4" (100mm) Impulse Manual Bag Sealer Heat Seal Closer + Free Kit 4 inch Hand Held Operated System - Cellophane Bag Sealer

I work in the "Industry". I have used sealers like this (only 12" long) for 20 years to seal medical instruments. In all that time the sealers haven't seemed to change at all, and they even have similar appearances, maybe all made by the same factory in China. It is "industrial quality", although that doesn't mean as much as it should. Mine was made from metal, just like the picture, and came with 2 extra wires and covers. I haven't seen anything built stronger, or with a better design, this is about as universal as it gets. It is only a sealer and isn't designed to cut the bag. I am using this one to seal continuous clear poly tubing, 1.5" wide by 4 mil thick (setting 4 FYI). As with all sealers of this type, getting a reliable seal takes a little experimentation. Just because the seal looks good, doesn't mean it is. Try doing this: First establish the sealing time by doing a peel test. Put an empty bag in the sealer, and the sealer on "1", leave an inch of extra bag for testing. For small bags you can cut the bag down it's edges and seal the two pieces together. Seal the bag, and hold the sealer closed for 3 seconds after the light goes out. Now grab each side of the bag to open it, like you are opening a ziplock bag. If the seal opens before the bag tears, then try again at a higher setting until the seal doesn't fail. Once you have figured out the setting, you can try waiting less time before removing the bag from the sealer. The manual says wait 1 second, I tend to wait 3. If you do it this way the sealer won't have to get too hot, the teflon won't scorch or get dirty with melted plastic, and the elements should last a long time. Just write down the setting you use for each type of bag you seal, the repeatability should be very good. You can seal multiple layers of plastic with testing, but crumpled or twisted plastic could be an issue.

I have to seal/shrink wrap small bottles for my business, so this was perfect for my needs. It works fine, but I will say I'm not as thrilled with it as I thought I would be. They give you a replacement heating element and cover for it, which is good, because I've only had this for about two months and I'm going to need to replace it soon! And I don't feel that I have used it so excessively at this point to warrant replacement, but maybe it's just the nature of a device like this?I try to keep it cleaned off as much as possible when I use it, so the plastic shrink wrap doesn't get gunked up on it and burn. But I also tend to notice that when I'm using it for extended periods of time (like if I have 30 or so bottles to seal instead of 3) that it seems to lose some ability to heat up as much? Like, the first ones I do will melt off right away, but towards the end of the job, I'm praying it will detach before the little "beep" goes off, even though I have it cranked up all the way.For the price, however, I will continue to use it and if I have to keep replacing that heating element every couple of months, so be it.

I just got this sealer to seal 4x6 inch bags. The shipping was fast. I was worried that I would have a hard time sealing with this since the sealing length is said to be 4 inches, but it's actually a little more so that gives some room for mistakes. The heat setting is pretty straight forward; it seems the 4 setting will pretty much seal most bags. The seals are very legit and wouldn't tear or open (I even tried to break them and I couldn't do it). I like that it doesn't have too many parts to it so there's less to go wrong. The instructions had pretty bad grammar, almost comically bad grammar, but I still could understand them. The blue plastic casing doesn't look well built, but I don't think it really affects anything important. This sealer looks like an overall good product for the money so far, hope it lasts a while.

Including this sealer, I have used 4 different sealers over the last 15 years - each in a high volume commercial setting. The last sealer I purchased was virtually identical to this model except it was an 8" version and was the longest lasting of the bunch. It seems like one or two companies must make these sealers for many companies as they all seem to have the same construction and look. Whoever makes these (I'm pretty sure my last one was Chinese made) makes them solid and built to last. My last sealer lasted me at least 6 or 7 years with well over 25,000 sealings. Over that period I of course had to purchase many heating elements (2 or 3 a year) and replace the teflon sheet that covers the element once or twice. In all, I didn't have to spend very much money on parts. I am assuming that this shorter model will be just a dependable as it's bigger brother.

Seems to be working fine and seals the bags good. The only minor issue I have is that the heat element cover is not long enough to cover the whole element so if your plastic bag is a little too long the heat element will burn a hole through the plastic. The cover should have been 1/8 of an inch longer.

REASON PURCHASED: To make popsicles, what else?!Years (and years) ago my Dad bought me and my sister this little infomercial sealer that we both still have, but have rarely used. However, it gave me the confidence in upgrading to this Impulse sealer, so thanks Dad!THE YAYS1. Style - I love the old factory look of this guy, there's something "vintage" about it that makes it special.2. Seal - it works quickly and easily right out of the box.3. Size - it's bigger than my TV buddy, but still small enough to store easilyTHE NAYSNada. Put it in your cart already.

Even though this item was very useful the first days i started using it, that's only for a short period of time. The machine works fine but i can't use it anymore because that film strip that covers the heat wire has completely burn. And that happened only after a few uses. They do send it with one replacement kit but that also quickly burns and then you're left with nothing. I've searched and searched for other replacement kits to buy alone but i can't find the 4" size that i want. I keep finding 8 to 12 inches. So until i find the correct size i can't use this machine which sucks