Customer Reviews

VacMaster 87630 Pro 130 Food Sealer, Back

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I first saw this machine at a restaurant show in Chicago and was very impressed with the features, the overall quality look and feel and especially, the performance. We vacuum packed various products at the show and I couldn't believe how quickly a vacuum was created and how tight the vacuum/seal was around the product.
Once I got my machine, I immediately went to work on vacuuming some deer steaks and sausage I had in the freezer from last fall. Those steaks were just wrapped in butcher paper so I wanted to make sure they would last longer than they normally would in the paper. I vacuumed about 25 individual steaks and on each one, the PRO 130 performed as expected...GREAT! It only took about 12 seconds to completely vacuum and seal each pouch. I really like the floating seal bar because when you position the bag to be packed, the bag isn't touching the seal bar causing it to melt. Since I vacuumed the steaks, I have used it for many other food products and am extremely satisfied with the performance!!

I would highly recommend this machine to anyone who is wanting something that has more power and features than those cheaper models out there.

I got this after looking over others and thought the "commertial quality" with dual piston vac pump was to be a good plus.
However, after five sealings in two days when doing a "seal now", the timer counted down and the heat just kept going...it started smoking rather quickly. I had to pull the plug to stop it and by now the heating strip was on fire.
It took me 2 days of venting my house and a strong scented candle to get rid of the nasty stench from this thing burning up. Fortunately I pulled the plug before any further damage occured.
I sent this thing back and don't plan on risking another. I've now ordered an older model of FoodSaver that has many, many 5 star reviews.

UPDATE: Even though I had sent this one back for a refund(it was a Sam'sClub Purchase), they had sent me another one as replacement. Believe it or not, this one too burned and on only the second use. Both times I was using the "auto" function. This time I was vacuuming a canister where last time I was doing a vac & seal. I physically took it back to the SamsClub store and got my money back. The FoodSaver 2440 has been working fine...I really like it.

I purchased the precursor to this 3 years ago and am on machine number 3 from ARY Inc. The first machine never worked. They sent me a refurbished machine to replace the brand new one, which I did not know until that one had to be replaced. The second had a "wiring problem" that made it impossible to adjust the sealing time. At that point, I requested a brand new machine or a refund of MSRP. ARY Inc. refused to do that and instead sent me another refurbished machine which will only vaccuum and seal if you hold the top down while the machine is running. If I spend my own money AGAIN to ship this one back to them all I have to look forward to is another refurbished model. ARY Inc. is not worth doing business with.

We purchased the Vacmaster Pro 130 primarily because of the foodsaver overheating problem. We often seal a good number of bags in a row, and wanted to be able to do a continuous run without stopping for cooldown. The Vacmaster Pro 130 was marketed to do that, and a number of reviews praised this feature. SO! What do I not like? If you want to seal a bag of liquid, you are out of luck. The manual states that pressing the Seal Now button will immediately stop the vacuuming and start the seal. Nope! It starts the seal with the vacuum running. This makes sealing a bag of liquid quite messy. I sent an email to Customer Service, The twit replied with a long technical explanation of why it is not possible for them to design this unit so it can seal without some vacuum. I don't care, if the manual was clear and well written, I would not have had the misconception. He gave me instructions to freeze the liquid prior to sealing (which will work). The unit does appear to operate well, and seals nicely and does not appear to over heat. My recommendation? If you are sealing bags of liquid, don't play. Wait for a half price sale from Foodsaver and buy two. If you want to be able to seal 20 bags of solid or frozen items in row, this unit is likely a good choice.

I've had this food sealer for a few weeks now. When I first got it, it would not vacuum unless I pushed the lid down firmly. I noticed that someone had carelessly placed some sort of cushioning material between the lid and the frame when the unit was packed, and this material had created an indentation in the foam, causing this difficulty. However, this indentation has gradually disappeared, and now the machine vacuums extremely well without any need for me to push on the lid. There's a strong magnet that holds the lid closed. I also had some difficulty creating a vacuum in the storage containers at first, but eventually I realized that I needed to push the plastic tubing very deep into the opening on the lid, to avoid air leakage, and now the storage containers work fine.

I had thought that the machine might be too big and heavy, and it is rather large, but not heavy. I wanted something substantial and well-made to create a serious vacuum, and something that would not overheat when packing multiple items after a trip to the big box store, and this machine is completely satisfactory in those respects. Some of the things I pack are rather large, such as a head of lettuce, and I would not be able to pack such items with a smaller machine. I store my machine high in a cupboard when I'm not using it, up-side-down, since that makes it easier to deal with the electrical cord that dangles from it, and it's very easy to retrieve when needed.

I had thought that the feature I saw in a FoodSaver machine, allowing one to place a roll of bagging material into the unit itself, would have been more convenient, but I haven't missed that feature. The machine is already big enough. It's easy to take a roll of bagging material, seal one end, cut the length of material desired, insert the food (it's best to roll back the edges of the material before inserting food, to avoid contaminating the edges with food), and then vacuum/seal. Unlike other machines that I read about, this machine does not require you to insert the ends of the bagging material into a slot. Instead you just lay the ends over an indentation, close the lid and push some buttons.

I'm starting to use the manual controls, rather than just the automatic controls, since I'm realizing that the vacuum created by this machine is too powerful for some foods, like chocolate-coated berries or cookies, and causes them to stick together or crumble. The manual controls are easy to use and offer several options for reducing the vacuum effect.

I've been using the VacMaster Pro 130 for a little over a week now. All I can say is WOW! You know all the things you've been reading about that are problems with the Foodsaver line of products? The seals that wear out too soon? The fact that they fiendishly designed so you have to use extra bag space thus lining the Foodsaver corporation's pockets with your hard earned cash? The fact that the Foodsavers are so gigantnourmous that they need their own zip code on your counter space? That they just don't seal that well? Well forget all that!

I have two prior Foodsavers on the shelf in my basement waiting for my next yard sale so I know the product well enough to say I am very happy I went with intuition and the few reviews here to try out the VacMaster. I couldn't be happier! I buy a lot of stuff here on Amazon and I have to say this is one of my best purchase decisions. No it's not all flashy, vertical and chromey. No it's not as well known and seen on TV with multimillion dollar campaign ads. No you won't find it in your local Walmart or Target stores. No there are no fancy bells and whistles and endless list of add-on accessories and containers that do things you never even thought about and probably won't ever use. But if you want to get a device that does what it is advertised as purporting to do, that is save you money then this little baby is it. It comes with an instruction manual clearly written, some quart and gallon bags and one storage container which I'll never use.

It creates an excellent seal while not blowing out your eardrums. The sealing design allows you to position your bags or roll precisely where you want to seal and economize to your heart's content. If I had to criticize one thing it would be the electric vampire like feature of the on/off light and controls that stay lit even it is off thus, creating light pollution in my kitchen and sipping electricity. My wife has resorted to unplugging it, she doesn't like that design flaw either since she pays the already high electric bill. Again though, this is an excellent food sealer and you won't be sorry for buying it.

Well, this is the only food vacuum sealer that I've ever bought and it does work well...so far. I own a jerky store and need to make a bunch of pre-packaged bags for fairs and stuff...Hopefully it will still be working after the 1,000th time. I stupidly ordered the wrong bags...so make sure you don't order the "Vacuum Chamber" bags...they will not work. These are the right ones...VacMaster Storage Bags, Pint 6-Inch by 10-Inch, 100 count Box (or any size you need). In order to get the suction you need, you have to press on the lid for a second. It takes about 10 seconds to suck out all the air and seal the bag...not bad at all. I like this product. 7-9-11

I researched the many vacuum sealers on line from several makers. I wanted one which would also reseal commercial product bags, like potato chips, etc. Picked this one based on simple design and ease of operation. I received it in 4 days, but some thing was loose and rattling around inside. I contacted Amazon and quickly received a return label to return it for exchange. I received the replacement within 3 days and it is fine. So far we have sealed and frozen 35 bags of brocoli from the garden and 15 bags of greens. Important to read instructions and if you do works great and so far only wasted 1 bag. It's seems to be well made and solid constrution, if it lasts for ever, LOL, then I'll be really happy! Would recomend it to friends and family and have! Amazon had best price and customer service!

I desired a vacuum sealer for packaging wild game and read the reviews for several products. All seemed to have their weaknesses, and despite some negative reviews of the VacMaster 130 Pro, I judged it to be a quality product. I made my purchase in August or early September. I packaged a few doves, pheasants and grouse, and overpacked some processed elk. Last month I noticed that the seal on some doves was broken, and the meat was freezer burned. I attributed the poor result to my inexperience, and began using the manual mode with longer seal times.

I started packaging more pheasants this week, and the sealer heater strip no longer functions. The appliance is only three months old, and I've used less than two rolls of packaging material. I'll update my review after I seek warranty repair.

On December 12 I called ARY. They were very courteous and helpful. I shipped the unit that day and received return shipment on December 23. I paid for the return shipping and as partial compensation received a variety box of storage bags. I'll update review after further use.

Excited to recieve it I set it up following THE user's guide, only to have it smolder AND it even appeared to have glowing embers giving off little plumes of smoke from the heating element. Though the salespeople I spoke to- (I called the 1-800 # for help)- were pleasant, I recieved very little satisfaction from the option that I would have to send it back to them to determine what was wrong and possibly fix it. They offered no refund or guarantee. This could take weeks and they wouldn't reimburse me for S&H. I needed this for a small at-home business to preserve prepped foods/ingredients, and I couldn't wait. I told the saleslady that their product was a piece of CRAP... (she disagreed) but what else could it be if it almost started a fire out of the box??
So I sent it back to Amazon.com instead for a full refund. Which they did AND they reimbursed me S&H!! Amazon.com YOU rock!! I will not be purchasing any other items from Vacmaster... I mean Crapmaster. I went out to Boscov's and found a Foodsaver on sale; took it home and had no problems.