LEM Chamber sealer issues. Thoughts?

[Hunter26]

I recently purchased a LEM VaxMac Pro Chamber sealer (not vacuum sealer) from Costco and don't think I am terribly impressed. I am wanting feedback on idea's or if the higher end products are just worth the money like the VacMaster VP230. I bought a bunch of 4mm bags because I wanted to have less issues of bags getting tiny holes and loosing the seal. I have processed a deer, an elk, about 200 pounds of sausage a couple soups and some pork chops and overall don't feel like I am getting near the vacuum I should get. I feel like I am almost getting varied results from one package to the next. One thing to mention is I have also used the 3mm bags that the chamber sealer came with. They get slightly more air out of the bags but honestly nothing like the Foodsaver and LEM vacuum sealers I have used in the past. I started with the setting that LEM suggested for each type of food and worked it up probably 40% more and not sure I really saw much better results. Am I missing something? Is the product just less superior to the higher end models? I am not completely opposed to upgrading but I don't want to do it if I will get the same results. I live at 3000 foot elevation and yes the oil level is correct in the unit. Thanks for any input.

Jeff

 

[dieselchessy]

Mine does fine, but I set the timer for 48 for most stuff and 40 for other stuff. I set it so the pressure bases out prior to sealing (99 I recall)
2 issues I've seen.
The chamber is big and has to much volume for most jobs. If you put a little pack of meat in there, then there is a ton of air volume to deal with.
It helps lots to add solid objects into the chamber to reduce the volume. They make solid plastic filler plates for this, or you can make your own. I use them instead of the stainless ramp thing for standard packages.

VacPak-It 186PFILLER4 13" x 9 7/8" x 1/2" Filler Plate

This VacPak-It 186PFILLER4 filler plate is a great way to improve efficiency when using your chamber vacuum packaging machine. If you find yourself frequently packaging smaller quantities of items, you can use a filler plate like this one to take up some of the unused chamber space - this...

www.webstaurantstore.com

Those LEM units don't cool very well as built. I keep meaning to add a cooling fan to mine, but for the time being I just remove the back panel when doing larger jobs. The units heat up easily and start expelling oil vapor. When this happens the pumping efficiency seems to drop.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

What's your vacuum gauge reading when the seal starts?

 

[sndmn11]

We put books in to take up the space. We top out at 86/87 and get tight seals. If you fluff the bag up so the two halves aren't stuck together it helps immensely.

There's a fair chance that you aren't melting fully and need to adjust the temperature, time, and cool.

 

[ghost338]

Not sure I have any diagnostic input, but I'll share my experience. I have the same model and currently have a little over 1100 seals without any issues. With a completely empty chamber my unit takes about 33 sec to achieve 100 kpa vacuum on the screen. For unfrozen product, like fresh ground meat, I find around 60 sec vacuum works nicely in an empty chamber. I can get away with 35-40 sec for frozen or hard products. I've also used 3, 4, and 5 mil bags without issue, just adjusting the seal temp and time for the thickness. Don't think I've noticed any vacuum difference between bag thicknesses. I did learn that I can't have a lot of excess bag sticking out the front seal bar or it doesn't seem to vacuum as well. Goes along the same lines as a previous poster on fluffing the bag. I'm not sure how my unit compares to others, but offering as another data point. Good luck.

 

[Hunter26]

What's your vacuum gauge reading when the seal starts?

I am honestly not sure what the vacuum gauge is reading. I will have package some more stuff and see. Kind of feel dumb I didn’t really look at that.

 

[Hunter26]

Thanks for all the ideas. I will find some stuff to package and give them a shot.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

The pressure gage really tells you what's going on in a chamber sealer. I have a different unit, but mine hovers at the bottom for 1-2 seconds before switching to seal. If your stuff is wet, you do really have to watch for boil over or you make a mess. I also had to adjust my seal time longer for 4 mil bags, and it's never good to have moisture in the seal area.

If you were to upgrade, my jvr vac 110 seems to run about twice as fast as this lem model, 30 seconds of pump, 5 seconds of seal, 5 seconds of cool down is my sweet spot on 8x15x4mil bags.

 

[sndmn11]

I think you also have to realize that the gauge reads the chamber, not necessarily the bag interior. If the bag isn't puffing up, then there's a chance that it has a different vacuum than the chamber. Clingy bags, or a little moisture from meat being slid in, etc. can seem to stick the open end together a little bit; or if it's a really tight squeeze or a very full bag.

We hit the 86/87kpa in about 30s, but often run it 90s because the results are much tighter.

 

[zeroforhire]

It's a bit finicky, but we love ours. Bought it for $500 a few years ago and use it a bunch on our farm.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

 

[Tod osier]

I recently purchased a LEM VaxMac Pro Chamber sealer (not vacuum sealer) from Costco and don't think I am terribly impressed. I am wanting feedback on idea's or if the higher end products are just worth the money like the VacMaster VP230. I bought a bunch of 4mm bags because I wanted to have less issues of bags getting tiny holes and loosing the seal. I have processed a deer, an elk, about 200 pounds of sausage a couple soups and some pork chops and overall don't feel like I am getting near the vacuum I should get. I feel like I am almost getting varied results from one package to the next. One thing to mention is I have also used the 3mm bags that the chamber sealer came with. They get slightly more air out of the bags but honestly nothing like the Foodsaver and LEM vacuum sealers I have used in the past. I started with the setting that LEM suggested for each type of food and worked it up probably 40% more and not sure I really saw much better results. Am I missing something? Is the product just less superior to the higher end models? I am not completely opposed to upgrading but I don't want to do it if I will get the same results. I live at 3000 foot elevation and yes the oil level is correct in the unit. Thanks for any input.

Jeff

I've fought with not great evacuation on a cheaper chamber vac a VP112, the issue was highly variable - that was the biggest annoyince. Sometimes (often) it was perfect, sometimes it sucked. I threw a bunch of parts at it and did a lot of "custom" work to try to get it to work better. I spent a lot of time with vacmaster customer support. In the end I couldn't get it to perform perfectly 100% of the time. I think the pump was just not up to the task, I also feel like weather had an impact (either atmospheric pressure or humidity).

Anyway, I went with a VP215 since I saw the importance of being able to get quality customer support and replacement parts. I have had one or 2 bags not evacuate perfectly in the hundreds of bags since the upgrade. The seals are also night and day better, this new unit will seal right over a pleat or wrinkle and it seals 100% right across a wet bag - I don't wipe the seal area anymore.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

@Tod osier how long since you bought the big vacmaster? When I was shopping this summer the vacmaster site had almost nothing for spare parts, while the JVR site had every part imaginable. That was the single biggest thing that drove my decision.

 

[Tod osier]

@Tod osier how long since you bought the big vacmaster? When I was shopping this summer the vacmaster site had almost nothing for spare parts, while the JVR site had every part imaginable. That was the single biggest thing that drove my decision.

I've had it several years and haven't needed parts, so there is that. When I bought parts for the other unit from them, they were never on the website, I called to order, they had every part imaginable available and this was after the unit had been discontinued. I've seen the vacmaster parts at other places as well, for example, webrestaurantstore carries an amazingly extensive line of parts, including new pumps, motherboards, seals, etc...

 

[4090Sharps]

I've fought with not great evacuation on a cheaper chamber vac a VP112, the issue was highly variable - that was the biggest annoyince. Sometimes (often) it was perfect, sometimes it sucked. I threw a bunch of parts at it and did a lot of "custom" work to try to get it to work better. I spent a lot of time with vacmaster customer support. In the end I couldn't get it to perform perfectly 100% of the time. I think the pump was just not up to the task, I also feel like weather had an impact (either atmospheric pressure or humidity).

Anyway, I went with a VP215 since I saw the importance of being able to get quality customer support and replacement parts. I have had one or 2 bags not evacuate perfectly in the hundreds of bags since the upgrade. The seals are also night and day better, this new unit will seal right over a pleat or wrinkle and it seals 100% right across a wet bag - I don't wipe the seal area anymore.

I had the same experience with a used VP112 and finally upgraded to the VP230. It’s a night and day difference.

 

[Bedrock]

I’ll have to bump this thread. We bought 3 MaxVac pros from Costco. Before we bought them I called LEM and asked if they would stand up to working non stop for 6-8 hours (We process several moose in a day). They told me "absolutely, that’s what they’re designed for". When we finally used two of them non stop for 50 - 60 cyclesthey both overheated, wouldn’t suck past 83 KPA, and filled the room with oily mist from the exhaust, and now they top out at 95 KPA instead of the original 99. So the pumps suffered some damage. I’ve asked them to send two new pumps but haven’t heard back. When I called LEM, the only thing the guy could say was that whoever told me they could run non stop didn’t really mean it. I would think if you ran them with the back off and had a fan blowing on them it would help. Also, as mentioned above, put something in the chamber to take up space. A 1-1/2” x 11” x 11” block cuts the vacuum time by 8 seconds. Better yet, we’ll probably return them and buy vacmasters.

 

[dieselchessy]

The pumps aren’t anything special, just a Chinese vacuum pump. When I bought mine I opened it up to add the oil. As I recall looking at the pump it wasn’t any trouble finding very similar pumps on Amazon for maybe $70 or so.
Shouldn’t be any issue to buy a higher cfm pump.

 

[Bedrock]

Thanks. Great idea. I’ll look into that

 

[NevadaMike]

My experience with the LEM units has not been very good. I bought the first one form Costco on Black Friday and it arrived a few days later. Then unit would not initiate the vacuum cycle when I closed the lid. After removing the back to see what was going on I noticed the hinge arm was broken. The hinge arm activates the switch inside the unit. I called LEM and parts are "on the way" with some free bags if I was willing to fix it. Well parts never came so I returned it and ordered another one

The new unit arrived today. First I had the same no vacuum but I was able to troubleshoot and adjust the switch located inside. Next I have only been able to get a seal once. I have a call into LEM but Ill probably just return it and go with an ARY like the one I already have.

Does anyone know if the bag hold down bar has to be in a particular position to initiate the seal. I tried several positions without luck.