So my genius roommate accidentally broke some glass which got partially washed down the sink, which apparently broke the disposal–but that’s a different problem.
Here’s my question: Can the glass in the sink effect get into the dishwasher in any way? I ask only because our dishwasher seemed to be making a slightly different noise than usual–almost a ticking like noise–and I was wondering if that’s possible, or if it’s just me being paranoid?
No.
The only way the two could (reasonably) have anything to do with each other is if the broken glass is causing a problem with the water draining. More then likely the water drains from the dishwasher into the disposal. But that would only happen during the drain cycle.
Has the dishwasher been making the ticking noise on more then one occasion? That usually just means something is rocking back and forth.
Since this already has a serious answer, I was going to make a pun about how dishwashers bleed just as easily whether they’re cut by broken glass in the sink or when they’re performing other activities, but now I’m wondering how breaking a glass in the sink can create a machine that washes dishes for you. Must be some kinda sink. You got that new quantum physics improbability drive on there?
I’ll be here all week.
I’m thinking maybe this is an affect vs effect joke, maybe?
You lost me.
Yup, that’s all it was.
If that.
No one appreciates terrible humor anymore 
It gave me a chuckle.
The only reason I came in here was to do something with effect/affect. I not only appreciate terrible humor, I practice it.
Is that like one of those “I’m just just the president of Acme Exploding Road Runner Traps Imporium, I’m also a client” things?
Any news on the strange ticking sound, Red? Maybe you need a priest…
Your disposer must have really been on its last gasp of life if some broken glass killed it off. Normally, glass is no match for the disposer’s steel impellers and grind rings and it just slams around until it’s broken down small enough to exit through the drain.
Likewise the dishwasher. Unless some of the broken glass was deliberately put into the dishwasher, there’s no real-world chances of chunks of glass getting from inside the disposer, back through the air gap and drain hose and into the dishwasher.
Besides, “ticking” is not a noise I’d associate with hard debris in a dishwasher. A few months ago, some gravel came along for the ride on some picnic dishes and made a hell of a nasty noise in my dshwasher, but it was more an expensive-sounding grinding squeal than a tick.
The cure was simple enough (hah!) Just remove the middle and lower spray arms, about 14 screws with different-sized torx heads, and some other parts to reach the wash pump’s input screen and food grinder. Remove the rocks and a toothpick, reassemble it all, and it was good as new. It really took longer to wrangle the tools than it did to actually tear the thing down, extract the junk and reassemble, but I was flying by the seat of my pants with no instructions and no idea what tool would be needed for the next level.
BTW: the “old wives’ tale” about feeding some broken glass or a pile of ice to a disposer to “sharpen the blades” is utter bunk. You can no more sharpen the impeller in a disposer than you can sharpen a hammer.
You’re right that it’s not going to ‘sharpen the blades’ but feeding ice (or fruit pits) down the disposer will help to clean the inside. It’ll scrape all the crud off the inside (including the top) of the disposer.
If it was installed properly (with an air gap), then no. If someone kludged the install so that back flow is possible, then maybe. There are two ways to avoid back flow from the disposal to the dishwasher. One is an anti-siphon valve which would look like a little cylinder sticking out of your counter. The other is just to run the drain hose all the way up to base of the counter and then back down again to the disposal inlet in a sort of loop.
So I guess you can do a visual inspection and see if it was installed properly.