I know this has been a topic before, however, my "next to the top" model is losing its suck power (please hold the jokes) and its less than a yr old! I've done all the normal cautionary steps such as no liquid etc.. The question I have is what was-is the life span of yours?? Ya think I got a bum machine or do these things just get tired of suckin on fish after a while??

fishbelly, mine was 11 yrs old and on monday it fell off the shelf and shattered,,,,, it still worked as good as a foodsaver could and i used the crap out of it.......my wife thinks it was a staged event becouse ive been looking at chamber sealers for serious sealing,,,, id say you got a bum one,,,,, take it apart and look and see if your suck tubes have been worn threw by the pump, this happened to mine... good luck

Ya I hear ya on them buggers.

I wish they made a version specific to the fisherpeoples.

The only thing that helps (you already know)
is to pat filets dry, and stick a paper towel in the bag to help absorption.

If anyone finds any good tricks I want to know!
have fairly new one and it sucks.. (actually it does not suck is problem)

They need some more hp on these things...time for a "Home Improvement" or a McGyver fix.

Fishbelly, I had old old Foodsaver that finally went belly up (speaking of bellies) and so I found the company web site and emailed them. They said send it in with 50 bucks and we'll fix it. I did, but the unit still didn't work. So I emailed them again asking for my 50 bucks back and they said no worries, we'll send you a new unit, plus a box of bags for your trouble. They did send a new unit, a much nicer, newer model than my old one, and the bags. Works fine...

There is also a place in Seattle that fixes them. I don't have the info with me so I will get it posted when I get home. Most of the time it's a vaccuum sensor switch on the inside that gets gooped up from liquids-vapors that causes the problems. Pull your unit apart you'll see the switch as there are few parts inside these baby's. The place in Seattle said they can also replace the sealer strip if required. I think for the money I'm going to upgrade and buy one of the commerical type. Between $300-$500 dollars, look on the web there are lots of them out there.

I got one of the $100 ones in February and now it's doing the same thing and will only work with a large bag, won't suck the air out of a small one any more. Also only works with hard items like smoked fish or frozen things. I have been real careful with mine so I don't think anything is clogging it, but I'll take it apart to be sure. Just stupid cheap junk like most of the crap appliances you buy today

Ok I'm at home so here is the info as I promised. Go to this web site, lots of good info and perhaps you can fix your own. They also have several models for sale. I haven't talked directly to them , but they look pretty good.
http://www.pmgquality.com/

I have a 10 year old Foodsaver and it's a sucking mo! Works as well as the first day I bought it. I believe mine is pretty much a manual unit with only the heat strip turning off automatically. I've got the timing down well to start the heat strip just before the juice hits the sealing area. If I have a lot of moisture in the top of the bag I will take a paper towel and give a quick swipe to dry the contact points.

We had same problemo but with a litttle soap cleaning around the seal vacuum lip, food saver started working good as new. Propose a thorough cleaning after every sealing workout!