Weston 65-0501-W Professional Advantage Vacuum Sealer, 11", Stainless Steel and Black

I bought this sealer in November 2016 after a very positive review on "a popular PBS American cooking show." ;-) Their comment was that this is a very serious and very powerful sealer. Indeed, it is both of those things. This sealer is well-made, and it is very powerful. Used correctly, it can really be helpful for sealing foods for storage in the freezer, in the refrigerator, or in the pantry. It seems to use Weston and FoodSaver bags equally well.That said, after about 18-24 months of use, I began noticing that it no longer drew air out from the bags very well. I see lots of other folks have had the same problem. The problem was intermittent: Early on when this started happening, when I first used the machine, it worked poorly and didn't "draw" at all; then after some attempts it would get better. But eventually the machine couldn't draw very well even after 10-15 minutes of attempts.At first I thought there were problems with the quality of the Weston bags (such as leaky edge seals), but that wasn't it. Upshot: This is a very powerful machine, and it does require a very, very good seal around the vacuum chamber. The foam gaskets (upper and lower) that seal the vacuum chamber DO smooth over and become less effective with time and use, and so they need to be replaced.Weston sells a kit for this, and it's also available other places as well (just beware and confirm whether the kit you're buying contains one set of seals or two for the price). After really being unhappy with the poor performance of my Weston sealer, I used this kit to replace the seals and the heater strip tape, and now my Weston sealer works like new once again.A clue that your machine needs new seals is that, after a sealing operation, you no longer hear the "PSSSSSSS" sound (or it's weak) of pressure being released before the loud beep. My machine had stopped making that sound, but it does once again now.While I wish that this periodic maintenance wasn't necessary (along with the cost, it takes maybe 20-30 minutes plus a steady hand to do the replacements) this machine is serious business and the seals probably work pretty hard.Here are some other things that I've found are helpful with this machine:1. Please read the manual thoroughly ... it has lots of important tips.2. Make sure that, when you're sealing the bottom of roll bags, the seam is clear with no ripples (hold it up to light to check). If you see any little ripples, do another seal just above/below the first one. Any ripples in the seam can eventually admit air (remember, this machine really makes a strong vacuum, so the heat seals need to be perfect to hold it).3. For meat that has juices, put it on a plate and put it in the freezer for 30-45 minutes before sealing. You don't want to freeze the meat, you more want to freeze those juices so that the sealing process works better (and is less likely to make a mess).4. Remember that some items (such as foods that are in opened plastic "shells") can have sharp edges that, when vacuum-sealed, can eventually cut a hole in the bag, losing the vacuum. Either be careful and use the Pulse method of sealing, so that the bag doesn't cling too firmly to things like sharp corners, or just remove those foods from the plastic shell.My Weston sealer still sounds quite good and works strongly, so I'm hoping for many more years of use, albeit with occasional replacement sets of seals.

I bough the Weston Pro Advantage vacuum sealer though Amazon and received it on 10/16/2019. It worked good for the first dozen times I used it, but over the Thanksgiving holiday I noticed it was taking a longer and longer time to vacuum/seal the bag and then finally not vacuum/seal the bag at all. I concluded the left hand side lid lock assembly was not working properly and on December 9, 2019 I contacted Amazon support (who informed me that I could not return this product for a refund as it was past 30 days) and the Weston company itself, who said they would replace the broken vacuum sealer under warranty, without the units return, conditioned upon the fact that I email them a photo of the unit with the power cord cut off and manufacturers label. While the new unit arrived yesterday it came with a packing slip indicating that the 65-0501-W Pro Advantage vacuum sealer it is in fact a Hamilton Beach product both packaged as/and carrying the Weston name. I think it speaks for itself, that Weston knows this product is defective and not worth the $185 I paid for it, otherwise why would they have sent me a second vacuum sealer without me having to return the first one? At this point I would rather have my money back than another possibly defective product. I am going to contact Amazon again and try to get to the bottom for this.

I just received this machine in todays mail. Within the hour I put it to work packaging up 24 ready formed angus burgers that I purchased this a.m. Upon sealing the very first package I noticed a dramatic improvement over the seal a meal machine that it is replacing. It's far and away quieter and faster. And as an added bonus, it's not the least bit cantankerous about the occasional small wrinkle in the sealing edge. It just vacs it down and seals it with no drama, something that the previous machine wouldn't do on its best day. Also, being able to either pulse vacuum or stop and seal at any point in the process is great, something that I missed on the old machine. Now my wife won't be complaining about the shredded mozzarella that we buy in bulk and freeze in the bags coming back out of them in one solid lump. This is now our fifth vac sealer, and I still have one new in the box unopened, all of which were/are homeowner grade, and it's better than all of those combined. I do strongly recommend that if you are a dedicated vacuum seal person as I am that you purchase this machine and be done with it. The ones you buy off the shelf in the big box stores are simply not worth the money, and they will eventually break down, and guess what? You aren't going to find any parts to fix them anywhere, even from the manufacturer, so don't even bother trying. Been there, done that, and all it does is raise your blood pressure. Also, when you need bags, don't buy them in the stores either. They are a total ripoff. Do a little searching on line and you'll save a ton of money on them as well. Update- I began to have a problem with the machine not wanting to vac for some unknown reason. Everything was working, vac pump and all, but it just couldn't get air out of the bags. I finally called Weston, and the lady on the other end knew exactly what the problem was. Apparently the foam rubber gaskets on the body and lid of the unit were simply too hard and squeezing the bag so tightly that the machine couldn't overcome it. She promptly sent me a new set of the seals (two sets, in fact) that appear to be made of a slightly different type of rubber. I immediately replaced the seals upon receiving them and tested the machine. Now it works perfectly.