Ideas for garbage disposal motor?

[mr95gst]

Anyone built anything cool or found any uses for old garbage disposal motors? I have a leaky one that is getting replaced. Other than the leak, the motor seems to still be in good shape.

[hemmjo]

You realize the many disposal motors turn opposite directions each time they are turned on? I have replaced many for customers over the years, but never investigated using one for something else for this reason.

[mr95gst]

Interesting. I never knew that. I will have to take a closer look at the one I have.

[volodar]

Same for microwave oven turntables. Just checked our newest Panasonic Inverter Genius blah blah blah...ten restarts. Reversed every time. Could still just be a coin toss, however, no matter how many restarts - but unlikely. Still, I don't see how, after having been turned off, the motor "remembers" the previous rotation, then "decides" that next should go the other way. It certainly can be deliberately done, but to what purpose?

While I'm on Panasonic, the outside dimensions stated in our manual are more than a little off. Say, 2 inches off, usually overstated. More serious, however, the stated input current of 12.3A at full power is actually just under 19A (measured variously just in case, and confirmed by tripping a 15A breaker). 'Cooking power", however, (initial temperature, temperature rise, time, volume), does correspond to the advertised 1200W. It seems that the UL and CSA certification labels don't mean much regarding the incorrect parameters.

Somewhat related (reversing) is my mod to my homemade drill press. Start capacitor gave up the ghost 25+ years ago, so just hum from motor. I attached a 12" or so "steering wheel" to the quill at the top of the machine. To drill, I just push the start button, immediately and briskly move the "steering wheel" and we have the drill press running. As a bonus, I can start the drill press in either direction. Several uses for that.

[Moby Duck]

Have you tried using the garbage grinder dry, to grind up milk jugs or other plastics for casting into mallets?

[NortonDommi]

With suitable pulleys or links could you make a spraycan shaker? Moby Duck's idea is a good one. I feed everything to the dogs , seagulls or compost so I've never seen a waste disposal unit but if they reverse each time they are turned on as hemmjo said I would be interested to know how the blades are arranged. To reverse like that the moter must have an electronic control or a mechanical switch like a car windscreen wiper gearbox surley? If so I'd pull it down just to see how it worked, the fun value alone would be worthwhile aye?
Then you could post how it works and that would open up more possibilities for use.

[hemmjo]

The blades in a disposal are not really sharp, they don't cut they just mangle whatever is put into disposal. Works similar to a hammer mill. Some have fixed blades with mangling edges on both sides, so they cut either direction. Others have swinging blades that work either direction. The purpose of the reversal is to help clear jambs. They do have high starting torque.

The reverse feature on the ones I see is contained in the start switch circuit. Each time it starts, the switch resets to the other direction.

I cannot speak for all models used everywhere. The most common ones I see here in central Ohio, USA are "InSinkErator" brand.

[NortonDommi]

Now I have to go find a waste waste disposal unit!

[mr95gst]

Well, I replaced mine this weekend. I did a trial and the motor consistently spun in one direction. The one I have is about the cheapest on the market so it might not have that fancy reversing feature. I'm going to strip it down this week and see what I am working with. It smells pretty foul. Hopefully I can remove the nasty pieces and still have a usable motor.

I like the idea of a shredder, but the disposal design is more like a blender. I could use the motor to power a homemade shredder though. There are a couple guys online that built plastic jug shredders. They look like oversized paper shredders. I have an ever growing stash of HDPE jugs that I need to do something with. Right now it is too time consuming to break them down by hand. If I could reduce the time to process, it could open up all kinds of possibilities.

[Moby Duck]

Here is a good link if you want to build what looks like a decent Shredder machine. Website says plans are all free. I particularly like their design and the fact that it could be laser or wire or water cut if you want to spend some extra money.

https://preciousplastic.com/en/videos/build/shredder/