Impulse heat sealer

Most heat sealers in use today come in the form of impulse sealers.

These sealers can be used with Polypropylene (PP), Polythene and polyethylene (PE, HDPE, LLDPE) based materials and are frequently used to seal poly bags. The sealers take their name from the way they use an impulse of electricity which heats the metal wire, resulting in one side of the bag being melted into the other. It’s important to make sure the sealer is held closed for double the length of the impulse to allow the seal to cool, to ensure the seal is strong enough. The whole sealing cycle lasts for between one and two seconds, when the seal is completed, and the sealer is not is use the element cools down and no power is used.

Choosing a sealer

The length of the seal should be at least two centimetres longer than the bag length, hand sealers and most foot pedal operated impulse sealers have a single element on the lower face and these are generally suitable for most thinner materials of up to 125 micro or 500 gauge. Double impulse sealers have heating elements on the top and bottom so both sides of the bag are melted to one another and bags of extra thickness can be sealed of up to 150 micro or 1000 gauge, they may also be suitable for foil based and other types of laminate bags.

Impulse heat sealers fall into two main categories; hand and foot-operated machines. Hand sealers are generally smaller they are better suited to lower usage and light weight packages due to the amount of handling. Foot pedal sealers allow both hands to be free to hold the product then they are better suited to higher usage and heavier products