Yevgeny Prigozhin sure is a cowardly asshole. He murders from a distance and sends Russians to die. Some smart Russians…
I had a great time doing some interesting repairs at the Repair Cafe event in Campbell River yesterday. One of the most interesting and challenging repairs was that of a Food Saver plastic bag vacuum sealer, for which the heat sealing wasn’t functioning, but the vacuum function was apparently OK. In this case, the problem was not apparently common heat strip failure, but rather a failed vacuum activated switch. Here’s what I did to diagnose and repair it.
the patient
First, after some tests and removal of the back cover, resistance tests of the heater strip turned up OK, a cold resistance of about 3 ohms. However, in-situ live tests done with the unit inverted, by pressing carefully on the plastic parts of the interlocks (while carefully avoiding live 120VAC wiring!) showed no voltage being applied to the heater. The heater voltage, about 20V AC, is normally applied via a 24VDC relay. I tried bypassing that relay with a jumper, and, that caused the heater strip to heat. However, upon taking that relay out of circuit and testing it with a DC power supply, the relay turned out to be functioning normally. After more investigation, I finally tried testing the vacuum-activated switch as shown in the pictures; heat is not normally applied unless sufficient vacuum has closed that switch. That switch turned out to be the culprit; it was stuck with the switch open. Even direct application of system vacuum to that unit from the DC motor intake was not sufficient to close the switch. Dis-assembly showed a spring inside had shifted position and been crushed against one side of the switch. I extracted the old damaged spring, made a new one with a spring out of an old pen, re-assembled, and, voila, the vacuum sealer heater is now working fine. Successful test with a bag showed both vacuum and heat sealing functions to be working well.
view of lower circuit board
Vacuum-activated switch is on upper left of circuit board
vacuum-activated switch
replacement interior spring in position
Thank you so much for this article. I was just about to heave mine in the trash until I saw this page. My spring wasn’t broken, but it must have had some dirt/dust inside not allowing to make a good connection. A couple of shots with the air compressor cured all. Thanks again Friend!
Comment by Jeff — April 24, 2016 @ 7:58 pm
Jeff, you’re welcome. Glad you got your sealer fixed and glad of the feedback.
Comment by Dave — April 28, 2016 @ 3:55 pm
Hi, thanks for the article. I’m hoping to install a bypass switch for that sensor so I can seal at my own will. But shorting the switch isn’t causing the unit to change cycles to the sealing mode. (I can see why later models simply have a seal button). Any ideas where to install a user switch on that board? Thank you! I’d love to not have to buy a new one for a function I can install myself.
Comment by emms — March 26, 2019 @ 1:13 pm
Thank you for sharing.
Comment by Angelo Q — April 23, 2020 @ 9:02 pm
This article is a good one to look at, but my repair skillz kind suck.
Comment by Food Processing Repairs NZ 221.121.135.107 — June 7, 2020 @ 8:44 pm
Thank you for the article. I had the same problem with a non functioning pressure switch. I took mine apart and the spring was fine cleaned out the chamber and reassembled but it did not solve the problem.
I noticed that there was a hole in the board below the switch in which you could access the spring retaining cap. I thought that was there for adjustment of the tension on the spring. I adjusted the the spring cap by a quarter turn and wella! the sealer is working correctly once again.
I’m assuming that the spring pressure over time weakens so in my case a simple adjustment of the spring cap may have solved the problem without desoldering the switch.
Thanks again for getting me on the right path to solve the problem.
Comment by Joseph Mercuri — November 10, 2020 @ 7:39 am
I found that my spring was okay, but I think from the age of the unit, the compressor was wearing. I replaced the spring as you did. This spring was weaker than the factory installed spring. Works like a charm. Thanks for the video.
Comment by Larry — July 16, 2021 @ 1:06 pm
I found everything was good, but then thought with the age of the unit, the compressor may be wearing. I replaced the spring with a weaker one from a pen. Unit works like a charm. Thanks for the video.
Comment by Larry — July 16, 2021 @ 1:08 pm
It is time to eliminate Vladimir Putin. Putin the war criminal needs to die. Vladimir Putin is a despicable war criminal and murderer, and his invasion of the free nation of Ukraine was unjustified as well as barbaric. Russian citizens should find out about this, which the rest of the world already knows. The evidence of Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine is publicly viewable and indisputable.
Visit this web page to learn more https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/leaders-poland-baltic-states-head-kyiv-2022-04-13/ and this one https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-war-on-ukraine-a-horror-story-of-violations-un-2022-4 . Use a VPN to get to real news if Putin and other cowardly assholes that support him block your internet access freedom.
Russians, you know what to do. Shoot Putin. One rifle shot by a brave Russian can eliminate Putin the cowardly asshole, murderer and war criminal, and make the world a better place. Please do it.
Comment by Michaelglobe — April 27, 2022 @ 3:33 am
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine is failing and his troops are bogged down and dying. Many Russian tanks and aircraft and even ships have been destroyed, including the Moskva.
Little Vladimir Putin the cowardly smallman is a war criminal who has caused the unjustified invasion of the free nation of Ukraine.
Comment by PutinIsBoggedDown — May 7, 2022 @ 4:58 pm
See https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/bucha-ukraine-bodies-russian-military-crimes/629485/
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine is failing and his troops are bogged down and dying. Many Russian tanks and aircraft and even ships have been destroyed, including the Moskva. More than 20,000 Russian attackers have been killed. Little Vladimir Putin the cowardly smallman is a war criminal who has caused the unjustified invasion of the free nation of Ukraine.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/11/europe/ukraine-video-russian-soldiers-shoot-civilians/index.html
Comment by Michaelglobe Spamski — May 11, 2022 @ 10:25 pm
Russians should be made aware that Vladimir Putin has caused an unjust war by brutally invading the free nation of Ukraine.
Putin is a murderer and war criminal who has ordered murders and genocide.
More than 150,000 Russian soldiers and many more Ukrainians have died so far in Putin the murderer’s unprovoked, brutal attempt to grab territory from the free, democratic nation of Ukraine. Many more will die before Putin the cowardly liar is beaten down, but he will be beaten and will die on his knees.
Some links you should look at:
Russian retreat from Kharkiv, another key Ukrainian city, reveals new evidence of atrocities
Ukrainian forces thwart Russians at river as fight shifts to Donbas
Putin caused war in Ukraine
Comment by ThomasVob — May 16, 2022 @ 7:09 am
Russians should be made aware that Vladimir Putin has caused an unjust war by brutally invading the free nation of Ukraine.
Putin is a murderer and war criminal who has ordered murders and genocide.
More than 15,000 Russian soldiers and many more Ukrainians have died so far in Putin the murderer’s unprovoked, brutal attempt to grab territory from the free, democratic nation of Ukraine. Many more will die before Putin the cowardly liar is beaten down, but he will be beaten and will die on his knees.
Some links you should look at:
Russian retreat from Kharkiv, another key Ukrainian city, reveals new evidence of atrocities
Ukrainian forces thwart Russians at river as fight shifts to Donbas
Putin caused war in Ukraine
Comment by ThomasVob RusskiSpamskiShitski — May 20, 2022 @ 10:15 pm