Food Saver Issues

[Consiglieri]

Thought you guys might be able to help.  Can't get the device to vacuum out a bag.  Canister vacuums out fine; tested vacuum suction on bag end and it pulls. when I run a cycle the lid on the machine seems to suck down, but no air out of the bag.  Release the valve, and air hisses back in.
Made several bags from the same roll, but no dice.

Any thoughts?

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Sounds like the heat seal is not activating?

[Gizmo]

Check the gasket around the sealing compartment.  Since there are so many models it is hard to diagnose your exact problem but if you can take a picture of the sealing area, it might help.  Sometimes the gasket gets out of shape or not lined up top to bottom and it leaks.  The other thing to look out for is the lid tighning down on the gaskets and therefore pinch sealing the bag so air can't escape.  I will assume you are using real food saver bags and not some immitation that may not work (pinch sealing and not having the special groves inside that aid air flow).  You can put a piece of paper towl in the bag and have it sitting across the gasket and seal bar area.  This will not allow you to seal the bag but it should allow airflow out of the bag just to check if any of the above conditions exist.

[Consiglieri]

Giz: I thought the gaskets weren't forming a tight seal, but when you mentioned pinching, it made sense.  I pushed in the gaskets inch by inch as deep as I could get them.  Tried again, problem solved.  Good problem solving.

Arcs:  Thanks for the post.  I was worried that the bottom edge seal wasn't forming completely (or worse-- that I was using the machine while the sealer was still too hot and sealing before vacuum cycle).  Just a gasket issue. 

[dflick]

I have also found that occasionally something sticky will get on the seal and pull it out of the groove enough to keep it from seating.  I wipe off the seal often with warm water.