foodsaver won't cycle through and seal automatically

[skinnypratt]

hello all,

we love our food saver, but recently its will not automatically seal. anyone having the same problem? any suggestions or solutions?

thanks!

 

[JckDanls 07]

which model is it ?

 

[skinnypratt]

model V3825 bag sealer

 

[sprky]

hello all,

we love our food saver, but recently its will not automatically seal. anyone having the same problem? any suggestions or solutions?

thanks!

Yes I have had that problem, with my first food saver, an inexpensive unit. I used it so much I just simply wore it out, according to the food saver tech I spoke with several years ago. He recommended the V3460 model to replace it.  I was too cheap to buy it, so  I used the manual seal till it quit all together, which was a short time later. I bit the bullet and bought the V3460, and am glade I did. I have used it as much if not more then my first, and it's still going several years later, works just as well as day I opened it. 

 

[tjohnson]

It's a sad fact, that these newer models are disposable

Can you manually seal?

Todd

 

[eman]

If the unit is trying to seal and it won't Clean the sealing gaskets and sealing strip ,both upper and lower.

 

[smykowski]

I know this is a very old thread, but I found it while trying to troubleshoot my foodsaver with the same problem. In case anyone else runs across this in the future, here's how I fixed mine:

There's a pressure switch attached to the circuit board that senses the pressure inside the bag, and once the appropriate vacuum is reached, it triggers the automatic sealing process.

Once I took the unit apart and got down to the switch (it's a flat, reddish colored drum attached to the vacuum hose), it became clear that one of the legs of the switch had worked its way free from the board. The solder joint just went bad, so now the switch was no longer connected and not doing anything.  I resoldered both legs to the board, and now the foodsaver works just fine again.

 

[johnmeyer]

My truly ancient Vac750 Ultra (1990s purchase) has had this problem for a long time. I've had it apart several times, and have found no obvious problem with that sensor. In my case, I think the sensor is either sticky internally, or has some sort of corrosion on the switch. I've just learned to seal most things manually, which is not too difficult to adapt to.

 

[tallbm]

Food savers and other less expensive vacuum sealers are notorious for failing or dying all together.

I think it is just a sad fact of what vacuum sealers are in the less than $325 category.

It seems if you go with better brands and $325+ models (example: Weston) you get something that is reliable and built to last.  I learned the hard way as well with my $150 Foodsaver many years ago.  I then bought a hardcore Weston Pro-2100 vac sealer and never looked back. Buy once, cry once :)

 

[rexster314]

We have a Foodsaver 4860 that is kept on the counter in the kitchen. It's a second one, the first one ingested some heavy whipping cream and was replaced under warranty. The second one, a Titanium model, was the one we used for a couple of years for sealing bacon orders. Last week it was replaced by a Weston chamber vac. 

All in all, we've had a number of Foodsaver models since 1995. They're usually good for about 3 years or so, then something goes out like the pump, sensors, who knows? When they stop working we just buy another one. With the exception of the 4860 that was replaced free of charge since it was still under warranty, all the others were out of warranty. 

 

[johnmeyer]

Wow, we've used our Foodsaver several times a day since we got it (around 1997). Except for the flaky shutoff, it works exactly like it did almost twenty years ago. So, my experience is that it was pretty solid.

When I bought mine, there were only a few models. They have since broadened their product line, mostly towards lower price points, so the lesser machines might possibly have build issues.

 

[cindidido]

We just cleaned all around the vacuum area thoroughly and it started working again.