How to Troubleshoot a Kenmore Seal-N-Save 69043
Kenmore is a brand owned and sold by appliance giant Sears. One of the company’s offerings is the Seal & Save, a small appliance that vacuum seals foods in airtight plastic bags for longer storage. Like any man-made appliance, the Seal & Save isn’t without a few maintenance issues. Luckily, the common issues experienced are do-it-yourself fixes that negate the need to buy a new unit or send the unit away for repairs.
Step 1
Unplug the Seal & Save from its power source and flip open the front compartment door. If the gasket seal on the inside of the door is warped or deformed from use and won’t close – thus the machine won’t seal bags as needed – this is where you can locate the culprit. Look at the front inside lip of the door to locate the bellows. There’s a small wire connected to a small spring.
Step 2
Insert the tip of a small gauge flathead screwdriver directly into the spring to dislodge the wire and disconnect the wire from the spring. Pull the wire out once it’s loose. Look in the upper right-hand corner of the unit and you’ll see a small nut. Loosen the nut manually with your fingertips or an appropriately sized wrench. Once it’s off, pull gently on the bellows to remove it from the machine.
Step 3
Slide the new bellows in place where the old one rested. Backtrack over the steps to replace the nut to secure the bellows to the unit, then replace the spring/wire configuration – it simply pops back into place with the screwdriver. Attach the two together as before.
Step 4
Dampen a sponge with warm soapy water and gently wipe down the gaskets. If the bags are only partially sealing, soiled gaskets are one the known culprits. After wiping them down, dry them with a clean paper towel and run the machine through a sealing cycle to ensure the bags are sealing as they should.
Step 5
Wet your fingertip and moisten the edging on a bag to be sealed should you find your sealing efforts are melting the bags. Overly hot seal-arms – the heating element that closes the bags – will melt a bag’s edging and result in improperly sealed bags. Unfortunately this is a case that requires the machine to be serviced, so consult the manual that came with your machine for repair information.
