Commercial restaurants and the entire hospitality industry produces tons of waste every day. This waste goes through commercial garbage disposals to break them down into smaller pieces. However, sometimes, these garbage disposals can become clogged and you would need commercial appliances repair services to fix it. If you want to fix it yourself, find out how you can unclog your commercial garbage disposal or prevent it in the future.
What Causes A Commercial Garbage Disposal To Clog?
To learn how you can unclog your commercial garbage disposal, you first need to know what causes it. There are several reasons for commercial garbage disposal clogging. To begin with, it could be due to a lack of water. Commercial garbage disposals use water to help break down and pass the leftovers. This means that a sufficient supply of water is required for the food items to pass through the drainage system.
If the water supply happens to be low, the leftover items will become stuck. With time, the leftovers will sit above one another resulting in an accumulation that will clog the garbage disposal. Therefore, the first thing you need to make sure is that your commercial garbage disposal is receiving an adequate water supply to prevent clogging.
Furthermore, it is quite often that employees tend to throw hard items like egg shells, bones, etc. into commercial disposal. If you were to go through the user’s manual, you would know that manufacturers strongly suggest removing such items before throwing the food into the garbage disposal. The reason is that garbage disposals are not meant to break down hard leftover items.
Even if they did, it would require an additional amount of water supply to help them pass through. This will create clogging problems one way or the other, reducing the overall lifespan and performance of the appliance.
How To Prevent A Commercial Garbage Disposal From Clogging?
To prevent your commercial garbage disposal from clogging, make sure that you clean it thoroughly regularly. Commercial garbage disposals deal with hundreds and thousands of food items on a daily basis, which takes a toll on their performance. And since not every food item is the same in terms of the ingredients used, employees should be asked to remove items like shells and bones prior to putting food down the garbage disposal.
Moreover, you should use cold water and not heat during the grinding process. Plus, you should also run some cold water down the drainage system for at least 30 seconds post disposing of the food items.
How To Fix A Clogged Commercial Garbage Disposal?
Preventing clogs in a commercial garbage disposal is easier than fixing it. Sometimes, it can be easy to unclog commercial disposal but in other cases, it will drain your energy if the food items are stuck deep down. To fix a clogged commercial garbage disposal, you should first disconnect it from the main power.
You should make sure the machine is off as it could lead to serious injuries if it accidentally turns on while your hand is down in the disposal. Use a flashlight to take a look inside the garbage disposal. If you find a blockage, use needle-nose pliers to remove it.
If that does not solve the problem, you will need to get underneath the sink and use an Allen wrench or hex wrench to loosen the bolt located in the center of the unit. Turn the wrench back and forth until you feel the resistance is decreasing.
Run the water and see if the clog goes away. It might be that you need to put in slightly more effort if the clog is severe. And while you are at that, you should also check the P or S-shaped fitting for clogs. It is usually located just past the disposal discharge pipe.
And finally, keep in mind that you should not use any types of acids, sharp items, or extreme force while working to remove the clogging. You can easily end up damaging the blades or the drainage pipes, which could be costly to replace. If you are unsuccessful at unclogging the disposal, consult an expert.
Final Word
In the end, commercial garbage disposals do become clogged with time. Sometimes, you can prevent it, while other times you cannot. However, if you face a similar situation, follow the tips mentioned above or call a commercial garbage disposal repair Alexandria service to help fix the issue.
