When shopping around for a heat impulse sealer, the two most important questions you will need to answer are:
Q: What sealer size should I purchase?
A: How wide is your bag? This one is easy. If your bag is 6″, then you will need a sealer that will fit your 6″ bag. The closest size to that is our 8″ hand sealer.
Seal Width Examples
Next Q: What seal width should I choose? There are a variety of seal widths that a sealer can make. There are two types of heating elements: round or flat. The round wire is mainly used to cut and seal with no excess material above the seal. Depending on the width of the flat wire element, sealers are available in 2-3mm, 5mm, 8mm, or 10 mm. If you are sealing thicker materials, you may want to choose a wider seal width for better heat penetration. Please download our seal width guide for a better idea of the type of seal width you should choose. The most basic seal width is 2mm and if you are sealing a general poly bag, the 2mm seal width will do the trick.
Do you have an odd sized object or need to carry your sealer around to seal? Check our our new FKR-A series portable impulse sealers. These sealers are lightweight and easy to use anywhere.
Available in 8″, 12″, and 16″ seal lengths
7ft long handle cord allowing maximum moveability
Double 5mm seal to seal thicker materials – up to 30mil in thickness
Q: I bought a sealer and now the sealer isn’t working! Can you help me?
A: Why, of course we can! We are the sealer experts and can assist you with any sealer problem. Most often, the problem is a simple fix. All you need is a screwdriver, unplug your machine and follow our quick little troubleshooting steps.
Using a screwdriver, loosen the PTFE metal plate and untuck the PTFE cover.
1. Is your heating element / wire broken?
– This is the wire (flat or round) that heats up to seal or cut the bag/film. Remove the PTFE cover and check that the wire is not discolored, bent, or broken.
Check the wire. Make sure the wire runs fully across the sealer.
2. Do you hear the “click” of the microswitch activation?
The microswitch allows the electricity to pass to the heating element which in turn heats up and seals your poly material. Sometimes the microswitch moves out of alignment during shipping and needs a simple adjustment to get the unit back to proper working order.
Remove the bottom plate to locate the microswitch
If you do not hear the “click” of the microswitch, you will want to locate the microswitch and make sure the arm operating bracket touches the microswitch when the sealer arm is brought into contact with the sealer base.
Carefully push the microswitch level to ensure that the level comes in contact with the microswitch trigger.
Carefully push the microswitch level to ensure that the level comes in contact with the microswitch trigger.
Mounting Springs hold the elements on both ends.
3. Are the mounting springs (holding the elements) in tact and in good condition? Make sure that the spring the element mounts on is intact. Replace if damaged. Please check also that the mounting spring is not rusted or worn in any way as this will prevent the element from conducting heat.
Make sure there are no loose connections to the timer.
4. Does the timer light come on when you bring your arm down to meet the base of the sealer? The light on the timer should come on briefly when the seal bar is brought down for sealing. If it does not come on, there maybe some loose wires or the timer may need replacing
We have two types of sealers that offer a “cut” option: a cut and seal sealer (aka a sealer with a round wire) OR a sealer with a sliding cutter. Please take a look at the two options to determine which sealer works best for you. If you have questions, please contact us or one of our distributors!
Seal and Cut Sealer
A seal and cut sealer is most often used in shrink wrapping film and bags. When using a seal and cut sealer, any excess material above the seal is cut off creating a clean seamless seal.
Seal and Cut Sealer (Round Wire)
When purchasing a seal and cut sealer, ask for an impulse sealer with a ROUND wire instead of a flat wire. Flat wire sealers create seal widths such as 2mm, 5mm, or 10mm seal widths. Round wires create no seam.
If you already have a 2mm sealer, you can easily purchase a round wire heating element and convert your sealer to a cut and seal sealer. Please note: ONLY 2mm sealers can be converted, a 5mm or 10mm sealer CANNOT be converted to a round wire. See our instructions on how to change your heating element wire.
Sealer with Sliding Cutter
Now, a sealer with a sliding cutter is most often used to trim a bag length or seal poly tubing. A sealer with a sliding cutter is equipped with a blade which will cut any excess material about 1/4″ from the seal line.
We carry sealers with cutters in a 2mm and 5mm seal width. We recommend using a 2mm for sealing materials 3-5mil thick (6-10mil total) and 5mm seal width for sealing materials 6-10mil thick (12-20mil total).
Why Shrink Wrap? Shrink wrapping is an excellent and easy way to package a product without the need to purchase a lot of expensive equipment. Shrink wrapping provides:
Crystal clear sealed packaging
Protection from dust and moisture
Tamper proof packages
What Do I Need to Shrink Wrap? All you need to shrink wrap is
Shrink material which comes either as rolls of film or shrink bags
Hand impulse sealer (w/round wire), and
Heat gun
How Do I Shrink Wrap?
Insert your product between the fold of film or into a shrink bag
Using your sealer, cut off excess film and seal the ends of your film closed
Shrink the film on all sides using a heat gun
How Do I Determine the Right Film?
Measure the width and height of your product and add 5-10% to the measurement. This provides you with your minimum shrink bag width.
Measure the length and height of your product and add 5-10% to the measurement. This provides you with your minimum shrink bag length.
For shrink film (usually sold as centerfold film), take the smallest figure of the two to determine the shrink film size needed.
If the size you needs is not available, a larger size can be used because shrink films will shrink up to 40% in all directions
Need to Shrink Wrap Faster? If you are looking to shrink fast your product even faster, we have L-bar sealers which cut and seals two sides of the film in one motion.
Many of our customers call us asking what sealer works best for their gusseted bag. Our blog, today, will address that question.
What is a gusseted bag? Gusseted bags are commonly used in the coffee and tea industry. The sides of the bags fold in to form a gusset. Gusset bags have sides that expand, allowing you to package bulkier, larger items.
What type of sealer should you use to seal a foil gusseted bag? Because of the gussets, a single element sealer such as your typical hand impulse sealer cannot properly seal through all four layers of the gusseted bag. Do not use a hand or foot or automatic sealer, not even a 5mm sealer.
We recommend using the following sealers:
…this small unit is the perfect size for sealing coffee bags
Double Impulse Sealers Double impulse sealers utilize two heating wires (upper and lower) to seal through your gusset bag. We carry both hand and foot operated as well as a few automatic units to suit your produtction level needs. Seal width – usually 5mm or 10mm (.20″ or .40″)
Direct Heat Sealers Direct heat sealers (also known as constant heat sealers). Whereas impulse sealers only create heat when sealer jaw and body meat, direct heat sealers maintain heat in the jaws as long as the sealer is turned on. As a result, direct heat sealers possess better heat penetration to seal thicker materials. Seal width – usually 15mm (0.6″)
Portable direct heat sealers or clamp style sealers are affordable and easy to use. We carry 6″, 8″, and 12″ models.
A temperature controller accurately controls the temperature from 30°-550° F (0°-300° C)
Band Sealers allow you to seal nearly any thermoplastic material considerably faster than any other sealer.
Seal quickly and efficiently with a band sealer
Vacuum Sealer Sometimes, in addition to sealing a bag, you will require a vacuum. We also carry a vacuum sealer made specifically for foil gusset bags (coffee bags). The vacuum sealer is a double impulse sealer with a 5mm seal.
Seals and vacuums in one step!
We hope this provides you with some smart choices for sealing your gusseted bags. Please be sure to check out our website – Sealer Sales. Please contact us for more questions.
We created this troubleshooting guide to help with our most frequently asked questions regarding sealers.
Impulse sealers (hand, foot, automatic) work in a similar manner – often, if you are having a problem with your sealer, the solution can be found in the following parts: heating element, PTFE adhesive, PTFE cover, microswitch, mounting spring, and/or timer. Let us know if you have a problem that isn’t listed in this guide and we can try and assist you.
Check element and PTFE cover and adhesive.
Element: This is the wire (flat or round) that heats up to seal or cut the bag/film. Remove the PTFE cover and check that the wire is not discolored, bent, or broken.
PTFE Adhesive: This is the 1/2″ piece with an adhesive backing UNDER the heating element. It should extend past the seal area 1/2″ on either side because it is the barrier between the metal machine and the metal heating element. For the PTFE adhesive, you must replace the bottom sealing strip whenever you change the element. The adhesive serves as a barrier between the heating element and the sealer’s body. When the sealer’s heating element has burned through the bottom adhesive and arc’ed on the sealer’s body, the element will break as well as destroy the timer.
PTFE Cover: The PTFE cover that goes over the heating element must be whole to prevent the plastic bags or film from sticking to the element. For the teflon cover, we recommend changing the cover BEFORE it burns through. As the cover wears, you will see a discoloration where it comes into contact with the element, you may also notice that your element is sticking to the thermoplastic material you are sealing. You can maneuver the cover back and forth to allow the element to come into contact with the unused portions of the PTFE cover. If you are sealing/cutting a thicker plastic material (higher amount of heat) you may go through a lot of PTFE covers.
Listen for “click” from microswitch when pushing bar down. This click should occur right before the upper bar comes into contact with the lower. If there is no click try the following:
Hand Sealer: Slightly bend metal switch lever so that when arm of sealer is brought down, the lever makes contact with microswitch and a click can be heard.
Foot Sealer: Small bolt for limit switch must be tightened as needed to make contact with the microswitch.
Auto Sealers: A 3.5″ screw that is mounted on upper jaw must be loosened so that it will make contact with microswitch which is mounted on left side of hinge bracket.
Mounting Spring: Make sure that the spring the element mounts on is intact. Replace if damaged. Please check also that the mounting spring is not rusted or worn in any way as this will prevent the element from conducting heat. Mounting springs can be purchased here.
Timer Light: The light on the timer should come on briefly when the seal bar is brought down for sealing. If it does not come on, the timer PC board probably needs replacing. Timers can be purchased here, but contact us if you cannot find the timer you are looking for.
We will continue to post additional new videos of our products but see our links to current videos. You can also visit our YouTube Channel here or visit our website.
Sealer Sales has been in the sealing business for over 30 years....we know our sealers! Our blog is dedicated to educating you all about sealers: how to choose a sealer, how to use a sealer, how to repair a sealer, and much more!
Our distributor base is all over the US, Canada, and Mexico. Please contact us for a distributor near you.
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