After a two hour struggle, I finally figured out the secret tricks that make food disposer replacement easier. Well, perhaps they are not secrets, but they are not immediately obvious either.

Somehow, my wife is an expert at discovering things that involve new projects for me. Yesterday, she discovered dirty water under the kitchen sink. It’s amazing how much you can store under a kitchen sink. But dirty water should not be one of them.

I always live in fear of something going wrong under the kitchen sink. It is a place that was not meant for human interaction. It’s just too darn cramped. Finding a working position is tough. Do you kneel on the floor and reach in? Do you lie on your back and wiggle in? Do you get in trouble for using a good cushion to ease the impact on your aging bones? And how do you see anything in the dark? Nope, working under the kitchen sink is not fun.

Perhaps the only thing more painful than working under the kitchen sink is calling a plumber.

So, after clearing the under sink space, we could see water leaking out of the bottom of the food disposer. This was not a loose plumbing connection. This was a mechanical failure. Food disposer replacement was needed. Sigh, yet another trip to Home Depot. I seem to be going there far too often.

The first trick for food disposer replacement relates to size and shape. Ideally, the drain connection of the new unit is in the same place as the old one. After selecting a replacement candidate, I found the manual on the Internet which showed the position of the drain hole. In my case it it needed to be centered about six inches from the top. It was. This means that you can use the old drain pipe without any modification to the ABS piping. In addition, you need to check to make sure that the flexible hose for the dishwasher drain can be easily connected. As well, you probably want to re-use the AC power cable from your old unit.

The second trick for food disposer replacement relates to the mounting collar. A food disposer is mounted by hanging it from a steel collar attached to the kitchen sink drain. These collars appear to be a standard shape. Even though a replacement unit comes with a new collar, it can save you time if you can just hang it from the old collar. In my case, this worked out.

Food Disposer Replacement – Heavy and Awkward

But the biggest challenge faced food disposer replacement is attaching it to the collar. The thing is really heavy. My replacement unit weighed around 17 pounds. You only have two hands. And there is no way for someone else to help you when you are working under the kitchen sink. This is a one person job.

Trying to hold the new disposer in place with one hand and twist the collar ring with the other, I kept failing. The disposer would slip out of place and often fall. This went on for more than an hour.

Finally, in a moment of inspiration or perhaps despair, I hit on the third trick to to easier food disposer replacement. Could I use the car jack to hold it in place. I would then have both hands free to attach the collar without worrying about the weight. Now, this was the first time I had actually used the jack in the trunk of my Acura. But, it worked perfectly. With the jack adjusted to hold the new food disposer in the right position, I had the collar attached firmly in a few seconds. Why did this not occur to me two hours earlier?

Now you know. Use your car jack to help with food disposer replacement under the kitchen sink!