The first one lasted over two years sitting outside and transporting all of the melted chocolate ice cream to its forever home.  But no more.  The garbage disposal macerator I introduced here met its match after some rain.  At a campground with a very soggy site, it got a little too much water into its open bottom.

Of course, I’d not been terribly happy with the design of the Badger disposal I bought locally.  It was easy enough to get the 3″ coupling over the inlet, but the tailpiece was kind of flimsy, and the power cord (not included) connected with wire nuts at the open bottom of the unit, where they could easily get wet.

Last fall, I posted about another brand/model with excellent reviews on Amazon and a better price than what I paid for my original one.  Taking my own advice, that’s what I bought when I needed a replacement:

[amazon_textlink asin=’B0014X96YS’ text=’B0014X96YS’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’rvne-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’31884ade-32f2-11e8-9f8f-2f6cdc67b7a3′

First Take

I have to laugh a little at some of the names involved with these things.  Unlike the first one, it won’t Badger you or your…uh…stuff.  It’s not in-sink, so we wouldn’t use an In-Sink-erator.  We want the best for dealing with our waste, and while there’s no Waste Queen out there, we can get a Waste King.

At under $60, delivered next-day (yes, my tanks were full), unboxing this model was kind of interesting.  The body is a lot smaller in diameter (height about the same), meaning it won’t take up as much bay space.  It’s a kind of textured grey/white housing instead of brown.  It isn’t quite as obnoxious sitting outside, but won’t let me ignore a leak should one occur–brown on white will definitely stand out.  Of course, for sanitary reasons, knowing if you do have a leak is a good thing.

Unlike the old one, the bottom is completely closed.  Water, dirt, and moisture won’t be able to get at the motor windings and bearings.  It also comes with its own cord, with a standard 15-amp 3-prong molded plug on it.  So far, so good.

Getting it Set Up

So here’s the bad news.  The outside diameter of the inlet is a little bit bigger than a 3″ pipe fitting, so I couldn’t just move everything over.  With full tanks, I needed a solution right away, and wasn’t about to go spend double the money on another Badger.

A trip to the local hardware store netted a 3″ rubber pipe coupling, which had enough give to make it over the disposal’s inlet.  A 3″ sewer cleanout fitting was used in the other end of the rubber fitting to connect the rest of the stuff I used previously.

Trial by Fire

With full tanks, it wouldn’t get the luxury of test run with relatively clean water.  Fingers crossed, I plugged it in and got ready to open the drain valves.  Right away, I noticed it was a lot quieter–would it do the job as well?  Sure seems to, taking over 200 gallons of black and grey water to the sewer connection about 30 feet away in just a couple of minutes.