How to Make a Heat Sealer

Step 7 Now set up the PIC for use

Click the video link to see a demo. For my particular setup, it takes about a half second impulse for get a good seal on up to 4 mil bags.
http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/klee27x/?action=view&current=bfd9110a.pbr

Now here's a video of it in action. Mind you, in this vid, I am still experimenting with 26AWG KA1, so the impulse is much, much longer than it is, now, and it doesn't work quite as good.
http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/klee27x/?action=view&current=83ed7b18.pbr

Comments

[jwu6]

The video link is dead :(

Do you think you would be able to re-upload it?

Thanks in advance!

[klee27x]

Awwww. Photobucket just nixxed all user's "remix videos." That's where you use their web-software to edit a video. So that video is really gone! Sorry. Anyways, I'll just say the vid shows me filling a bag with air, then sealing it. Then cutting it in half, and then I pop both balloon halves to trippy techno music, and it was really freaking cool. Too bad you missed it. :)

[jwu6]

awwww, that would've been freakin cool! :)

Anyway, what are your thoughts on using teflon coated nichrome vs. non-teflon coated?

Thanks again!

[klee27x]

Teflon coating the wire is probably a good idea. With a bare wire, I could run into trouble if I tried to seal a foil lined bag. (But in practice, it seems to work ok). Also, putting a strip of teflon tape over the wire would keep it from moving when it heats and expands. But the bag, itself, seems to keep the wire in place. It gets "sticky" when it heats, and the wire stays put.

So there are definite advantages to using an electrical insulator, but it can also be done with a bare wire without much issue. I chose not to cover the wire, because that would make it more likely that the plexiglass melts by the time the bag seals.