BY "GS", I meant "GD" (garbage disposal). I have no idea what I was thinking!

Is your new sink considerably deeper than the old sink? If so and if the waste drain wasn't lowered to accommodate the new deeper sink that may be your drainage problem. The plumber should have discovered that when he installed the GD.

I don't know about the flange, but I've read somewhere that with new garbage disposals the rubber part can come out for cleaning. Just a guess.

Call your plumber back up and describe your drainage problem and see if he agrees that the waste drain should be lowered. I think that is an expensive fix because the back of the sink cabinet has to be cut out, the dry wall opened up, the waste drain cut and lowered and re-assembled and the dry wall replaced. I've read on the plumbing forum that the cost for a plumber to do this is anywhere from several hundred dollars to the highest I've read of $1800. It may be a harder job with the sink already installed.

Also, are your shut off valves now behind the deeper sink? I'm worried that we may have to lower those also to be able to quickly shut off the water to the sink in an emergency without having to try and reach behind the sink.

Let us know what you find out. I have the same concerns about our kitchen sink waste drain height but we haven't started renovation yet.

Good luck.

jb

What GD do you have?

Here's a silly question as well...could you have the flange in upside down? My dh installed our GD and when I came home something didn't seem right. Water was backing up so I stuck my hand in and tried to shove and fiddle with the rubber. The flange came out like yours and I noticed dh had it in upside down.

Once I righted the flange the water flowed freely. It's stiff still though, so waste doesn't just fall down the drain yet.

yeah, the flanges are pretty stiff and rigid initially. they loosen up over time. our new one does the same thing sometimes.

try taking it out and flexing the rubber a bit, opening and closing it a few times, to kind of stretch it out.

and, yes, they're easily removed now, for cleaning. the fact that they used to be attached was a negative, since they'd get all gooky and start to smell after a while, so most manufacturers are making them like yours is now.

Thank you all for your fast responses. I will try all of your suggestions:

1. Make sure the flange isnÂt in upside down!
2. Try to stretch out the rubber a bit.
3. See if the waste drain needs to be lowered.

IÂm really hoping it isnÂt the waste drain. I went from a 6" to a 10" deep sink, so IÂm afraid that might be it.

Thankfully, the shut off valves are still easily accessible.

Chrissiemw, I have an Insinkerator Evolution Compact.

Thanks again!

Gardenburgher...

I have the same GD. Hopefully the fix for you is as easy as it was for me!

I almost threw a fit when the water wasn't going down. Then I started fiddling with the flange and noticed it was in upside down. I was so mad, thinking that dh installed it wrong and it was permanent but then it came out with a small tug...we didn't realize they make them removable these days. Thank goodness for that though!

When did they start making the flange removeable? My SIL & I both bought Insinkerators 5-6 years ago & both of us have the same slow draining problem (not so much a problem as an irritation). Hers was an add-on to an existing sink & mine was installed by a plumber as part of a total renovation.

"yeah, the flanges are pretty stiff and rigid initially. they loosen up over time. our new one does the same thing sometimes.
try taking it out and flexing the rubber a bit, opening and closing it a few times, to kind of stretch it out."

This is the problem I'm having. If I hold a flap back with a utensil it works fine.

Any other tips and tricks for loosening it up? It's been in use for three months with no improvement.

This is one reason I have a batch feed disposal (versus continuous feed) - no flange on the batch feeds. Doesn't help the OP, but perhaps for anyone reading this thread looking to buy a disposal may want to consider a batch feed disposal instead.

jb1176 is likely spot on with his/her assessment. A newer deeper sink will require that the drain pipe going into the wall will need to be lowered. This too was discovered after the fact and required cutting the back of the sink cabinet and drywall, lowering the waste pipe, then patching the drywall and fashioning a new piece of backing for the sink cabinet.

Here's a before after showing the height difference as well as how the job of incorporating the dishwasher should be done. The first job was a disaster not to code at all.

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by Quadesl on Sat, May 10, 14 at 11:10

The second picture shows we're in a locality that does not permit dishwashers to evacuate into disposals, but have to be trapped separately. Interesting.

We had the same problem - it's the flange not the drain. We cut a little bit of the rubber from the flange to make it flow more freely.

Based on an old thread on GW about this issue, we also cut a little from the center of the flange and the problem was completely solved.

"The second picture shows we're in a locality that does not permit dishwashers to evacuate into disposals, but have to be trapped separately. Interesting."

My plumber told me if it was done by the owner it would be OK to go dishwasher to GD. If done by a licensed plumber a separate trap is necessary. Probably the best way to do it regardless.

Glad someone has mentioned this.

I happened to be at my daughter's yesterday. She has my sink and GD. Looked at the old flange, and compared to my new one, it seems to be made of more rubber than the new one at home. The new one seems to be more of a plastic mix and far less resilience. Her flange wasn't as dirty either.

Have the same problem with having to push food down the disposal. Liquids aren't an issue. Cut the tips off of every other "rubber" tine a while ago, didn't make a difference, but didn't pose any problems for use either. Maybe they have true rubber ones for replacement.

As for the grimy buildup on the flange, I think it is worse not being a solid part of the GD. The void around the sink opening just acts as a great place for gunk to find. Wash mine in the dishwasher or just clean by hand. It is the ring edge that is worse on both the flange and GD. Never had an odor problem with any GD and never thought about gunk under there until messing with the new one. Although I've used the ole citrus trick forever once in a while and did clean the flange at the same time.

Mine wasn't draining quickly. Like sjhockeyfan, I just trimmed a little bit of the rubber. Tiny bits at a time, but it really helped with the flow.

Mine doesn't drain well either, new Insinkerator Evolution. I'm ok with solids not going down easily, but wish the water drained better, I have to turn on the GD to get it to drain. I have noticed that the flange is less pliable than my old one, which was only a few years old. I'm going to trim the tips as suggested, thanks!

As far as the flange being removable, I love that feature, what took them so long! The GD in our old house used to freak me out, it never smelled, thanks to lots of lemon and baking soda, but it would get gunky and gross. On the 2 we have had at this house, I just pull the flange out whenever I deep clean the sink and clean the opening. I either clean the flange myself or toss it in the dishwasher, no more gunk!

"My plumber told me if it was done by the owner it would be OK to go dishwasher to GD. If done by a licensed plumber a separate trap is necessary. Probably the best way to do it regardless."

I've never seen a building code that had different rules for homeowners than for professionals, however, an inspector would probably be much more inclined to turn a blind eye toward a technical code violation by a homeowner than that of a professional.

I know this is an older thread, but I just replaced a double sink with a single farmhouse style sink of the same depth, and I'm having the same problem with very slow drainage of water when the water is running. It seems to be that air is trapped in the single drain and can't get out, as it could with the double drains of a double sink. Turning on the disposal while the water is running seems to cause the water to swirl and allow the air in the drain to escape. I love my new single-bowl sink, but the slow draining is a bother, and I hate having to turn on the disposal every time I run water in the sink. Is there a fix for this?

Is it vented properly?

I don't think the issue is the single sink. Mine doesn't do that.

I just had a plumber come and snake the drain on a single bowl sink. Even though we had snaked it, the plumber did a much better job. We thought it might be a venting issue, but the drain was the issue.

Thank you so much for your responses. This little issue is stealing my joy in my new sink! This was a retrofit/replacement, so the venting wasn't changed. Do the venting needs of a single-drain sink differ from that of a double-drain sink? Does it need an air admittance valve? How would I check to see that it's vented properly? I don't think the drain is stopped up, since it ran perfectly before the sink was replaced. It runs fine once the disposal is started or if I lift one of the flaps of the GD flange to allow air to escape. I'm baffled.