the disposal from its connection to the power source. Unplugging the connection that connects the disposal to the socket under the sink allows many models of this appliance to be used without risk. If your disposal is hardwired, you must go to the breaker box in your home and turn on the appropriate breaker switch. Test your disposal to check it’s disconnected.
In conclusion, if a close friend or family member is accessible, you should ask for assistance in reattaching the disposal after the process. One person can complete this task independently, but having a second set of hands makes it much simpler.
Disconnect the Disposal
To get started, you will need to disengage the drainpipe, which is often made of metal or plastic and extends from your disposal to the sewage line. Disengaging the drainpipe will allow you to start the repair. This is often held in place using at least two screws, sometimes even more. You need to disconnect the connection from the disposal to the dishwasher if there is a second line leading in that direction. However, remember that these lines may contain water; as a result, set the bucket underneath them and be prepared for splashdown when you remove them. This will prevent you from becoming wet.
To proceed, loosen the locking ring attached to the mount the disposal is attached to. This will be the following step. Insert your screwdriver into one of the tube-shaped fittings around the ringing’s perimeter, and then use this fitting as a lever to rotate the ring in the counterclockwise direction. You can find these fittings located around the ring. As soon as it is pliable enough to be turned with one hand, switch the hand you used to turn it to the hand supporting the bottom of the disposal. You might have to put some effort into getting it spinning, but as soon as it’s free enough, you can spin it with one hand. The garbage disposal will start moving downward in a clockwise direction as soon as the ring has been entirely unlatched. Please put it on the lowest available shelf in the cabinet.
Replace the Splash Guard
It should be easy to accomplish this. The splash guard is constructed to fit atop the disposal, analogous to how a plastic top would fit atop a jar of peanuts. This allows the splash guard to protect the disposal from accidental spills. After removing the old one by peeling it off, cleaning the top of the disposal, and then snapping on the new one, the process is complete.
Reconnecting the Disposal
The most difficult part of the process is balancing the weight of the disposal on one hand while using the screwdriver to tighten the locking ring on the disposal. It would be preferable if another person could hold the disposal for you while you tightened the ring, but if that is not possible, you will need to do it on your own. It’sIt’s possible that reattaching the disposal to its mount on your own will be less of a challenge if you do it while lying on your back in the cabinet below the sink. It is also possible to maintain the position of the garbage disposal by holding it up with books or other heavy objects that are put underneath it.
Reattach the lines that lead to the drain and the dishwasher once you have ensured that the garbage disposal is firmly attached, and then turn the power back on. To determine whether or not everything is functioning as it should, you must turn the switch on and off.
A that! Clean your new splash guard regularly, which will stay like-new for months or years.
