INSTALLING A NEW TEFLON HEAT STRIP
ON YOUR FOOD VACUUM SEALER
The Teflon heat strip is a part on any food vacuum sealer that will, over time and use, wear out. It will wear out by getting rough patches or stretch and get wrinkles or folds in it. Once this happens it will generally compromise the seal given to the bag and the bag will not keep its seal.
You will normally see an imperfection with in the seal on the bag so if you do several seals and that imperfection is coming from the same spot on the seal bar then it needs replacing.
The Teflon heat strip is one thing that is generic to all vacuum sealers, it is only the width and the length that differ. Food vacuum sealers Australia does have a selection of widths and lengths available in our listing Generic Teflon heat strip. If a length does not suit your vacuum sealer, then contact us and we will custom cut your length for you. We have 10 m lengths in self-adhesive rolls that we cut the heat strips off and we then roll it onto a piece of 20 mm PVC pipe and send out to you.
Inspection and removal - First we must determine that it is the Teflon heat strip that is damaged and not the element. If there is no heat at the heat bar then it is an internal problem such as a broken connection or a circuit board problem. But, if there is a lump in the heat strip, try and lift the Teflon tape and check that the heat bar is not buckled or broken, this is very rare and the lump is usually in the Teflon or something stuck under it. Now remove the Teflon heat strip by pulling it up from one end being careful not to pull the heat element up with it. On some machines this will need to be done by removing the whole heat bar assembly, on others it can be done without disassembling and simply lifting it from either end. Once removed then clean the heat bar area, once again do not damage or bend the heat element.
Installing the Teflon heat strip – Once the area is clean and the heat element(s) are taught with no bends or buckles you can stick the new Teflon heat strip in place. It is best to hold the strip at each end and line it up straight with the heat bar, stick down one end and run a finger along the strip from one end to the other insuring it is straight and no wrinkles or bends in it. If you have disassembled the machine to get to the back of the heat bar or remove it then the procedure is the same but includes releasing each end of the heat strip and reattaching the new one in the same manner, then reassembling the vacuum sealer. It is impossible to describe the later as all brands of vacuum sealers are different.
If you do need to pull your vacuum sealer apart and not confident with working on small appliances it is better to send it to a technician. If it is a vacuum sealer that you have bought from Food Vacuum Sealers Australia then we can replace it for you if you send it back to us. Please contact us first