Vacuum Packers

[Aleman]

My Rival Seal-A-Meal is refusing to work . . . It did a great job of packing a couple of kilos of Fuggles 14 months ago, but when I got it out to use it again . . . its refused to work . . . as a friend got it from Makro in Stoke I would have had to return it there . .. and I have no Makro card . . . fortunately Rival offer a 2 year guarantee (1st year return to store) So I am waiting for a call back from tech support so that I can get an RMA number to return it and get a replacement . . . although for the princly sum of 18 quid I suppose I could cut my losses and replace it.

In the meantime I got myself a Biffinet one from Aldi . . . and it really does not cut the mustard

So for the Vac Packers out there . . . what do you recommend? I am somewhat disappointed with the ones I've bought so far so am looking for a robust model, that will work when I want it to . . .but just for this once I am not going to go way over the top and get a totally professional model

This looks to be a similar type of model to the Rival
This is the Biffinet

I'm seriously considering this one
I don't think this is worth the cash being asked . . . but I may be wrong
This may be a possibility I just need to decide how much I'm going to use it.

I may try for These as they are selling them at 69 quid BIN :hmm:

Just confused really and would like some input from anyone else who is using one

 

[Vossy1]

Hi Aleman,

The one your seriously considering is £5 cheaper here.
FWIW, I've been using this company for around 2 years. I use the model which has been replaced by the one you've linked. I've never had any problem with my machine and the rolls they supply are super tough jobbies. Their customer services is excellent.

I can't really comment on the other models you've linked as I haven't used them. I used to use heat sealers in my last job. The benefit of indutrial type sealers is that they are servicable, cheaper ones usually aren't.

The other major thing to look at is the price of bags for the machine. I do know that Paul at the BB can get these very reasonably, as I asked him when we last met. I've not had reason to take him up on it yet though.

Personally I like the rolls. I bag several kilos and seal the bag with an extra long tail. I then just cut the tail, take what I want and re-seal. I've found this to be far more economical than sealing individual amounts.

I hope this helps. I'll find the model number of mine and see if there are any on flea bay

EDIT just noticed Bags Of Freshness are selling the same model as the one you're tempted by
This is mine, a Issue IS 200, as sold by BOF.

 

[markp]

I have this one (cheesy link)
For what I paid for it, I've been very happy with it. The rolls of bags are reasonably priced too.

ATB

 

[Barley Bottom]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vacuum-Packer-bag ... m333.l1262

This is the one I use, ive packed thousands of packs of hops with it, well worth the money.

 

[Parva]

Your link to the "This looks to be a similar type of model to the Rival" is spot on, it is a Rival. I bought one and it's been fantastic. However, I'm aware of how often you big boys brew and the quantities of ingredients that you get through and the Rival is really only designed for housewives packing the odd block of cheese and such here and there. I use mine once or twice a month on maybe a couple of bags with 200Gms or so of hops and it works fine. I suspect that you guys are trying to seal half a ton of hops at a time on a weekly basis. :) Ok, exaggeration but I've hopefully illustrated my point. :) The Rival does the job for infrequent use but if someone like Paul says that the one he uses is faultless then I suspect that he knows his onions given his business. :)

 

[Aleman]

I love my Rival . . . oddly enough it really does the job, and gives great suck . . . Yes you are right I did pack 2.5Kg of fuggles with it . . . and it performed faultlessly . . . then I put it away and when I got it out to do the next batch . . . nothing not a sausage . . no lights . . . there is a transformer hum when plugged in . . . and if I connect the vac pump directly to the terminals on the out side of the AC/DC converter it works . . . and I suspect the heat seal strip would do the same (So I might buy a couple of High Current press to make switches and eliminate the circuit board which is where I think the fault lies)

The Biffinet one as Sold Occasionally by Lidl is really not worth the 18 quid or so.

However I Did win my preferred model from Bags of Freshness for 32 quid instead of the 70 quid Buy It Now Price . . . so I'm rather chuffed . . . I just hope that it will do the job

 

[Vossy1]

Nice buy Aleman :party:

 

[Aleman]

It arrived today, and based on my tests of re vacuum packing my Home grown fuggles it will more than do the job . . . it requires less 'force' to operate than the rival or the Biffinet which means you don't need three hands to hold the bag in position and close the lid. Other than that its very good and certainly gets a rock hard package when it has sealed.

Recommended for medium to light duties I would say.

 

[bobsbeer]

I know this is an old thread but relevant to my needs. I'm looking at an Andrew James one on Ebay £39.95 HERE

Any good? Are they worth the money?

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

I bought mine from JML, works great

 

[keith1664]

I have the Andrew James one, it's not had a lot of use but works fine.
One thing to note is that you have to use the embossed bags or it won't vacuum.

 

[bobsbeer]

you have to use the embossed bags or it won't vacuum.

Are they easy to get hold of?

 

[keith1664]

Yes, you can also get rolls.

 

[Loetz]

that looks a lot like mine but with different colors

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B003F0WKDM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[bobsbeer]

It does look like yours. Is it any good?

 

[Loetz]

I got it for christmas this year, so I've only used it a few times but I'm happy with it so far. You can buy the rolls on amazon and they are not very expensive. I bought 15 euros of rolls and it should last me years. I think that a lot of people on the German forum use this one. I read a lot of Amazon reviews etc. too, and in the end this seemed to be the best one. I'm about to go use it to package some meat for the freezer right now...