Customer Reviews

InSinkErator Badger 5 1/2 HP Food Waste Disposer

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(47)

 

 

I installed my Badger 5 two years ago. I'm a single homeowner so it was used lightly. After grinding some onion scraps I noticed a leak under the sink. After careful inspection I noticed the disposal developed a crack in the housing unit. A quick call to InSinkErator revealed the unit was still under warrantee. I had a repair person out the following day who replaced the entire disposal with a Badger 5XP (he said they've stopped making the Badger 5). The problem was resolved quickly and to my satisfaction. My only concern with this unit is how or why it developed the crack with such light usage.

We replaced our 10-year old disposer with the Badger 5. It was easy to install and works just fine. I don't know if there could be anything better on the more expensive ones. One thing to notice is that it does not come with a wired-in power cord. So you have to get a cord with a plug and connect it to the unit (I used the one from the old disposer). It is easy to do; just like wiring a light fixture in.

We have just had our 3 year old unit fail completely in the same way Paul did.

The plastic housing is cracking. Of course this is not something that can be fixed by replacing a washer or something simple.

When I phoned their customer service, I was told that as it was out of the 2 year warranty, they were not interested. While I can understand this for minor problems, it is pretty bad when the unit is completely worthless such a small time after installation.

Emerson products might have been good 20 years ago, but they sure aren't now.

Unless you like doing plumbing repairs, steer clear.

My Badger 5 worked as expected until just after the 2-year warranty expired. Then while searching for the source of water under the sink and odd bits of crust on the disposer, I discovered several cracks in the grind chamber housing. When I filled the sink with water and cranked up the disposer, it became something very like a feature at a kids' waterpark -- but much less fun.

ISE responded to my complaint with an offer of a discount on a new Badger but would not provide any assurance that its design or manufacture had been changed to address this apparently common problem. I'm used to disposers lasting for decades, not months, and don't enjoy spending time off under my kitchen sink, so I'm going to try a Waste King this time around.

Here's another one for the list of cracked housings on the Badger 5 model. The unit is only about 4 years old and started leaking from the bottom of the unit. Service had me run through the usual and never told me that this was a common problem with this model. I would not buy another insinkerator model at this point, there are too many other good products on the market. The replacement model for the Badger 5 is the Badger 5 XP if anyone is interested.

I own a property management business in Oregon and we have a number of properties that require appliances all at once. We frequently purchase several of these to put into our custom homes. My recent experience with the Insinkerator disposal by Badger was very frustrating.

Our tenant was experiencing a dripping under the sink several times, and calling our maintenance person, we found there was a very slight crack along the base of the disposal itself, lenghwise. Clearly a problem with a brand new installed disposal.

I was directed to Brandon in Manila, Phillipines. I found that providing the serial number they begin the warranty from the date the item was manufactured.

I was put on hold for 20 minutes and had to call the tenant twice to get information confirming the Badger product.

Their fix was for me to take it to a warranty center to have it repaired. I found their non compliance to be very frustrating even if the employee was pleasant. They have obviously found a way to avoid making their warranty anything more valuable than the letters on the box.

Our first Insinkerator Badger 5 lasted five years before the internal seals gave out and the unit began leaking. Like so many appliances today, "they don't build them like they used to." That said, the Badger 5 served us well for the five years it lasted. It's not too noisy, does a good job of grinding and is reasonably priced. My wife got some very small gravel lodged in the unit and it was easy to un-jam.

The really good news is the unit is extremely easy to replace with the same or a similar Insinkerator disposal. The quick-release cam-lock sink attachment system is quite well designed. I purchased a new Insinkerator Badger 5 and had it wired, installed and fully operational in half an hour using the old unit's previously installed cam-lock and external wiring. And believe me when I say I'm no master plumber!

Am I happy our original Insinkerator Badger 5 unit died after just five years? No, but you get what you pay for.

Jim

Installation is straight forward and the quality of the materials is very good. The problem is their idea of impellers or blades. There are just 2 moving parts that grind things up and they more or less bash the food into smaller pieces. If you put anything small such as the ends of a carrot or an apple core, the initial bashing works, but very shortly the remains of the food spin to the outer edged beyond the reach of the impellers and it just stays there. Turning the unit on and off and on and off 5-6 times will eventually work but this is not even close to the quality of grinding I saw on much older models. They could have solved this problem with the simple addition of another impeller (cost about 78 cents) but as it is you will be cleaning out bits of food a lot.

UPDATE: They seem to have cut the warranty in half since mine was purchased just a few months ago. Not a good sign.

I have had THREE Badger units in the past 10 years. In my opinion they are junk. All of the above 4-5 star reviews are RECENT installs. All the lousy review are from users that had the units for a while. Do yourself a favor and get a different brand. You'll be sorry otherwise. Just my opinion.

I was satisified with the Badger 5 by Insinkerator, so I ordered an exact replacement. The old one was still working whereas the motor was good but the case just wore out. Busted right thru the aluminum side wall. I don't know how long it was in service as it was in the house when I bought it 10 years ago. Total rust out of the steel case teeth exposed the aluminum to the direct blast of the ground up material. I put ice cubes into the unit occationally to clean things up and give it a little work out, until one day...The cubes came out the side of case.
Another thing I did which I do not recomend now was to put orange peels into the unit and grind them partially, leaving the remains in the unit beause it smelled nice and I felt it was sanitizing things. Don't do this. The acids left are probably what caused so much rust.
I don't think you can by a better brand and I am satisfied.