I am late to this post regarding vacuum sealers but for what it is worth here are my two cents worth: I had a food saver professional for roughly 20 years and never a problem. One day all I got was flashing lights. Started looking for another sealer, one that could run for several hours at a time. Settled on the LEM MaxVac. A heavy, solid and nearly quiet unit. Never even gets warm. A great purchase, but sort of pricey.