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small electrical problem after replacing my kitchen waste disposer

small electrical problem after replacing my kitchen waste disposer


  #1  
Old 02-10-18, 10:44 AM
J
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small electrical problem after replacing my kitchen waste disposer

I used to have a very old Maytag waste disposer (more than 30 years old) that finally had to be replaced. I had it set up to operate using a switch button (i.e. a button that when depressed closed a micro switch that was mounted in an electrical box that had the power for the disposer). I mounted this box so that when the sink cabinet door was opened it was easily reached and it worked fine the way I wanted it to … the disposer would run as long as I had the button depressed and as soon as I released the button it would stop.When I installed a new Insinkerator disposer, I wired it up in the same manner, so I could use the same switch button that had worked fine with the old Maytag. However the problem I have now is that the switch button starts the new disposer fine as expected when the button is depressed, but it doesn't consistently instantaneously kill the power and stop the new disposer when the button is released. Thinking the micro switch might be bad, I bought a 2nd one that's identical but it behaves the same way.Anyone have any thoughts on why the old working switch might be behaving differently with the new disposer? i.e. why it doesn't stop consistently and immediately when the button is released? If I think that it doesn't seem like it's not going to stop, I press and release the button a couple of times and it does stop.<br />

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Any ideas appreciated.

(For what it's worth I've attached a picture of the micro switch. I have it wired in it's Normally Open arrangement: connector1 (Common) -> connector2 (Normally Open) and when the black "actuator" tab on the top left get's depressed, the switch closes and power feeds the disposer).
 
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  #2  
Old 02-10-18, 11:04 AM
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Is your new garbage grinder perhaps a more powerful model than the one it replaced?

Microswitches are not meant to switch heavy inductive loads so it could be a matter of it arcing internally with the new disposal. I suggest that you get a heavier duty push-button switch if you want the same action or else go with a more conventional switch.
 
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Old 02-10-18, 06:17 PM
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I would recommend a sink top switch, see link.
You will need a constant hot receptacle and an additional faucet hole in the sink.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/InSinkEr...OOSN/304076179
 
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Old 02-10-18, 09:20 PM
J
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Hi Brian, thanks for the response. I realize your answer is probably the "right" answer, but as a senior, I'm trying to minimize the amount of effort involved in integrating the new disposer into an old house and old kitchen. The darn old button + micro switch arrangement had been doing the trick fine for me for at least 5 years so I really had no reason to think it wouldn't keep working. As I explained in my previous response to Furd, although it's not what I'd prefer, I may just end up swapping out the button + micro switch arrangement and replace it with a wall switch in the same location.
 
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Old 02-10-18, 09:48 PM
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Hi Furd ... your response hits the head on the nail in terms of what I thought my problem might be, based on the bit of "research" I had done in the web about switches in general and motors. I learned they aren't as simple as lights, which as a DIYer is about as much as I normally can handle. The new garburator has a 3/4 HP motor and the old one was just 1/2 HP so as you've suggested the micro switch I've been using probably isn't designed to operate properly with the larger motor. (Apparently induction motor loads take longer to decay to 0 volts when they are turned off than is the case with a resistive load like a light? That kind of explanation seems to fit my "symptom")).

I'll see if I can find a more heavy duty push button arrangement (because I like the convenience and action of a push button), but I guest the simplest solution is to just put a standard light switch in the same location.

Anyway, you confirmed my suspicion. Thanks again.
 
 

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