My comparison of the Insinkerator Evolution Excel VS the Waste King Legend 9980.

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BrettS

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The badger 5 that came with our house 3 and half years ago cracked the other night and started spewing water and small food chucks throughout the cabinet under our sink, so I figured it was probably time to replace it;)

After doing quite a bit of research online I came down to two choices... the Evolution Excel and the Legend 9980. The Evolution Excel seemed to get great reviews, but it was a bit over $300, the Legend 9980 got good reviews and wasn't much more than a third of the price of the ISE model. Unfortunately I couldn't seem to find any reviews from anyone who had actually seen and used both units. So, I'm posting this for those who come after me:)

wasteking-9980.jpg



I liked the price and the lifetime warranty of the Legend 9980, so I wound up purchasing one and I installed it. I did not like it. It was quieter than the badger that it replaced, but not significantly quieter... additionally the motor in the legend spins faster, so it had more of a high pitched whine to it. But the biggest issue I had with it was the fact that the splash guard was a terrible design. It's a completely flat piece of rubber divided into 8 sections with a small hole in the middle. The problem is that the hole is too small and water can't drain into it fast enough... so as you're running water full blast into the sink as you do dishes you get a few inches of water in the bottom of the sink... this tended to leave rings around the sink and bits of food on the side of the sink that normally would have just washed into the drain. Additionally it seemed that the rubber wasn't quite flexible enough and *everything* needed to be pushed into the disposal with a spoon or something. With my old badger and with the Evolution Excel a lot of food will fall into the drain on it's own, or under a stream of water.

evolutionessential_med.jpg


So, I wound up purchasing an Evolution Excel instead... This disposal is *much* better made. It feels much more solid and ISE really did a good job with the sound insulation. This disposal is *much* quieter than both my old badger and the Legend... you really can't hear much of it over the sound of the running water. Additionally the splash guard is designed better and allows the drain to keep up with the running water. In my opinion, this unit is definitely worth the price difference.

Here are a few of my thoughts on each unit...

Legend 9980 - Pros - I thought the drain assembly was slightly easier to install than the ISE version. The drain is nice and wide. Because the splash guard is built into the disposal rather than being removable you get a full 3" diameter drain... the ISE has a removable splash guard, so you only get about 2.75" to push food into. This is definitely a better unit than the badger it replaced for not too much more money. This unit comes with a power cord pre-installed. If you have an outlet for your disposal under your sink you won't have to worry about wiring anything.

Legend 9980 - Cons - Despite Waste King's claims, this is not a quiet disposal. Like I said above, it was quieter than my badger, but maybe only by 10 or 15%. The housing is cheap plastic and as near as I can tell the 'sound insulation' is simply a piece of 1/2 inch foam rubber wrapped around the unit under the cheap plastic housing. Also, like I mentioned above, the splash guard is poorly designed and makes it difficult to get food into the disposal and causes the sink to back up a bit when you run the water at full blast. The pre-installed power cord is a bit of a pain to remove if you want to hard wire the unit.

Evolution Excel - Pros - Very well built and very quiet. The housing is metal and high quality plastic. The splash guard works well... it doesn't allow water to back up in the sink, however, it still allows a little water to pool in the drain to help block the sound of the disposal. Food also seems to enter the disposal a bit more easily through this splash guard. This unit has a three stage grinder, which is supposed to chop the food into smaller pieces. I'm not sure how much of a pro this really is as I never had any clogged drains with my single stage badger before this, but the legend 9980 only has a single stage grinder.

Evolution Excel - Cons - The splash guard is removable (which isn't so bad in itself), but because of that it fits inside the drain and you have a slightly narrower opening than the Legend 9980. The $300 price tag was a bit steeper than I would have liked to pay, but I believe it is worth the price. Finally, this unit only has a 7 year warranty compared to the lifetime warranty of the Legend 9980

One more bonus comparison... I also was able to see the Legend 8000 briefly, but I didn't install one. When I was looking online it wasn't totally clear to me how this unit compared to the 9980. After seeing it I can tell you that it is identical to the 9980 with the exception of the fact that it uses an 'EZ mount' system instead of the 3 bolt mount of the 9980. The 3 bolt mount really wasn't difficult to install, so I'm not sure that the 'EZ mount' could be that much easier. However, one important difference to note is the fact that this unit has a removable splash guard. That, combined with the fact that the whole drain is slightly more narrow because it's threaded for the EZ mount system leaves you with only 2.5" to push food through. This is too small in my opinion. The splash guard is also designed as a cone instead of flat like in the 9980. This may allow it to work better, but like I said, I never installed this unit, so I can't confirm that.

Hopefully this will be useful to someone else trying to make the same decision I was struggling with.

Brett
 
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Terry

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Most plumbers prefer the Insinkerator products over the WasteKing.

evolutionessential_med.jpg


The WasteKing does spin too fast, they sound like a jet taking off.
Parts are also easier to find for Insinkerator and they assemble easier.
 
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hj

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I call the Waste King and GE disposers "pencil sharpeners" because that is what they sound like. In the "old days" Waste King was the better disposer, but now, ISE has surpassed it. The ISE mounting unit is far superior to the Waste King or any other "non ISE" brand. You also do NOT have to buy the most expensive ISE to get a very good performing unit. Even Badger Vs, despite your experience, often last 10 or more years.
 
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rogerdpack

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Trying to add to the discussion here, since google sent me straight here trying to compare 3-bolt and EZ mount waste kings :)

wasteking-mounting.jpg

Waste King mounts

I did see a comment somewhere that the Legend 8000's removable splash guard helps to keep some of the sound out, (as well as silverware of course LOL) FWIW. Though the EZ mount has more plastic parts, dunno if there'd be an eventual problem there, removable splash guard easier to clean or what not (or take off to try and see what is jamming the cogs)...

wasteking-8000.jpg
 
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Terry

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Every old disposer makes noise. People don't replace them unless they are so bad that they barely run anymore. Even the Badger 5 disposer when new is pretty quiet. The Essential and the Pro series by Insinkerator are very quiet.

In my experience the Waste King just spins too fast. They went for speed for sure, but it's a little frighteining too. I see how homeowners do their ratings on some of the sites. If it spins at all they're happy. The plumbers installing have different ideas. Every motor spins, so that doesn't get you an A+. That just means it isn't broken. The Insinkerator is a much better product in our opinon.

excelFront_lg.jpg

Insinkerator Excel. I also sell a lot of the ProCompacts, or Essential Compact.

What I consider an entry level disposer is the Badger 5
badger5_med.jpg
 

WorthFlorida

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The Badger series was always the entry level and favored by many builders because of the price points. I believe at one time there were three models 1, 3, & 5. The big difference between the Badger Series and and the higher end Insinkerators is the grinding chamber. The Badger series are made of a molded plastic/ceramic like material. I've seen many Kenmore models (Badger) brought back to the store because of a hole was punched out or the housing cracked. The upgrade models are all stainless steel. The grinding parts in the Badger units (at one time were) were steel, the upgrade units were stainless steel. When the budget is tight, the home was sold and the disposal needs to be replaced, or it's a rental unit, the $99 Badger wins over the $199 for the Evolution models.

A few years ago I put in an Insinkerator Evolution series unit attached to a stainless steel sink. It's so quiet you'll can hardly hear it run after it grinds up the food waste. It is very easy to accidentally leave is on.
 

Terry

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A few years ago I put in an Insinkerator Evolution series unit attached to a stainless steel sink. It's so quiet you'll can hardly hear it run after it grinds up the food waste. It is very easy to accidentally leave is on.

A few years ago, a client called me back because she couldn't hear the Evolution running. It was, just very quietly.
 

Robert Berg

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A few years ago, a client called me back because she couldn't hear the Evolution running. It was, just very quietly.
I can definitely verify how quiet it is. When i installed ours a few years back, I was shocked at how quiet it was and called the wife in to "hear" it.... when I turned it on, there was a HUGE crash and rattle, as the disposer fell off the mount and crashed onto the cabinet floor. Turns out I didn't "click" the disposal unit into the mount completely and it vibrated free... I've never lived that one down....
:)
I just moved to a new house with no disposal and am now looking to install a new one. Does anybody know the difference between the Excel and The Supreme? I'm not seeing any comparisons out there...
 

Dj2

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Waste King is a better bargain FOR LANDLORDS and HOMEOWNERS ON A BUDGET than ISE badger.

Compare 3/4 HP Waste King 3200 and 3/4 HP ISE Badger 5xp.

Waste King is a better choice, in things that matter the most:

Price: Waste King is less.
Warranty: Waste King is longer (8 yrs vs. 3 yrs).
Installation: Waste King is faster and easier to install (no ring).
Electrical connection: Waste King comes with a cord, ISE does not.
Noise: Waste King is quieter.

When I started renting homes, in the 70s, I used the badgers. Later, after they failed so quickly, I switched to WKs and never looked at ISE ever since.

Of course, if you want to spend double the money, the results may be different. Generally, landlords don't want to.
 

Plumber's Friend

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I've been using ISE's since the 60's when I helped my dad on moonlighting jobs. I put Badger 5's in all my units and higher end machines in my personal residence. I tried the Home Depot knockoffs a few times, but didn't think they were worth the savings. I never change the mounting hardware unless there is a problem or I have the sink out for some reason. I love the bayonet mount. Everything is done in a few minutes. The cord can be used several times or it can be hard wired (local codes permitting). I use pigtails whenever possible.

I bought a property with Waste Kings installed. Everything was foreign to me and seemed much harder. As they failed, I replaced them all with ISE's and have never looked back. I may not have given them a fair chance, but it is much simpler to keep one brand in inventory.

I have noticed that the Badger 5's seem to be failing faster over the past 5 or 10 years. That business with water leaking out the bottom and messing up the cabinet is annoying. I've attributed it to the use of plastic in the grinding chamber, but I don't actually recall looking at an old one, because they never seemed to do this - maybe they've always been plastic.

I don't use the better models in rentals because tenants and their children are always doing things to try my patience (gravel, bottle caps, shot glasses) and the more it costs, the longer it takes me to cool down. I wish I could find replacement plugs locally for less than $7. Tenants lose (or take) them frequently.
 

Flapper

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I don't like ISE because their crap is so overpriced.

I installed a waste king legend series 1001 to replace a badger that destroyed itself (the disk and bottom of chamber rusted thoroughly and shattered into pieces). It costed about $60. 1/2 HP; badger was 1/3. I was going to get the 1/3HP one for $50 but the 1/2 was only a little more. I'm happy with it.
 

SteveW

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I put in an Incinerator Evolution Excel a number of years ago and for me at least it was a good investment.
Prior disposers always seemed to get overwhelmed by potato or carrot peels and would cause blockages during the holidays when doing a lot of cooking.

The triple-grind action puts out such small particles that I have not had a single blocked pipe since putting it in.
 

Terry

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And here is the recall on many Waste King disposers

https://terrylove.com/forums/index....garbage-disposals-due-to-impact-hazard.70212/

Hazard:
A metal component inside the disposal can break off and come out of the disposal during use, posing an impact hazard.

Remedy:
Replace

Recall date:
April 11, 2017

Remedy:
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled garbage disposals and contact Anaheim Manufacturing to arrange for a free replacement disposal to be installed at no cost to the consumer.
 

Terry

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waste-king-8000-leak.jpg


I installed this disposer twice last week and couldn't get it to stop leaking from the connection for the drain. The metal plate that held the drain to the disposer would let the flanged drain weep water there. Removing the parts and seeing how they fit, it was obvious that the sizing wasn't correct, when tightened down the drain it wouldn't stay tight enough to seal. The homeowner returned the disposer and I installed a Pro Insinkerator in it's place.

Wasteking 8000
I found the plastic sink drain to be very flimsy and difficult to install the disposer to.
While assembling the bolts to hold the keep to the drain, a few times they would drop into the outer cover and I had to fidget them out and try again. This was not designed with an installer in mind. I never have had an issue like that with Insinkerator. I rarely install Wasteking, and for the few I have, there have been issues. I won't bother to install them anymore. They do spin too fast, which is a common complaint by homeowners and are more difficult to install. I wasted a lot of time on this install because I had to drive to a hardware store and pick up a disposer that would work.
What a waste of time Wasteking.
 

Dj2

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Terry,
Did you put the rubber gasket in the discharge opening first, the plastic drain pipe second, metal retainer third and tighten the screws fourth?
 
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