Sunbeam FoodSaver VS4200 / VS4400 / VS5500 / VS6600

Still going after 15 years – Bought around 2004 to package fish fillets. Filled a 150 freezer each year while holidaying at the Gulf. We no longer go to the Gulf, but sealer still works fine. Show details

Perfect for smoked foods – Had mine for 8 years now & never had a problem with it still works as good today as when first purchased it. Do a lot of smoking meat,chicken and fish and this works great. Also good for freezing food. Great for my small home smoking business 95% of the time the bags have a good sealing.  Show details

Crap – Can't seal more than a few bags before overheating and needing to cool down works for less than ten minutes of sealing before shutting down much like my sunbeam mix master. Very disappointing in sunbeam products these days they are just made cheap. Now it's just completely failed burnt out even though it only get used to seal up some fish a couple… Read more

of times after I have been fishing. Other wise it just sits in the cupboard. Only used about three packets of bags and it is cactus.

Sunbean products terrible, do not buy – I paid $166.00 for my product, and just like other people only used the machine about 3 times and the sealing band split. I contacted Sunbeam Customer Service who said I could purchase a replacement part. Contacted Sunbeams recommended repair contractor to be told this part could not be replaced. I then emailed Sunbeam but received no response from them. I would never, ever buy another sunbeam product. What a waste of hard earned money.  Show details

Poor build quality – Mine stopped sucking the air out of the bags. It'd work a little bit but nowhere near as well as it used to. Finally I pulled it apart. There's a small plastic component hooked up to one of the lid release catches. A vacuum hose is hooked up to that via a small piece of solid plastic tube. That had broken off so the hose was continually sucking… Read more

air. I'd suggest that was what had gone wrong with most of the units. Unfortunately that component is not available as a spare part.

disappointied – I purchased this machine paid $125 for it . I am extremely unhappy with it , I can't get the air from the bag. I think it's a dud and would not recommend the product . Also the bags that came with it were too small to be of any use....Thank you for your time Lee Carter

Not imressed – I'm on my second. The first was replaced under warranty but the second is no better. Worked a treat for a few months. Used the seal button to create bags and the vac and seal to seal food for freezing. First to go was the vac and seal. Will suck for ages but not go to seal so hit the seal button to force a seal. This has been a satisfactory… Read more

compromise for a couple of years but now the seal function has given up. Lights up and goes out but the seal is not secure and can be easily pulled apart. Was hoping to buy the Aldi one but looks like it is discontinued. Don't know what to buy next.

Sick of overheating – The concept of this product is great but to store your meals of more than 8 times in one go then you've got to wait and wait and wait some more to finish the job due to the machine constantly overheating. So frustrating. Shame this Sunbeam product doesn't live up to their reputation.

Great Home Vacuum Sealer – Have owned this machine for over three years. Used mainly for sealing food to be cooked in my sous vide cooker (water bath constant temperature cooking). Seals well and pump still as new. I had the cloth on the heat sealer strip slightly dislodge at one spot (through my fault) which caused the strip to melt the bag too much. The cloth strip easily… Read more

lifted and re-positioned correctly in seconds. Also have discovered cheaper bags (caveat emptor) that work with this machine which keeps the costs down.

Never Again – This is the second sunbeam food saver i have had, first lasted for a few years. Today i bring it down to pack meat and don't work, will not seal the bags. called the shop i got it from and the said unless i have a receipt (its faded) tough luck. so sunbeam can bite the big one will not buy any sunbeam item again. at this point in time NOTHING. no longer seals the bags, so now its just a $130 +$35 for bags paper weight.

Not good – Does not always suck enough air out to make it vacuum pack properly. The previous Sunbeam model I had sucked air much longer and was very satisfactory although it was much noisier. Unfortunately the machine stopped working after a number of years and I thought I had brought a similar machine but this does not seem to be the case.

No more Sunbeam for me – I Posted this on their Facebook page after much frustration. Hi Sunbeam!!! I really want to write a review on your website for your sunbeam VAC430 food saver vacuum sealer. But your website won’t let me, not sure why. I’m guessing it’s because you might not have had many good reviews come through, please correct me if I’m wrong. So allow me to… Read more

review it here, even though you will probably delete it. None the less I will endeavor to let people know what my opinion of this product is so they don’t waste their time like I did.

Sunbeam Model VAC 430 Vacuum Packaging System

The sales pitch on the box appears to be “Designed to help you save you time, money and food “

Let’s break it down,

Food… I give it a 5 out of 5 it’s designed to save food. It does what it says, it vacuums the bag and seals it. Great

Money… I give it a 2.5 out of 5 The travel cost in fuel for returning this product to the store has outweighed whatever money it was trying to save me at this point in time…

Time… I give it a negative 2 out of 5 now this is where I had a real issue and in my opinion is that it is borderline false advertisement.

The following is copied straight from the user manual on your website

To seal a bag… (now I skipped a little and went straight to the finishing point of sealing a bag)

When the red indicator light turns off, press the “Release/Cancel” button.

Lift the lid and remove the bag. NOTE: Wait 20 seconds before vacuuming and / or sealing again.

I’d like to point out that after about 5 to 7 bags have been sealed the unit cuts out for around 1min 30 sec give or take about 5 seconds. (I know this because I started timing how long this took…. That’s how bored I was with how much time I had in between bag seals)

Tips on sealing a bag… (Again copied straight from the user manual)

Make sure you give appliance time to cool down. Wait at least 20 seconds between seals. Under very heavy usage, appliance will not operate to prevent overheating. If it does, unplug appliance, wait 20 minutes to allow appliance to cool off.

Define Heavy usage… Because all of the VAC430’s that I used have cut out after around 5 to 7 seals as I mentioned above. Now I’ll average it off at 6 and do some math…

6 seals per overheat cut out… each bag needs 2 seals top and bottom. 6 seals divided by 2 seals per bag equals 3 bags per appliance overheat cut out, Allow appliance to cool down for 20 min.

Little Johnny buys a log of scotch fillet steak at a bargain price, (to save money by buying in bulk). Little Johnny cuts it up and gets 40 thick cuts and it pretty happy with his score. He is going to need to vacuum seal them because all this meat is going to have to last. So he seals up 3 steaks and turns off his appliance unplugs it and allows it to cool for 20 min while he enjoys a Corona. He repeats this process until all steaks are sealed. Little Johnny looks at the clock and realizes this took him 4hrs and 20 min to get all his steak bagged up. He looks in his fridge and realizes he is almost out of beer because he drank over 13 Coronas while waiting for his appliance to cool down. He looks at his Sunbeam VAC430 Food Saver and realizes he has smashed it all over the kitchen floor in a fit of rage due to all of his frustration. Little Johnny then proceeds to spend the next 15 min cleaning up his destruction.

Good thing I’m not little Johnny and I didn’t lose my cool as quick as this appliance does and I did not proceed to smash mine all over my kitchen floor. I will be returning mine but not for an exchange I will be getting my money back this time. I just though hey I’ve wasted enough of my Time with this appliance I might as well waste a bit more and let others know what my opinion is.

Over all I rate this a 1 out of 5

PS I called your customer care line and found it to be a joke, he had no product knowledge and could only state what he could read from the user manual. I gave him a chance to upsell me with a better model But he told me and I quote “they are all the same” just others have more buttons. Decision made…. No more Sunbeam for me. It came in a nice box Everything inside the box

Terrible product! – My wife bought me this for fathers day 18 months ago. $179 from beta electrical. Since purchase I have used it three times. I only use it to freeze excess fish when I catch too much to eat or give away. After not using it for six months I cut up some bags and attempt to seal them. The sealing function no longer works.

Rubbish – Worked fine for 6 months, now won't seal. Took it back after the 6 months but worked ok in the shop. Too expensive, better off replacing cheaper units more often ( which I hate to do). Give me a quality product and I'm happy to pay, these units ain't it! Poor quality

No spare gaskets – The machine worked well when I first bought it but stopped vacuum sealing after about eight months. The problem appears to be a broken gasket. After calling Sunbeam several time to get a replacement (it's always out of stock) they told me my warranty had now run out and that I should have taken it back to the retailer before 12 months had expired. Worked initially Stopped working

not impessed – machine does not do what it is intended to do. ipaid that little extra for a good quality band name but did not get what i paid for. i am a pensioner and cant afford to to throw money away . i hope someone can help me out. i feel a bit disappointed. stylsh does not seal

Too slow, too expensive, not great value at all – I previously bought an el cheapo food vaccuum sealer from China on ebay, which eventually broke down after almost a year of heavy use. I thought it would be a good idea to spend a bit extra and get a good quality Sunbeam one. I was wrong! The Sunbeam sealer is extremely noisy, and it is not possible to just make the unit seal alone, you have… Read more

to cop listening to the vacuum brrrrr away even when you are just making up the bags. The unit will only engage the sealing element once every three or four minutes.

If you need to make up more than one bag, or seal more than one piece of food it takes a really, really long time. Sometimes the sealing refuses to start at all. I even tried pointing a fan at the element to cool it down faster but this didn't really help. Sometimes it won't seal even when the element is cool to touch with my finger.

I'm taking this back to the shop to get a refund, it's not worth the money I paid for it. Very disappointed. This sealer is terrible. Loud. Expensive. Bags also expensive. Didn't work very well. Slow to use.

Excellent – I love this vacuum sealer. I always store mine with a double sheet of paper towel where the seals are. Occasionally I will have a problem I then take out the top seal and readjust and bingo it's back to working again. I love it so much I'm purchasing one for my daughter for Christmas The ability to stack more in your freezer as you can flatten out the product prior to freezing Occasionally have to readjust seals

It's a bit limited – Had one for a couple of years with low usage and the vacuum has stopped working, sounds ok but no real suction. Also found if you use it 5 or 6 times in a row it has to have a 10 minute break before it works again and then only for a shorter period,looks like I'm going elsewhere Okay for short time usage Very limited if you wish to use more than 1/2 a dozen times in a row. Life span appears to be very short.

Doesn't Work! Poor Engineering? – I have a Sunbeam Foodsaver VAC440. This type has a lock down lid and when you press the button, it should expel the air and on meeting resistance, the heater (sealing band) operates and seals the bag (smooth side downside). It will seal 2 -3 bags & the vacuum fails. The design is faulty. It was replaced twice by the retailer. Same problem. I am going to toss it. Don't buy this make!!! I am aware the manual lid units work.

A sealed unit therefore unrepairable so becomes landfill after 1 year warranty expires – I loved this product the first season I used it. Growing my own veggies and buying meat in bulk, it was perfect. I put it away for winter and the next time I brought it out, it didn't make a seal and was useless. I rang Sunbeam, the warranty had just expired and they told me that it was a sealed unit and unrepairable. Had it been under warranty,… Read more

they would have replaced it but no one can open it up and fix it once something goes wrong.

It is a heavy machine, full of metal that has been mined, smelted, worked, transported, etc. What a waste of our precious materials!

Planned obsolescence is something this world can no longer afford. Great idea in concept, if only it was built to last Cannot be repaired and is therefore landfill and a waste of resources and money

Love this thing! – I love the sunbeam Vac660. It says you should use the original sunbeam bags, but bought some other cheaper bags off the internet, and as long as they're textured on one side, they work great. Vacuum seal everything I can find. Great for marinating as it opens up the pores of the meats so cuts down on marinating time. Also great for sealing chip… Read more ·  1

packets after they've been opened. It also comes with a plastic container for crackers, etc and the hose fitting to suck the air out of that. Plus a bottle stop for wine/beer bottles. Good sturdy machine. Have had no problems with it. Can take other manufacturer bags and rolls.

Excellent – I purchased our foodsaver in February this year. We have always purchased our meat in bulk and even though it takes a little extra time to bag, the meat is preserved much better than conventional freezer bags ie: no freezer burn. I also use the machine for cheese, fruit, vegetables, cakes, biscuits etc. the uses are unlimited. I don't find the… Read more ·  1

cost of the bags expensive as they are reusable and also more than balance the expense of food waste, I actually purchase the bags from the local Sunday market and have not had a problem with them. I have no hesitation in recommending this machine. Money saver, space saver in freezer

Love it! – Had wanted one for years... Hubby got me one for Christmas & it is like a little angel in the cupboard. We have a 7 yr old and 3 mth old.....from separating home made lunch snacks to preparing baby food for the freezer... Well it is awesome. Highly recommend it to every family... Fast, easy

i love it, love it, love it!!!!! – This product is the best, i have had a capsicum in the fridge that i vacuum sealed since the 13th July (now 12th December) and it is still as fresh as the day i sealed it, wouldn't hesitate to eat it even after all this time. the bags (rolls) are expensive but when you consider how much food you save by not having to throw it out, it is well worth… Read more

it. Easy to use, love everything about it Bags a bit expensive, but by not throwing out lots of food they are worth it.

Good – Personally I have only had experience with the Sunbeam Food Saver and found it to be 99% faultless. Friend has cheaper version and very often gets air leakage. She is thinking of upgrading to Sunbeam. I buy the plastic rolls, so can adjust the bag sizes accordingly. As mentioned above, great for organising your meals prior to going camping. Even… Read more

if they defrost, the food will still stay fresh a lot longer than if frozen in tray packs/glad wrap. Love my sunbeam food saver. We buy meat in bulk, when it is on special, and package it all up in to meal size portions. No freezer burn ever. It is great for when we go camping too, as the packages are completely sealed with no blood leak in to the Engel. Cost of bags - but you need to think about what is economical to seal / re-seal. I mainly use the small rolls and buy when on special so as to minimize operating cost.

Good – overall its a great product apart form the cost of the bags, it does however save alot of money due to the fact that you will not be throwing out wasting food so you can buy in bulk such as cheeses and hams and vacuum seal them so they stay fresh this food saver vacuum packaging system is great, you can use it for anything, you can marinate meat… Read more ·  1

and vacuum seal it in there and freeze it, you can put left over cheeses or hams in there so it will reduce food wastage the cost of the bags is ridiculous, i mean its only plastic right

Great product – Great product works just as intended great for meat as tenderises. Blanch vegies then seal in bag freeze and use it on nights when time is limited just zap in microwave and its done - way cheaper than the steam fresh packet ones in supermarket. Reliable and does as product says

Terrible – I bought one last week and all but one of six bags lost their seal after a couple of days. The bags simply don't hold their vacume. Another con is that you only get one bag included with the machine which dosn't go far.

Excellent – however l would buy again BUT the bags are too expensive and yes they can be used more than one time. I start with large and then cut down as bags show wear or loose ability to hold vacuumn. $1 a bag is too much to pay. Bring out smaller sizes in plastic. we have had ours since they first came out and found it excellent We would like some smaller containers to be supplies - ie for avacardo etc not enough choice in containers - just 2 sizes

Good – i was sick of buying food that would not be eaten in time and would end up going off sitting in the fridge.i have found that buying meat fish and cheese in bulk when it is on special i am able to cut it into sections that i would actually use and with the left over portions i would vacuum seal and put them in the freezer and thaw out at a later… Read more

date and use them. so far i have found nothing that has been effected but using the vaccum and freezing. saves you money i have no dislikes

Excellent – Great machine - I can't wait to get a new one. I do a lot of baking and the bags are fantastic for freezing the cakes, biscuits, etc. Bought one of these machines from Danoz when they first came out about 10 years ago [when they were Foodsaver before Sunbeam bought them out], has always been a good machine until about 18 months ago - decided it… Read more

would be too dear to have repaired, so opted to buy a new one - unfortunately I purchased a cheaper version - it seals okay, but is not too good on the vacuuming - hit and miss - so am going to disperse of this one and go back to Sunbeam to buy a new one. Bags are a bit costly - but there are others on the market [if you check out the internet sites]