Chamber Vacuum Sealers, 2014–

[m61376]

1 hour ago, SweetSymphonybyM said:

 

I like that's it's smaller, deep enough for larger jars, and will match my commercial blendtec nicely)). (They would be sitting side by side) But I'm worried that it's not wide enough, and the longer items will have to be on their side when inside the chamber...My other choice is the Wolf vacuum seal drawer, but it would need to have some type of a wood cage built to use before it's actually built in during the kitchen remodel (which won't happen for a few years)....

I think a big negative to the new built ins is the reliability. I had the poly science 300 for a year and a half before it fritzed. Repair would have been $500. I opted for the new VP220, since I feared throwing good money after bad. If a 3K built in has issues it’s a bigger deal since it’s not only the machine but the cabinetry. 
Also the chamber is a tad smaller, if I remember correctly.
for a great built in alternative, consider stabilizing a pantry pullout shelf for the unit. They’re weight rated to 100-125 pounds and you just need to reinforce the bottom of the pull-out. It works great, allows for hidden storage and ease of use. My only regret is not having thought of it during the initial cabinet install, so I didn’t put a plug in the back of the cabinet.

[SweetSymphonybyM]

Is the below same as Henkelman, just rebranded? I'm having trouble finding Neo 42 for sale in the US. 

 https://www.katom.com/027-OROSHI16.html

 

 

[md8232]

13 minutes ago, SweetSymphonybyM said:

Is the below same as Henkelman, just rebranded? I'm having trouble finding Neo 42 for sale in the US. 

 https://www.katom.com/027-OROSHI16.html

 

 

Good catch, that looks just like it for a lot less.  I went to Henkelman's website and spoke to a rep.

Covid is messing up everything.  Shipping was going to cost a ton and the Neo hadn't been 

approved yet it the US.  As I'm not a business, I didn't care.

[rotuts]

does that have 3 phase power ?

 

be careful there   .

[SweetSymphonybyM]

What is a three phase power?

[Nowayout]

8 hours ago, rotuts said:

does that have 3 phase power ?

 

be careful there   .

I'm pretty sure it showing 3 phase on the Katom site is a typo. The Henkelman site shows it as single phase.  3 phase is used on large loads to reduce the amp draw per phase and increase efficiency, which is not needed on a unit this size.  I don't think Busch even makes a 3 phase vacuum pump that small.

3 phase power is almost always available in a commercial building, I have never seen it in a residence.

 

The bigger issue is 50hz European vs 60hz US.  It would run slightly faster on 60 cycles and may or may not be detrimental to the motor.  MOST loads are OK on 60hz, but not all.  I would not want to risk it on a $3k sealer unless the manufacturer stood behind it.

 

Why not just buy a Minipack and be done with it? They are readily available and every bit as good as a Henkelman.  Same Busch pump. 

[SweetSymphonybyM]

It's silly, but I don't like the look of the minipack line, except for the MX2 - I'm 90% settled on it, but worry that the chamber won't be wide enough for a lot of the applications. 

[Nowayout]

On 9/22/2020 at 3:30 PM, SweetSymphonybyM said:

It's silly, but I don't like the look of the minipack line, except for the MX2 - I'm 90% settled on it, but worry that the chamber won't be wide enough for a lot of the applications. 

I guess if I left it out someplace where it was showing I would care, but it is in my pantry so the industrial look doesn't bother me. 

I would rather have an industrial machine rather than some fancy thing with bells and whistles. but that is just me.

 

 

 

[md8232]

On 9/22/2020 at 4:27 PM, Nowayout said:

I'm pretty sure it showing 3 phase on the Katom site is a typo. The Henkelman site shows it as single phase.  3 phase is used on large loads to reduce the amp draw per phase and increase efficiency, which is not needed on a unit this size.  I don't think Busch even makes a 3 phase vacuum pump that small.

3 phase power is almost always available in a commercial building, I have never seen it in a residence.

 

The bigger issue is 50hz European vs 60hz US.  It would run slightly faster on 60 cycles and may or may not be detrimental to the motor.  MOST loads are OK on 60hz, but not all.  I would not want to risk it on a $3k sealer unless the manufacturer stood behind it.

 

Why not just buy a Minipack and be done with it? They are readily available and every bit as good as a Henkelman.  Same Busch pump. 

 

I questioned the US Rep for Henkleman about power and got this response back in May.

“Should have mentioned, Neo units exported to USA are 110/120V 60Hz. No ETL or NSF certification yet!

Luv the Neo design but prefer the CombiVac power and ease of use of control panel”

[SweetSymphonybyM]

19 hours ago, Nowayout said:

I guess if I left it out someplace where it was showing I would care, but it is in my pantry so the industrial look doesn't bother me. 

I would rather have an industrial machine rather than some fancy thing with bells and whistles. but that is just me.

 

 

 

I prefer appliances that are well built - commercial quality with a well thought out design/interface. Just because they are commercial doesn't mean they don't have to be beautiful. 

[m61376]

How do you check the seal/what should it look like? Got the VC220 and all looked great- but lots of seals have opened- have time set at default 1.2 sec. not sure why. Thinking I should try 1.3 sec but how do I check the seal to know if it’s good? Never had this issue with past sealers

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 hours ago, m61376 said:

How do you check the seal/what should it look like? Got the VC220 and all looked great- but lots of seals have opened- have time set at default 1.2 sec. not sure why. Thinking I should try 1.3 sec but how do I check the seal to know if it’s good? Never had this issue with past sealers

 

On my Polyscience I use a 3 second seal.

 

[horseflesh]

@m61376 can you post a seal photo? Hard to say if you are over or under, but my guess is your seal time needs to be longer. I would seal 3-4 ice water test bags each at + 0.1 second. Check the seal bar each time and look for discoloration, because if you go way over where you need to be, you can scorch it. 

 

I think these machines are all different. My Minipack came preset to 2.2 sec but I found that was too long for my 3 mil bags. It overcooked and weakened the seal, and scorched the Teflon tape. 1.8 is what I use now. 

 

 

[m61376]

Thanks. Even though it’s preset to 1.2 sec and they rev that for 3 mil bags, looks like 1.5 is better. At 1.2 it looked sealed but in the freezer as some things got shifted the seal just opened, and on bags I played with at 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 I could open the bag by spreading the top and bottom, but at 1.5 it appears melted shut with that clear grid like pattern. 
thanks for the advice. I was going to try 4 mil bags- will I likely need to increase the time?

[horseflesh]

I'd expect to need more time for a 4 mil bag, yep, though I don't know how much. 

 

(FWIW I decided against stocking thicker bags. I have learned what kind of uncommon foods benefit from a thicker bag to resist punctures, and for those items, I just double up 3 mil bags. That's been working out well for me.)

[Lieuwe]

On 10/31/2019 at 9:02 AM, EsaK said:

I've been struggling to find information on the kind of oil you can put in Henkelman Jumbo machines. They only say "Foodmax Air PAO 32" is the preferred oil, but I can't find that from Finland. Problem is, I have no idea what an equivalent oil would be.. Anybody able to help out? Thanks in advance!

I know it's an old post, but maybe also interesting information for others:

 

[liliumdavidii]

hi everyone!

 

I was wondering if this machine is actually a Jvr vac100, that can be viewed here

 

I think it could be a good deal, I'm a bit concerned about servicing in case of malfunction, since the company selling it is very small, but maybe I could get help from Jvr?

 

I remember seeing somewhere that the Jvr is produced by Orved, but cannot find where I read it.

 

I'd be grateful if @teonzo could say what he thinks...

 

[dtremit]

On 6/16/2020 at 11:30 AM, md8232 said:

In today’s email was an announcement of a new sealer.

Vacmaster VP200

 

Weirdly this machine has completely disappeared from VacMaster's site -- though it's still for sale at WebstaurantStore and elsewhere. Terrible reviews there, so I wonder if maybe it was a rebranded model that didn't work out for them.

 

Pity -- the wide seal bar in a smaller, affordable machine was a very nice combination. 

[rotuts]

Im not sure what the spec's were

 

for the VP200

 

nice bar or not

 

if you are going Chamber

 

get an oil pump.

 

all the rest works out.

Edited January 29, 2022 by rotuts (log)

[andrewk512]

Seconding the recommendation for an oil pump. I bought the Polyscience oil-free chamber sealer a few years back. I knew oil was a bit better but was intimidated by the process. I am very happy with my machine but Dave Arnold recently posted about a rapid bread cooling technique where he throws his fresh baked loaf in the vacuum sealer and forces evaporative cooling, apparently leaving an extremely crisp crust. I imagine this would totally destroy my oil-free machine (as opposed to the oil machine where you can just remove all the excess water from the oil) so I haven't been able to attempt it

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, andrewk512 said:

Seconding the recommendation for an oil pump. I bought the Polyscience oil-free chamber sealer a few years back. I knew oil was a bit better but was intimidated by the process. I am very happy with my machine but Dave Arnold recently posted about a rapid bread cooling technique where he throws his fresh baked loaf in the vacuum sealer and forces evaporative cooling, apparently leaving an extremely crisp crust. I imagine this would totally destroy my oil-free machine (as opposed to the oil machine where you can just remove all the excess water from the oil) so I haven't been able to attempt it

 

I have a Polyscience.  My problem is I can't lift any known oil pump machine, so that choice was not an option.  As I recall Modernist Bread reports vacuum cooling dries out the loaf.

 

[andrewk512]

11 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I have a Polyscience.  My problem is I can't lift any known oil pump machine, so that choice was not an option.  As I recall Modernist Bread reports vacuum cooling dries out the loaf.

 

I had to roll the polyscience in its box up the stairs to my apartment when I first got it cause I could barely lift it 😛

 

Interesting to know about the bread, maybe I'm not missing much then 

[btbyrd]

I have had a dry pump unit for many years and have never felt like I was missing out on anything.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

21 minutes ago, andrewk512 said:

I had to roll the polyscience in its box up the stairs to my apartment when I first got it cause I could barely lift it 😛

 

Interesting to know about the bread, maybe I'm not missing much then 

 

However I find the Polyscience works great for mixing bread dough.  So far no problems.

 

[scubadoo97]

4 hours ago, btbyrd said:

I have had a dry pump unit for many years and have never felt like I was missing out on anything.

what device do you have?