Kitchens – Why do small vents at top of garbage disposal blow out water when sink drains

garbage-disposalkitchensventventing

I just finished replacing the mounting gasket of my In-Sink-Erator Badger 5 as I thought that was the cause of occasional water on the floor of the kitchen cabinet. Admittedly I never diagnosed the problem, I just figured it for an old, nasty and dried out gasket and maybe dried out plumbers putty.

Well while testing my installation I noticed water dripping off the unit. This happened after I plugged the drain and filled to about 2" (approximately 1 gal. of water) and then pulled the drain. Further investigation revealed this happens everytime I filled the sink and pulled the drain. It would drain for 2-3 seconds and then start spitting water out of 3 ports arrayed around the top rim, below the gasket bottom edge. It sounds like air vents out first, then as the drain line backs up a bit the water begins to blow out said vent holes.

Here is a photo of one of the holes
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I can't find anything about these holes online, I don't understand what they are for? It's weird because it seems like it IS part of the design to vent here, but then the water flows down the case and follows the through bolts which directs the water to the interior of the motor case – dangerous and destructive!

I'd like to know:

  1. Why this is happening?

  2. What the holes are for?

  3. If there is a common solution, what is it?

Best Answer

I ended up epoxying the holes closed and so far have not had any negative consequences.