When I was growing up, these seemed to be ubiquitous and I never liked them. They seemed overcomplicated for the purpose, and created a gross and smelly area under the sink that needed more cleaning.
I haven’t had one in years, as a simple sink mesh does the same job. But I don’t really know how other people are. Are under sink garbage disposals still common, and commonly actually used by people here?
What maintenance? I had to fish broken glass out of mine once, but otherwise I’ve never had to mess with it.
Very small things, but still things I needed to remember to do. Running it every day. Making sure to clean it every week. (Ice or garbage disposal cleaner) If I didn’t clean it, even after running it every day, it would smell. When my partner would clog it, I would have to fix it. (Again, it took little time.) Making sure nothing fell in there before I ran it every time. I would often find my measuring spoons or a fork in there. (It doesn’t really seem to matter to my family how many times I tell them not to leave small things in the sink.)
I recognize this is very little and it’s basically nothing for most people, but sometimes I have a very hard time keeping up with things and the garbage disposal is very out of sight, out of mind. The sink strainer is very visible.