Vacmaster suction issues

[dusky]

Anyone else had suction problems with their vacmaster? Mine won't suction past .08, and I think that's part of the problem. I watched a video of a guy using his and his suctions all the way to .1. I've been letting this annoyance go on for way too long and paid way too much money to have so much air left in my bags. The guy at vac master told me that as long as the needle touches the green area, which is .08, it's fine. But he told me to swap out the oil and something else I can't remember, blowing out filters or something, it was a year ago, but that didn't help anything. I was too tired to press the issue at the time. Doesn't matter how I package the meats and keep bags and surfaces dry and clean. Anyone else run into this and figure out a solution?

 

[Tod osier]

Anyone else had suction problems with their vacmaster? Mine won't suction past .08, and I think that's part of the problem. I watched a video of a guy using his and his suctions all the way to .1. I've been letting this annoyance go on for way too long and paid way too much money to have so much air left in my bags. The guy at vac master told me that as long as the needle touches the green area, which is .08, it's fine. But he told me to swap out the oil and something else I can't remember, blowing out filters or something, it was a year ago, but that didn't help anything. I was too tired to press the issue at the time. Doesn't matter how I package the meats and keep bags and surfaces dry and clean. Anyone else run into this and figure out a solution?

As you know, there should be no air in the bag at all. Push them on it.

Have you tried increasing the run time? Just a first thought....

 

[dusky]

Yeah I'm going to call again tomorrow and see if I can get a different rep on the line. I've tried up to 75 seconds and it doesn't make a difference. It tops out right at that .08. The rubber seal on the lid is soft and I don't see any breaks in it either.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Dang, I've had mine for over 11 years now without an issue. Other than an oil change every year or so, no problems. I would try another oil change and maybe a filter change (the one above the pump). Maybe check all the hose clamps too for tightness.

 

[FAAFO]

I was having similar problems and replaced the rubber gasket on the lid. I stay up on the maint of it with replacing oil etc so I was concerned when I started having issues. New gasket and I say it’s likely running like brand new. My setup is 12 years old and there’s been years when it’s packed over 1500 lbs of meat. It averages around 800-1000 lbs most years between meat and fish.

 

[dusky]

I was having similar problems and replaced the rubber gasket on the lid. I stay up on the maint of it with replacing oil etc so I was concerned when I started having issues. New gasket and I say it’s likely running like brand new. My setup is 12 years old and there’s been years when it’s packed over 1500 lbs of meat. It averages around 800-1000 lbs most years between meat and fish.

Interesting and good to hear you found a fix.. Someone else also suggested replacing the gasket. That's a lot of meat

 

[Tod osier]

Interesting and good to hear you found a fix.. Someone else also suggested replacing the gasket. That's a lot of meat

I had a cheaper unit before I bought my VP 215 and the guys for troubleshooting were pretty good at vacmaster with that unit (VP 112). There are a lot of potential leak points within one of those (hoses and fittings). Also as has been pointed out the seal is a potential problem. Grill them on what order and how to troubleshoot.

Just as an encouragement, My VP 215 has been flawless, it has been an awesome unit and out of thousands of bags and thousands of pounds of meat has only has one or two bags that I wasn't happy with the evacuation and seal.

 

[Weldor]

I got tired of replacing my sealers, went with a shop vac and hand sealer. Works great.

 

[dusky]

Update:
Ary / Vacmaster is sending me a new unit, a VP230, which is an upgrade as well. After all the home tests determined that there was a slow leak that I couldn't locate, they had me pay for the shipping to send it to them. $160 without insurance. They tested everything they could and the best they could come up with as a diagnosis was a cracked chamber, which they don't have replacements for. So, they are shipping me the VP230 at no additional cost.