PrimeTrendzHand Impulse Sealer Heat Seal Machine Poly Sealing With Element Grip and Teflon 8" (Inch)

I purchased based on at the time a single review and before I received it Sum Dood posted his review that had me a bit worried. I received the sealer, took it out of the box, plugged it in, put a bag in, closed it, pushed down, and nothing it didn't work. I noticed some play in the hinge so I tried again, this time I pushed the arm back, and it worked. Ok so it apparently needed a internal adjustment. I unplugged it, turned it over, removed the four screws in the rubber feet holding the bottom cover on and had a look. Sure enough when the arm is pressed down to seal the bag the arm that is suppose to depress the switch to activate the sealer wasn't quite bent all the way to do the job. Simple fix I used a pair of pliers to adjust the angle. All back together it works perfect now, I sealed more than a few bags (nice to not have to cycle my vacuum sealer each time just to make custom sized bags) with it, and works great. Photos attached, first with the bottom cover removed, second with the arm pressed all the way down you can see it barely touches the switch, third is after the adjustment with the arm closed but not depressed to seal yet, and the last one shows when the arm is depressed all the way down to seal.

I bought this hoping to take some of the load off my Weston professional food sealer. I'd planned to use it to make my own bags from Weston rolls ahead of time without using the Weston just to do the sealing of the initial end. The seal line created by this product is tremendously thin by comparison to that of the Weston. It's maybe a third as thick. Even on the maximum setting I could not get a good seal line when using Weston rolls. The seals were easily pulled apart. Even if they looked okay the Weston would never stop sucking air and I could never get a good vacuum sealed package with one end sealed by this device. I'm going to try it on thinner rolls by another manufacturer and see how it does. I'm not expecting it will do much better. I have no idea what I'm going to use this for now.

When I got this sealer, I got it out of the box, plugged it in, and to my surprise it didn't work at all. I decided to open it up rather than return it, and found that the fix was moderately easy. If you are ambitious enough to try and repair this on your own follow these steps:(Make sure it is unplugged, be safe, don't burn anything down, etc. etc. I am not responsible for damage or injury caused by these directions)1) Open it from the bottom2) Take a look at the piece of metal attached to the sealer's arm from the inside. Mine was not correctly making contact with a small button on the housing of a plastic part near the on the back of the sealer (near the hinge).3) Using the original amazon box, I cut a small piece of cardboard and taped it (just with scotch tape) to the arm so that the piece of metal makes contact with the button that it is supposed to. (See the photo for a better idea of what I did.)4) Close the arm with the cardboard taped on. You are waiting to hear a click from that button.5) Close everything up, test to make sure that it works.I assume that it might look a little different for you since I imagine there are multiple models that look like this being sold. (Mine looks similar to, but not exactly like the display image on this listing)Functionally, it works great! But I don't like repairing things that I expect to be working when I get them so I gave this impulse sealer 3 stars.

The first time I used this sealer, it worked. The 2nd time I used this sealer, although it did turn on, it did not create an effective seal. I could see a line on the bag, but it could easily be pulled apart and was not actually sealed. I then attempted to seal with it over and over again, trying different ways of placing the bag, holding it closed for a significantly longer duration, etc but nothing worked because it was a defective product. Alas, I got tied up in dealing with the things in my life that take priority over heat sealers- silly me! I requested the return outside of the 30 day window (barely) and I was told I could no longer return the product. So, this seller can't stand by their product working 2 times within 6 weeks???? Pretty lame. BUYER BEWARE!!!! Don't waste your money on this piece of junk when there are far superior options, and don't fund this bad customer service with your money!Here is the heat sealer I got to replace this one, the Vitrust impulse sealer- it is far superior and comparably priced!!! On the Vitrust, you can adjust the heat setting easily and it has an autotimer element built in for the heat source so you know you are holding it closed exactly long enough to make a seal (as the heat element automatically shuts off even if you are holding it closed still). The Vitrust makes a 5mm strip instead of the Primetrendz's measly 2mm strip (so the Vitrust makes a much more effective seal even when the PrimeTrendz one is actually functional). And best of all- itthe Vitrust one works!!! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071HT2ZG1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To sum up what many of the other reviewers have said, this is a very well-designed, but poorly-assembled product.Unit was Dead-on-arrival, but rather than send it back, I opened it up. I immediately saw and fixed the loose connection. While I was in there, I also bent the tab that engages the switch to make it turn on sooner (as other reviewers have suggested).Anyway, after the initial fixes, everything has worked amazingly well on any bag we've thrown at it. This thing can even heat-seal a ziploc bag (for anybody who's interested).It may need a bit of work to get running, but why complain? You can get an industrial grade heat-sealer for a lower price than a dumb plastic one if you're a little bit handy!(I'd sure do it again.)

Says die cast metal construction TWICE in description YET is made of CHEAP plastic. The exact issue I was avoiding this time. Thanks for blatant misadvertising.

We use this to seal a package of items. It leaves the bag whole, but ensures we can verify whether the contents have been tampered with.

Says metal base but they send a really cheap plastic one. Don’t bother.