Tips for Cleaning and Maintaining Your Garbage Disposal

Most kitchen garbage disposals receive daily use, making cleanup after cooking and meals much easier. However, garbage disposals need regular cleaning and maintenance to ensure the mechanism and drain line remain clear. Maintaining your disposal is easy and requires only a few minutes each month to prevent clogs and other serious plumbing issues.

Clearing the Drain Line

beacon_plumbing_2Everything that goes down your disposal is transported away from your home through the sink’s drain line. Because food debris can easily build up inside the line and cause clogs, you should clear it periodically to prevent backups. To clear the drain line, plug the sink and fill it with two to four inches of cold water. Remove the plug and run your disposal until all the water has drained from the sink. If you do experience a slowdown in your drain’s performance, address the issue immediately. Use a plunger or a homemade natural drain cleaning solution to clear the clog.

Cleaning the Disposal

Your disposal uses a set of blades to chop up food into small pieces before it is flushed down the drain. Keeping these blades sharp and free of buildup will maintain your disposal and prevent clogs. To clean your disposal, fill the disposal drain with approximately two cups of ice cubes. Follow the ice with one cup of rock salt or white vinegar. Run the cold water, then turn on your disposal for ten to fifteen seconds until all the ice and salt have been cleared away. The ice and salt will remove debris from the blades and sharpen them as your disposal grinds them up.

Fact: Water Heater Pressure Valve

Any water heater without a working temperature and pressure relief valve is a time bomb waiting to explode! Don't let this happen to you, call Triangle Plumbing & Backflow today!

Heating

Furnace filters ideally ought to be changed four times a year, and certainly at least twice a year. Yet, heating technicians routinely encounter furnaces where the filters haven’t been changed in years. Ask your Triangle Plumbing & Backflow technician about a new “permanent” filter or possibly an “electro-static” air filter. At Triangle Plumbing & Backflow, we can take care of all of your furnace needs.

During a heating system tune up, these are just a few of the measures we take to ensure added comfort, safety, and energy efficiency to help make winter a warmer experience:

• Inspect the heater and vent pipe.
• Clean or replace the filter.
• Check for ignition or flame failure.
• Check the motor and fan bearings.
• Check burners and controls.
• Check safety controls.
• Check thermostat.
• Perform Combustion Analysis.
• And much more.

An automatic setback thermostat is one of the best investments any homeowner can make. These devices can be programmed to modulate your household temperature for maximum comfort when occupants are present, but conserve energy when everyone is away at school, work, or vacation.

In the immediate aftermath of a major disaster, do not turn lights on or off, use any electrical appliance, or use matches if you have gas heat (or other gas appliances). Instead, you would want to contact Triangle Plumbing & Backflow for expert help.

Summer Plumbing Advice

The transition to spring and summer is exciting, but it’s also the time to take action to avoid potential problems with your plumbing, sewer and drain systems. Here are some tips to get your home in shape for warm weather, save energy and save money too.

More outdoor fun means more dirty clothes. Be sure to check your washing machine hoses for bulges, leaks or cracks and be sure to remove drier lint regularly. Also, move your machine at least four inches from the wall to prevent hose kinking and damage, and never leave your home while the washer is running. Remember–washing machine hoses should be replaced approximately every three years.

In humid weather, your ductwork may sweat and create condensate. This can cause a backup if the drains are not clear. Leaks in the seams can also cause condensation. If you have an attic installation, be sure there is no water in the drain pan. If there is water, call for help as it could save your ceiling.

Be careful what you put down your kitchen disposal after your cookout. Most are not equipped to handle cornhusks, celery, banana peels and other fibrous or “stringy” foods. Some other items to stay away from are fats or cooking oils because they form clots in the pipes. Run cold water at full pressure for 15 seconds before and after you put anything down the disposal to flush it through. Never put instant stuffing, potato mixes or similar “just-add-water” foods down the drain—they’ll create an instant clog when you add water.

Save money and energy on your vacation. Turn down the temperature of your water heater.

Sewer line backups are common this time of year due to summer rainwater entering sewer pipes via cracks. New tree root growth from the spring can also cause sewer backup issues as roots are drawn toward the sewer line as a source of nutrition. Have a plumber inspect your sewer line pipes to let you know if you are susceptible to a sewer line backup problem or if damage has already occurred. In either situation, your plumber will be able to help you determine the best treatment option for proper drain cleaning.

Things To Do Beofre You Call For Service

• Make a list of plumbing problems.

• Try to reproduce the problem - it's always frustrating if the problem doesn't happen when the plumber arrives.

• Locate any of the original paperwork to help identify the model and part numbers.

• Group plumbing problems together and make one call.