What is the Best Impulse Sealer for a Small Retailer

Many small shops either package their own products or re-package products purchased in bulk from wholesalers within their own premises. Unfortunately, the vast majority of small retail environments suffers a common problem, namely lack of storage and work/ counter space.

Vacuum sealing of products results in packaging to be compressed, subsequently allowing for the need of storage space to be reduced significantly. This leaves shop-owners with the issue of finding a vacuum sealer that will fit onto what little counter/ workspace is available for packaging.

Naturally, energy consumption, speed of packaging, quality of seals and safety considerations – hot surfaces tend to be an even greater risk in confined spaces than they are in large factory environments, for instance – are as important as finding suitably small sealing equipment.

The solution to all of these considerations is present in the shape of tabletop impulse heat sealers. In addition to being highly compact and portable, making it possible to even use them at the point of sale, table top impulse heat sealers have a range of advantages constant heat sealers can not offer.

The first of these advantages is low energy consumption.

Because power is only delivered to the unit’s heating element when required, running costs are kept at a minimum. Another benefit of using impulse heat sealers is the fact that no pre-heating is required – the unit is instantly ready for action, saving valuable time and money in labor cost.

As the current delivered to the heating element stops once the act of sealing a bag has been completed, there are also no continually hot surfaces, reducing the risk of injury dramatically, as well as minimizing the unit’s impact on space conditioning (no unnecessary heat is emitted into the surrounding environment, meaning AC systems do not have to work overtime to keep temperatures at reasonable levels).

At present, there are three different series of table top sealers available to small retailers, namely the Poly (P or PC), FS and FT series, all of which are hand-operated, exceptionally easy to use, seal only and allow for approximately 1,000 bags to be sealed per day. All models provide seals of consistent high quality, and the choice which model is the most suitable for any given retail environment depends purely on specific requirements and available space.

Poly Series

Particularly useful for packaging food items – such as, for example, bread, confectionery, seafood and fish; beans, candies, and so on – the Poly Series comprises of four models. At a size of only 72 x 310 x 160 mm (W-D-H) and a weight of 2.2 kg, the 250 Watt P-200 and PC-200 models are the most compact impulse heat sealers available. Easy-to-use and portable, these models provide seals of up to 200 mm in length and 2 mm in width.

Compatible to a broad range of packaging materials, with a maximum total thickness (overlapping films) of <2 mm, these models offer heating time variation from 0.1 to 1.6 seconds, as do the P-300 and PC-300 models. Slightly larger (82 x 428 x 200 mm) and heavier (4 kg) than the P/ PC- 200 models, these 380 Watt impulse heat sealers offer a seal length of up to 300 mm.

Both PC models also cut the film at a specific distance from the seal, and all four models use a single heating element located on the respective unit’s lower section, as do FS Series models.

FS Series

The 400 Watt FS-215 and the 500 Watt FS-315 are – at respective sizes of 286 x 376 x 198 mm and 363 x 376 x 198 mm, and weights of 5.2 and 5.8 kg – both larger and more powerful than those mentioned above. Offering seal widths of 2 or 5 mm, seal lengths are 200 mm (FS-215) and 300 mm (FS-315), with maximum film thicknesses and range of compatible materials equaling those of the Poly series, these impulse heat sealers lend themselves to a wide range of applications, including medical packaging (medication, sterilization bags, etc.); industrial/ electronic components/ tools and individual packaging of apparel.

FT Series

Often referred to as tea/ coffee bag sealers; the models within this series are – at 1,200 (FT-130) and 1,300 (FT-230) Watt – more powerful than either of the aforementioned models and use heating elements on both top and bottom of the unit. Measuring 230 x 340 x 250 mm (FT-130) and 320 x 360 x 250 mm (FT-230), these units weigh 6.7 and 9.7 kg and offer seal lengths of 120 mm and 220 mm respectively. Seal widths for both of the FT Series impulse heat sealers are 10 mm, and total thickness of films is up to <0.5 mm. Combined with electronic timer control, these features make FT models particularly useful for packaging of food and beverages, such as tea, coffee, beans and so on.