Handyman Hint To Replace Garbage Disposal Splash Guard
Look into your kitchen sink down at the garbage disposal. You should see a black folded rubbery thing with a hole in the middle of it. This is called a splash guard and allows it so that you can push food down into the garbage disposal, but keeps flying food from exiting the disposal grinding chamber. I know I'm guilty of scraping food off my plate into the sink and, after it piles up in the sink, pushing it into the disposal for grinding. Most people push the scraps on down with whatever is in their hand...a fork, knife, or spoon. Well if you fork or knife is pointed in such a way that it contacts the splash guard, it will tear.
Replacing a splash guard is done frequently by this handyman, but the job is easily performed by the average homeowner.
Unplug the disposal to stop the flow of power to the unit, even though the switch if in the off position. The disposal will need to be lowered from the sink bottom by at least a few inches to free the splash guard, as it is sandwiched between the top of the disposal and the underside of the sink. You will need to relieve the tension at the discharge pipe at the side of the disposal, so either remove the pipe via the two screws at the side of the disposal, or remove the other end of the piping further down the drain via the slipnuts. I use a small screwdriver to loosen the mounting collar at the top of the disposal.
Once the collar is loose, I place my knee under the disposal to set it on for the few seconds it will take to remove the old splash guard and place the new one on top of it.
After you have the new guard on, just tighten the collar and reinstall the discharge pipe.