Planning to upgrade my foodsaver and think I’m ready to bite the bullet on a chamber sealer. Does anybody have experience with both of these VacMaster units? Is the 230 worth the additional $300? I’ve read the specs on both but I can’t see where the slightly larger 230 commands an ... More on rokslide.com

Check out r/ChamberVacs . The people who tell you that you don't need one, don't own one. You can pry my chamber vacuum from my cold dead hands. More on reddit.com

I have a Vacmaster VP-215 and it is awesome. Has an oil pump so it is also extremely quiet. More on reddit.com

A fairly common problem with the discontinued VacMaster VP112 is that the seal bar stops getting hot. While this can be because the heating wire has broken, the general recommendation is to call up VacMaster and order a replacement main control board. Unfortunately, these are fairly expensive with shipping and they are likely to no longer have stock. If you have a little bit of soldering experience, you can fix it for a lot less. The one component in the heater control circuit that is likely to go out is that big relay (HHC67E-1Z-12VDC). This part can easily be ordered from EBay, AliExpress, or a number of other sellers for as low as $5. I replaced that one component and now my VP112 is sealing like new. Disassembly is straightforward once you know what screws need to go. unplug the unit. You'll be exposing the raw 120VAC innards. Remove the 4 screws from the lid side of the lid hinge bars. Leave the screws in the unit alone. Remove the screws from the lid, then gently lift and twist the lid just a bit to get the hinges apart. There are metal sleeves inside that come out. Each sleeve has two washers, one between machine and hinge and one between screw head and hinge. Remove the four screws, 2 on each side, just below the lip of the chamber tub (just below the black ring that the lid sits on). Lift up on the tub starting at the front. Don't go too far as there is both air plumbing and wiring attached to the lid. Take a couple of pictures of the wiring. Refer to the pictures when re-assembling. (I always forget this step and always have a head scratcher when reversing the steps). Disconnect all the wires from the main control board (the one sitting sort of middle left in the machine -- not the one in the front). You'll likely have to remove a bunch of glue gunk. Unscrew the four screws from the board and it'll lift out easily. Desolder the relay and solder in a new one. To test, just put lay the tub back on the top of the machine. You don't have to properly seat it (but make sure it isn't sitting on the boards). Plug it in and turn it on. Set the vacuum to the minimum amount of time. Press start. When it gets to the seal phase, the seal bar should get noticeably hot. Don't touch it, but you should be able to feel the heat with a hand held close. Better yet, if you have an instant read thermometer or an IR camera, point it at it. I actually test sealed a bag of water (makes a great ice pack) without putting any of the screws back in. Just line up the lid properly and seal like normal. More on reddit.com