Few appliances in the kitchen get as much hard use (and abuse) as garbage disposal. This is an essential tool in most kitchens, but you usually don’t realize just how important it is until it stops working. Most garbage disposals are self-contained units with non-removable housings. Aside from connecting a cord or making drain hookups, the only parts you need to assemble or disassemble are at the top, where the disposal mounts to the sink. These are the parts you have to deal with when you need to remove garbage disposal.
And while you can’t get inside the main unit of most disposals, it helps to know what’s down there when you need to free a jam or troubleshoot other problems. This also takes the mystery out of fishing around inside the unit with your hand when you need to extract something (only when the power is off, of course).