Service and maintain your vacuum sealer.

Basically, there are 2 main areas that need maintenance and that is the Teflon sealing heat strip and the foam or rubber seals. There is also one golden rule to keeping your food vacuum sealer operating correctly for years to come – DON’T SUCK ANY LIQUID INTO IT

Let’s start with the Teflon heat strip. The purpose of this is to cover the heat bar and dispense the heat evenly to give a good quality and uniform seal on your food vacuum bag so that it stays sealed permanently. Without it you will just melt the bag. It must be flat and have no wear marks in it. The Teflon heat strip will distort over time and get lumps or worn patches in it, when this happens it must be replaced. Why does it happen? General use of the vacuum sealer but it will happen quicker if you tend to work your machine too fast and over heat it. HOT TIP – If you have a moist setting on your vacuum sealer don’t run it for more than 3 – 4 cycles without resting it. This setting adds heat to the heat bar and you will over heat your machine very quickly on this setting. The Teflon heat strip is relatively easy to obtain and easy to install a new one. Food vacuum sealers Australia has a range of Teflon heat strips on there spare parts page that will fit just about any external bag vacuum sealer. All you will need is the measurements of the Teflon heat strip that is required.

Most vacuum sealers will have a foam seal top and bottom and some will have a rubber seal on the bottom and a foam seal on the top. The rubber seals are defiantly more robust and last longer but you do still need 1 foam seal. The rubber seals can stretch over time and once this happens, they will need replacing. Generally, they will stretch from too much heat or simply age. Food vacuum sealers Australia has new rubber seals for all their Status models they sell. The foam seals however wear out a lot quicker and should really be replaced in a domestic vacuum sealer about once a year. They can also stretch or get damaged more easily. But the main demise of the foam seal is if you suck liquid into the mouth of the vacuum sealer, that liquid will end up on the foam seal and when you go to use the vacuum sealer next time that liquid has formed a hard spot on the foam seal and the foam seal will not seal properly. To fix the problem you need to replace the foam seal or you can soak the old one in warm to hot water (not boiling water as this will stretch it) for a half hour or so, squeeze it lightly and you should see the old juice come out of the seal. You need to then let it set for at least 24hrs to dry completely before putting it back into the vacuum sealer. Food vacuum sealers Australia also has replacement foam seals for the models they supply. If you have a different model then you need to search for the supplier or manufacturer of your vacuum sealer. Sadly about 80% of the food vacuum sealers on the market today, you will not be able to purchase this simple part to keep it operational. So do your research before you buy your next food vacuum sealer. CAN YOU GET A NEW SEAL KIT FOR IT? If not then it is a throw away because you can’t get a $20 seal kit for it.

So that is about it for servicing and maintaining your food vacuum sealer. As you can see there is not much to it other than those 2 main areas are kept liquid free and in good order. Often it is only a $20 part that is needed to get you up and running again.

It is very important that if you see liquid getting close to, or entering the mouth of the vacuum sealer, to stop immediately. You need to open the machine and remove the bag and clean up any liquid that is in the mouth of the machine. Some machines have a lift out tray that will collect any accidental spills and this makes it very easy to clean and then dry it. It is a good idea to also remove the seals to make sure there is no liquid under them. Everything must be clean and dry before you restart the food vacuum sealer

Ways to stop liquid entering the vacuum sealer

There are 3 very effective ways to manage any liquid that may become a problem while vacuum sealing

1. Freeze the food first and then vacuum seal it and put it back in the freezer.
2. Run a piece of paper towel from side to side inside the bag between the food and the vacuum sealer so that it stops the liquid from climbing in the bag and reaching the seal area.
3. Buy a vacuum sealer with a pulse function so you have full control of when you stop vacuuming and start sealing.

So happy vacuum sealing. 😊

If you have not worked it out yet, my biggest tip on this subject is when purchasing a food vacuum sealer, purchase from a reputable and professional business that can both supply spare parts for you purchased vacuum sealer and provide you with good advice if you run into trouble.

I guess I am a bit biased but Food Vacuum Sealers Australia can do just that and we enjoy it 😊

Please contact us for any further info