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Chamber Vacuum Sealers, 2014–

Mjx

By Mjx
in Kitchen Consumer

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EMichels

EMichels

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, PositiveMD said:

Hello everyone,

 

I recently purchased the VP112S; but it doesn't seem to be sealing correctly. According to their website food saver bags should work with the chamber sealer, but I'm having trouble getting anything to seal. I've set it to the max vacuum and seal time level without any success. I've been trying to vacuum some dried pasta. 

 

The black seal bar doesn't seem to be making contact with the seal bar on the bottom. When the machine runs, the lids seems to be locked into place. I would have to pull quite hard to open the lid at that point, so I know there some sort of seal going on. The issue seems to be that after the timer finishes, I don't hear any air being let back into the chamber. The machine just stops running and the seal time starts. It makes me think that I perhaps installed the black seal pad on the lid and the bottom gasket incorrectly, but as far as I can tell they can only be installed one way. 

 

Have you guys run into an issue like this before?

 

I have a VP112 and my machine will display a problem like you describe if I don't press down on the lid to make a good seal during the first few seconds of a cycle. Fortunately, mine has the pressure gauge so I can tell when a vacuum has been achieved and let go. You should still be able to tell by the machine sounding slightly different once the vacuum has been achieved.

horseflesh

horseflesh

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have a different sealer, but I assume they all operate in similar fashion.

 

If the bags only have marks on one side, then it sure does sound like they aren't getting pinched right. 

 

The seal bar is probably lifted by vacuum power, so I would guess that you aren't developing enough vacuum, or that the seal bar isn't moving smoothly for some reason. Since the machine isn't releasing the vacuum either, my guess is that something is fubared in the seal mechanism, preventing it from lifting all the way and then dropping and initiating release. Examine all the moving parts carefully, maybe there is some debris in the way. 

 

I cannot think of a reason the textured bags would cause the problems described. 

Edited by horseflesh
typo (log)
PositiveMD

PositiveMD

Posted
Posted

Thank you everyone for your guidance.

 

I checked all the screws around the machine and they all seem to be tight. 

 

I've run several cycles where I push down on the entire lid or edges of the lid without any success. 

 

I have checked the seal bar, and it sits comfortably. There doesn't seem to be anything that would impede the seal bar from moving. 

daveb

daveb

Posted
Posted

The customer support guy at vacuumsealersunlimited.com provides excellent troubleshooting over the phone and stocks any repair parts you may need.  I had a problem with my seal bar after a couple years and needed a cheap circuit card to get it back into service.  

 

My experience with bags is that my chamber sealer, VP112, will not properly seal a food saver type bag, but my strip sealers will seal a chamber sealer bag.  I do tend to buy FS types by the roll and cut them and buy chamber sealer bags pre-cut from the same vac sealers unlimited linked above.

PositiveMD

PositiveMD

Posted
Posted

I bought this off of Ebay. The condition was listed "New in Box" and in working condition.

 

When I contacted the seller about my troubles and asked him how he tested it; he stated that he pushed the vacuum button and "it worked". 

 

I'm tempted to just return this, get the VP215 and be done with it; but I got it at such a good price ($250) that I'm hoping that the cost of fixing it is less than buying a new one. 

PositiveMD

PositiveMD

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, daveb said:

The customer support guy at vacuumsealersunlimited.com provides excellent troubleshooting over the phone and stocks any repair parts you may need.  I had a problem with my seal bar after a couple years and needed a cheap circuit card to get it back into service.  

 

My experience with bags is that my chamber sealer, VP112, will not properly seal a food saver type bag, but my strip sealers will seal a chamber sealer bag.  I do tend to buy FS types by the roll and cut them and buy chamber sealer bags pre-cut from the same vac sealers unlimited linked above.

 

Did you originally purchase your machine from them? I may call them and see if this can be fixed easily. 

mgaretz

mgaretz

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, PositiveMD said:

I bought this off of Ebay. The condition was listed "New in Box" and in working condition.

 

When I contacted the seller about my troubles and asked him how he tested it; he stated that he pushed the vacuum button and "it worked". 

 

I'm tempted to just return this, get the VP215 and be done with it; but I got it at such a good price ($250) that I'm hoping that the cost of fixing it is less than buying a new one. 

 

$250 is indeed a great price and worth trying to fix it.

Mark

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daveb

daveb

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, PositiveMD said:

 

Did you originally purchase your machine from them? I may call them and see if this can be fixed easily. 

 

I did not.  I think I purchased mine from Amazon when they had a price dip. 

 

Suggest you sort the bag question first.  If you pm a shipping addy to me I'll send a few VacMaster Chamber bags your way.

  • Like 1
PositiveMD

PositiveMD

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, daveb said:

 

I did not.  I think I purchased mine from Amazon when they had a price dip. 

 

Suggest you sort the bag question first.  If you pm a shipping addy to me I'll send a few VacMaster Chamber bags your way.

 

I bought some chamber bags that should be coming in this weekend. Thank you for the offer though!

 

I called the number on their website around 3 PM PST, but it went to voicemail. I'll have to try it again later. 

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

FWIW,

I haven't had a problem sealing FoodSaver-type bags with the VP215.

Actually, I bought them via eBay and I think they may be just a tad heavier that FoodSaver bags.

 

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

PositiveMD

PositiveMD

Posted
Posted (edited)

I just wanted to give an update. I just got off the phone with vacmaster support. They had me unscrew the chamber and look underneath. Lo and behold, it turns out one of the tubes got cracked. They're going to be sending me some new tubes.

IMG_20171006_144153.jpg

Edited by PositiveMD (log)
  • Like 2
daveb

daveb

Posted
Posted

Kewl beans!

 

One of those tubes goes to the external port for vacuum sealing jars, etc.  My port failed and I could not get a good seal on anything in the chamber or out.  The vacsealers tech support suggested I just plug the hole in the 4-way valve rather than trying to replace the external port.  Apparently that's a high failure item.

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

The external port of my Polyscience has never worked right either.  Fortunately not a big deal.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

daveb

daveb

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

If the OP is correct that he has a VP112S, it doesn't have an external port.

 

Well that's one way to fix a reliability issue.   :B

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
PositiveMD

PositiveMD

Posted
Posted

I just wanted to give an update. I got the new tube in today, and I replaced the cracked one. Everything is working fine now!

There's so many things I want to try!

  • Like 2
  • 6 months later...
SHB

SHB

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have a similar problem to PositiveMD – a chamber vacuum sealer that’s not sealing, but I can’t figure out why.

 

My machine is a Vac-Tec Compact chamber sealer.  It looks a lot like this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017RKJD8K, but is essentially also the same as this SousVideTools Lite machine https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017W9MLW6, and has a lot in common with this Buffalo one https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017DYD9LM - they clearly all come from the same original manufacturer.

 

By “sealing bar”, I mean the bar at the bottom, covered in Teflon tape, that heats up to seal the bag.  By “sealing strip”, I mean the black bar embedded in the lid that (I assume) presses against the sealing bar. 

 

The sealing bar still gets hot – that’s not the problem.  I’m definitely getting a vacuum, and the lid seems to be closing fine.  I think the reason that the bags aren’t sealing is that the sealing strip isn’t pressing against the sealing bar when the lid closes – they seem to remain about 7mm apart.  But on the other hand, each of them seems to be in the right place!  Neither is loose, and their position looks pretty much the same as in online photos. 

 

I can’t really see how they ever met before: the sealing bar is slightly below the level of the edge of the chamber, while the sealing strip is recessed relative to the edge of the lid.  So even when the edge of the lid is jammed tight against the edge of the chamber, the strip and the bar aren’t going to touch.  But my bags used to seal fine … until they suddenly stopped doing so.

 

I’m completely mystified.  Can anyone help?

Edited by SHB
Formatting (log)
palo

palo

Posted
Posted (edited)

Does the sealing bar just lift off? Not fastened down? I have a VP110 and the vacuum causes the sealing bar to raise and make contact and then seal. The sealing bar in mine is indeed below the surface of the edge. Is the vacuum adjustable? If it is set too low the bar will not raise.

 

Suggest you contact manufacturer for specific tips.

 

p

Edited by palo (log)
SHB

SHB

Posted
Posted

Thanks palo.  The sealing bar clicks into place; a little bit of easy upward movement is then possible (perhaps 2mm) without pulling it out firmly.

 

Does anyone else have a machine like mine?

  • 2 months later...
m61376

m61376

Posted
Posted

Bought the PolyScience 300,, and loving it! Thanks to all your posts have just watched closely and hit the seal bar when boiling liquid appeared problematic (when making rum infused pineapple for grilling-wow): my decision was made based on dimensions; these units are too heavy for me to lift and too bulky to take up counter space, but a location I haven’t seemed mentioned, which works great for us, is on the pull out shelf of a pantry cabinet. I called the cabinet manufacturer and they rec. stabilizers under the bottom of the pullout to strengthen the base, but said the glides could support the 50 pound weight extended while in use. So that’s a great hidden kitchen option; just sorry I didn’t think of it 2 years ago when redoing the kitchen, or I would have had a plug installed. But I can live with using an extension cord to have this unit easily accessible but out of sight. Mentioning it because others may not have considered this storage option:

 

on on another note- I ordered Ultrasource bags from Amazon since I could get those fastest and I needed them for July 4th Sous Vide prep, but the 3mm are kinda thin. Are other brands better and/or are most people opting for 4 or 5 mm bags?

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