Disposer leak at basket. The snap ring not fully engaged.

[Terry]

Here was a disposer leak at the connection between the disposer rubber seal and the basket, caused by the installer not seating the snap ring in the groove.

You can see on the right side the snap ring sticking out, and on the left how it's hidden. Everything looked fine to the handyman that had installed it, but water was weeping past the seal. It was a little tough to see, but there it is, an unhappy snap ring wanting to be down within and keeping it's place in the universe.

How it should look.

 

[hj]

How in the world did it get ABOVE the mounting flange. It is usually hard enough to open it enough so if fits over the "strainer"part?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

How in the world did it get ABOVE the mounting flange. It is usually hard enough to open it enough so if fits over the "strainer"part?

That's how I found it, and then I took it off and reseated it, and then took one more look. It was hard to see under there, but seeing the ring in the wrong location I was able to loosen the screws and snap it in.
The homeowners also told me the contractor had charged them twice for the tile floor in the kitchen and then quit taking their calls. He had billed them twice for it and they hadn't looked close enough at the billings.