Vacuum Packer went hay wire

[WoolyRunner]

Well I think my Cabelas Pro  Series Vacuum Packer took a dump. I was doing some burger tonight & noticed it wasnt doing a good vacuum. The meat had air pockets in it. So.. i guess I am in the market for a new vacuum packer.

Any suggestions? What brand do you got?

[Kuduman]

Do you regularly clean the vacuum sealer with hot water ?
If the air pump is working and your not generating enough suction you might have dirty or clogged pump 

BTW Bi-Mart has Food Saver Vacuum sealers on sale now for $59

Kudiman

[quadrafire]

Wooly I have that same unit. If it is pumping maybe all you need is to replace the foam upper and lower gaskets? I would start there before I bought a new one. Mine was slow to evacuate a while back and that helped.
I have also replace a burned out element on mine, found parts online.

BUT........when mine needs replaced. I'll think seriously about a chamber sealer

[danderson]

  There's a ton of threads devoted to this very subject on the forum, I burned up 3 vacuum sealers in less than one year, just purchased another one from Cabella for 160.00 bucks because I don't want to spend 360.00 dollars for the one that's supposed to last a few days longer.

[Bean Counter]

Wow my Food Saver has last 5 years. Guess I'm lucky.

[Quackwhacker]

Try taking the foam gaskets out and giving them a quick soak in water. Squeeze the water out and put back. I think the moisture gives it a better seal.

[WoolyRunner]

Where do I get gaskets?..

[quadrafire]

http://www.provacuumsealers.com/pro-2300_replacement_parts.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Weston-Rubber-Pro-2100-Vacuum-Cabelas/dp/B004I80T9W

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home-Cabin/Kitchen-Dining/Vacuum-Sealers%7C/pc/104798880/c/104739480/sc/104668380/Cabelas-CG-15-Vacuum-Sealer-Maintenance-Kit/714893.uts?destination=%2Fcategory%2FVacuum-Sealers%2F104668380.uts&WTz_l=undefined%3Bcat104668380

There may be some other cheaper sources as well if you shop around.
One tip I saw was to turn the gaskets over

[Widgeondeke]

Wow my Food Saver has last 5 years. Guess I'm lucky.

 

Ummmm ya.  Mine is goin on 7+yrs

[Firedogg]

Like others have said, if the pump is working but not getting all the air out change the rubber seal gaskets on the sealer. Also take the extra moment for it to sit closed and locked for the heat seal on the bag to really seal. Doing these two things has had my sealer running great for over 6 years, four deer, one elk, several dozen game birds and well over 150# of salmon from trips to Ketchikan.

[RadSav]

We burned up our first Food Saver the first year.  About 250 seals I'd guess  

When we received our replacement from Food Saver whomever packaged it sent a hand written note stating, "I see a lot of these units come back from users who leave them plugged in even when not in use.  While it is not the company policy to explain the details I can assure you the unit will last for years if you simply unplug the unit after each use.  Thank you for supporting Food Saver."

We have taken this to heart and unplug after each use.  We also place it in a cupboard to reduce the UVE light exposure.  We are now on our 13th year with the same Food Saver having replaced not one single part including the foam or heat strip.  That is literally thousands, maybe multiple thousands, of seals.  I bought a new stainless model nearly five years ago just to keep ourselves covered if and when our original finally stops working.  It is still in the box with an unbroken factory seal waiting it's turn at the butcher block!


Now if I could only find a vacuum cleaner that would hold up so well...

[doyourtime89]

Go with the Foodsaver from Costco I think its around the $150 range.  If it takes a dump on you they will take it back no problem.  Mine stopped working right last year while doing a bunch of fish, it was about 2 1/2 years old.  I ran back to Costco and was buying another one.  The lady that was ringing me was saying how great those are, I told her I knew because I had one but it went out on me.  She asked if I had bought it at Costco.   I said yeah but like 2 1/2 years ago. No problem she said and sent me to the customer service desk, they looked up on their computer and said they would take it back.  I ran home grabbed it and got a full refund.   Love me some Costco

[WoolyRunner]

Thank you all for the help. Im going to try messing with the gaskets before I go buy another packer.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Time for a New one 

[PlateauNDN]

Love my food saver. I store it in my cupboard between uses and by the sounds of it its going to be around for quite awhile. Going on year anda half now.

[WoolyRunner]

I might just say to heck with it & go find a food saver. Seems legit.

[RadSav]

I might just say to heck with it & go find a food saver. Seems legit.

Have you tried calling or emailing Weston?  I know they refurbish their sealers so I expect they would do the same for any they built for Cabela's.  Might be cheaper than buying a new one.  They might even be able to solve your problem over the phone   I've also had appliance manufactures that will offer replacements for way less than buying a new one from a dealer.  Sure couldn't hurt!!

Nice thing about the Westin is you can gain access to just about every part with ease.  Can't do that with a Food Saver.  Not sure if they sell a piston arm for the 1100.  I assume the U-cup or a seal of some sort just went bad.  No sense in paying another $300 bucks when a $10 part could fix the good machine you already have.

http://www.westonsupply.com/Vacuum-Sealer-Parts-s/139.htm

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Put new gaskets on our Cabelas sealer and all was good. Been a real good machine for us. I even ordered extra seals to have on hand if needed. I think the chamber style sealer would be awesome! A little to pricy though.....