Practical Vacuum Sealer for Boat

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

As I wrote on a similar thread my new Food-Saver brand died after a few uses.
Greg

After all the great replies I have to say we had similar issues with our food savers. We had a total of 3 of them over the past 15 years. They would work for a period of time then not seal. Plus they seemed to get bigger and bigger.

After the 3rd one crapped out after 6 months we said “Never buy a Food Saver again”. It’s not like we could just order it and have it delivered. Living overseas it meant that they took up valuable baggage space only to be thrown out..... grrrrr

What other vacuum sealers do people use that really work and last more than a year or two

Chuck
Jacaranda

[hellosailor]

Lepke-
When you're storing parts rather than food? Try throwing in an oxygen absorber bag instead of a desiccant bag. They look alike, they're often in sealed food packets these days. But they absorb any oxygen in the bag, which prevents rubber parts from aging, slows rusting, does things that desiccant bags just won't do.
They usually come in a sealed heavy-wall mylar bag, since the clock on them starts as soon as they are exposed to air. I keep any unused ones sealed tight in a jar so they won't go bad on the shelf.

[philiosophy]

Food saver that I cannot in good conscience recomend. After three vacumes and seals it wants to rest a while. Then goes for a couple more and wants to rest. Real pain. Couldn’t be without one on a cruising boat tho.

[Pelagic]

So can anyone recommend a good unit suitable for a boat?

[Mike OReilly]

I’m dismayed and surprised at the negative news about Foodsavers. I bought mine quite some time ago (7+ years ago). I’ve not experienced any issues with it since then. I can’t say I’ve worked it very hard over the years, but when I’m using it, it will be in operation for hours. No problems.

Does anyone know if something changed with ownership or manufacturing? I have the version designed for outdoor usage (marketed mostly to hunters who want to vaccum bag in the bush). Maybe this design was built with higher standards?

I’ve gone through about 1/2 dozen vacuum baggers prior to getting this Foodsaver, so I know how to destroy them . My foodsaver is still going strong.

[Shrew]

We've had our Foodsaver for several years (5?). We couldn't live without it. We haven't had the problems reported, with the exception that we do need to power it off for a minute or two to let it cool down before we can turn it back on and resume.

We're not vac packing a commercial freezer's worth of food so that inconvenience isn't a 'real world' problem. It's a good time to take a few pulls off of our beer or wine. (I see opportunity where others see a problem). LOL!!!

[a64pilot]

Ours is a Foodsaver, apparently model FM2000. Says made in China. It’s three years old and as far as I know works fine. Our use is sporadic, won’t use it for a couple of months then use it heavy.

[Pelagic]

This review was helpful

https://www.smarthome.guide/best-vacuum-sealers/

https://www.toptenreviews.com/home/k...-food-sealers/

[Nicholson58]

Find these on line or at Cabellas or other sporting supply. We have one, seldom used. Ziplock freezer bags are reusable.

[a64pilot]

If you cut open the seal a meal bags just under the welded part, they are reusable too, just slightly smaller is all.

[oilystain]

Another vote for the Foodsaver. We use ours a lot and has lasted 7+ years, knock on wood. Allows us to buy bulk and separate into smaller portions and freeze. We even seal left over pizza and freeze it.

[CarinaPDX]

I wonder if we can be a bit more specific than "FoodSaver"? In one review they had 2 Foodsavers - one under $50 and the other over $150. One would hope the long-term performance would be different, but maybe not. I'll go dig up my broken one to get the obsolete model number; it was one of the expensive ones at Costco.


Greg

[HankOnthewater]

Here a reply from Oz: I have an Ambiano sealer (eh.... model is listed as "professional", but that might be pretentious).
Sold by the Aldi stores, cheap enough at $69. Never had such device before, so I can't compare, works as expected. here are some reviews:
https://www.productreview.com.au/p/a...od-sealer.html
They have a 1 year warranty and provide a local (Oz) phone number for after-sales support.

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by chouliha

After all the great replies I have to say we had similar issues with our food savers. We had a total of 3 of them over the past 15 years. They would work for a period of time then not seal. Plus they seemed to get bigger and bigger.

After the 3rd one crapped out after 6 months we said “Never buy a Food Saver again”. It’s not like we could just order it and have it delivered. Living overseas it meant that they took up valuable baggage space only to be thrown out..... grrrrr

What other vacuum sealers do people use that really work and last more than a year or two

Chuck
Jacaranda

I too bought the Costco food saver and was really PO'd when it stop working about a year later. Then I started reading the forums and found out I should just replace the 8 dollar rubber seal that the edge of the bag sits on when you seal it. Put a new one in and now no problem, except that I would want to take 2 or 3 new seals with me in a vacuumed parts bag if I was going to be gone for a few years. Be sure to have the bags set in right side up or your seal will never hold. AND, don't store it with the lock , locked down! Apparently that could have caused my problem.

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

I wonder if we can be a bit more specific than "FoodSaver"? In one review they had 2 Foodsavers - one under $50 and the other over $150. One would hope the long-term performance would be different, but maybe not. I'll go dig up my broken one to get the obsolete model number; it was one of the expensive ones at Costco.


Greg

Replace the sealing lip gasket if you still have the unit. It worked for mine as is about $8