MVS 35XP chamber vacuum sealer--unboxing photos

[horseflesh]

There's probably someone else out there thinking about buying this beast... I know I would have liked to see photos before I got mine. Enjoy.

http://imgur.com/a/qgmwN

Note that this is a special order that came without the printer. That shaved a good bit off the price, I was pleased. Send me a PM if you are interested in learning more about that.

[Docrjm]

Very envious, saving up the pennies, wife wants a a new couch and I want the vac sealer. We have a deal, I come up with 50% of couch and I can get the vac sealer

Edited September 13, 2013 by Docrjm (log)

[horseflesh]

I finally got the 35XP set up tonight. It was not hard with 2 people. Sadly my bag order isn't in yet so I can't do much yet. I'll try torturing some Ziplocks.

Here's a tip for future owners--this screwed me up and I thought I had a defective unit for a while!

When you do the calibration routine, read the instructions carefully, unlike me. During calibration, you see the pressure in mbar counting down. When it hits 0, YOU hit the Stop button. The machine won't stop itself, and if you let it keep going, it will keep pumping for 90 seconds and throw the "VACUUM TIME" error.

After you hit stop, open the lid and WAIT until the screen shows "SAVING DATA." This will take over 5 seconds... it takes longer than you'd think... it feels like a long time... but keep waiting.

When the machine does not have good calibration, it will misbehave. You MUST have a good calibration for the programs to work.

You will also see reference to the "conditioning program" in the manual. This is how you heat up the oil to drive off dissolved water. You are also supposed to do it upon first use. Actually finding the conditioning program is a little tricky though, it isn't under any of the utility menus. Look at page 32 of the manual. The conditioning routine is actually on the second page of program setup. Say you are on P01, the machine's default state. Keep pressing the down arrow until you get to the bottom of page 2, where you see program options:

VE SA CP AS SI IC LT

The CP here is the conditioning program. To activate it, use the down arrow to highlight it, then press the right arrow to toggle it on. Then, I think you hit Start or close the lid. Now, you might think this means that you have set P01 to always be the conditioning program, but that's not how it works. It runs once and clears itself.

IMHO conditioning should be an option in the same menu as Calibrate, but... whatever.

The black and white manual says to condition first; the glossy printed quick start says to calibrate first. I reckon that conditioning first isn't going to hurt, and might help, so that was how I did it.

[Docrjm]

Matt

Can you let me know the dimensions of the vac at the level of the feet, just wondering about trolley size that it might fit onto. Thanks in advance

Raymond

[horseflesh]

It looks like it is 15.25" wide, and 22" deep measuring the bottom of the cabinet. The center of the feet are set back about 1" from the edge of the cabinet.

Remember it does have a "belly" that pokes out over the front feet, for a total depth of about 24".

[horseflesh]

Here are a couple more developments in my 35XP story... I called Minipack this morning with a couple of questions. I talked to Jamal, who was very helpful. Again, this stuff might help future users so I thought I would share it.

Behavior of the Vacuum Time parameter

When setting up a program you will notice there is an extra "vacuum time" setting. When you hit 100% vacuum, you can have the pump remain on for longer, if you wish. Vacuum Time defaults to 0. But when you run a program with 100% vacuum, you'll notice that when the pump hits 100%, a 10 second countdown starts even if Vacuum Time is 0. What gives? Well, it looks like a counter, but truth the machine is counting down the last tenths of a percent of vacuum. It's a confusing display and I wasn't the first to call. Mystery solved, though.

Blank Screen Problem

I've noticed that after running a few cycles, my display might become garbled. The right half of the display may go blank. Sometimes, the entire display goes blank! When the machine is in this state, the computer still seems to be running, because I can keep closing the lid and running cycles. The machine still responds to key presses, you just can't always SEE the results. If you turn the machine off and on again, the problem goes away, though it may return again after a few cycles.

Jamal at Minipack had encountered this before. His first question was, was I using an extension cord? (Nope.) He asked me to monitor the problem, and if it continued, they'd take care of it. It sounds like the cure might be replacing the display module, which may even be something the end user can do. I don't mind swapping components if the alternative is shipping the beast somewhere. I'll let the forum know what happens. It is inconvenient to reboot, but the machine is not unusable and I feel like Minipack will take care of me.

[rotuts]

HF : wow. this looks like a stunning machine.

congratulations.

I just got my lottery ticket. im pretty much set.