Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Our Waste King 8000 replaced an Insinkerator Badger 5 that cracked and began leaking. This review is for people in the same situation, and it's written to help you get your do-it-yourself installation right the first time. I'll refer to your old Badger as the "ISE." *** SUMMARY: Either buy the 3101, then throw it out the next day and do it all over again when you're dissatisfied with the appearance, or don't buy the 3101 and do it right the first time. *** Your ISE was probably mounted with a 3-bolt mounting system. You'll be able to tell by looking at the point where the ISE meets the sink. If you see three long bolts pointing straight up and down, spread out evenly around the cylinder, then that's what you have. This Waste King model is an EZ-mount, which is a different kind of mount. So you have two choices. First choice: order the "3101 ISE Adapter Kit," which allows an EZ-mount Waste King to attach to an existing 3-bolt mount. This is definitely the easiest solution. HOWEVER, a couple things to consider. One, in the process of removing the ISE, you'll probably twist the mount enough to cause the old plumber's putty to begin disintegrating. If you have any sort of perfectionist streak in you or personal pride about your handyman abilities, you'll want to go to the hardware store to get new plumber's putty (about $2), disassemble the mount, clean it, and then put it all back together with a new layer of putty. This is almost exactly the same amount of work as if you'd just removed the 3-bolt mount, thrown it away, and freshly mounted the Waste King. Two, if you use the existing 3-bolt system, then your sink drain's rim will continue to say "IN-SINK-ERATOR" even though you probably now hate that brand for manufacturing a Badger that failed after only a few years. Toss it all out and you'll have a brand-new rim that proudly proclaims your new allegiance to Waste King. Second choice: Skip the 3101 and switch to EZ-mount. I recommend this. It's not as hard as it might sound. You'll need to unscrew three bolts, then carefully pry out the metal ring that holds the whole thing in place. Toss it all out and you should be left with a sink drain hole that you can scrub clean (but resist the urge to turn on the faucet at this point!). Follow the easy instructions that came with the Waste King, and you'll be done in about 30 minutes. As for the disposal itself compared to the Badger, a few things to consider: - The sink opening is narrower. This means you'll need to chop that brown apple in half first. - The Waste King makes a very brief, scary sound when you start it up. You'll think for a moment you dropped a spoon down the drain. But it's literally about a tenth of a second long, and the owner's manual says it's normal. Ours seems to have loosened up after a few days, and now it's barely noticeable. - The new disposal is slightly quieter. I got used to a certain sound change that told me everything was (or all too often wasn't) ground up in the ISE. I'll need to retrain my ear. - The disposal is a few inches longer than the Badger. But the connections are all at the same height (unless you do the 3101 method, which moves the connections about a half-inch lower). You might want to save the black L-shaped drain pipe from the Badger, because it has already been cut to the right size for the connection to your drain system. All in all, we're very happy we took the time to investigate alternatives rather than reflexively ordering another Badger. The Waste King is a good product.