Troubleshooting Tips and Part # Information

When the Teflon wears off of your HS-C's sealing bands or if the bands get scratched, kinked, or broken, they will need to be replaced.

To change the bands on an HS-C, unplug the machine and remove the bottom guards.  Press the discharge-end (idler) band wheels (pulleys) in against their spring-loaded cams to take tension off one of the the sealing bands.  Slip the worn sealing band off of the Idler pulley, pull it out of the heater bar/cooling bar slot, then remove it from the drive pulley.  Repeat the process for the other sealing band.

Reverse the process to install new sealing bands - install one band at a time - place the new band over the drive-end pulley (the pulley at the motor end of the machine), then slip the band carefully down between the cooling and heater bars.  Finally, press on the Idler Pulley (against the tension spring/cam) and slip the new band onto the Idler Pulley.  Release the pulley to put tension on the band.  Make sure the outside edge of the sealing band is fitted into its respective Band Wick.

Repeat the process for the second band.

The Band Wicks are intended to "wipe" the Teflon surface of the sealing bands.  The Sealing Band should run through one of the two slots in the band wicks and the band wicks should be inserted into the sealer frame with the slot openings facing the bottom of the machine.  The Band Wicks help to keep the Teflon clean.  Band Wicks can be rotated so that when one slot gets dirty, the second slot can be used to clean the band - allowing you to double the life of a band wick.

If the gap between the heater bars becomes occluded (clogged) with burned-on residue, the bars will likely need to be removed, cleaned, and polished.  It is NOT recommended that the user attempt to remove the heater bars because replacing them properly is difficult and critical to proper sealer operation.  If this occurs, please contact BaggingGuys about our Ship-In Service for Doboy Portable Sealers!

When the Teflon wears off of your HS-CII's sealing bands or if the bands get scratched, kinked, or broken, they will need to be replaced.

To change the bands on an HS-CII, unplug the machine and remove the plastic guards.  On one side of the machine, press the infeed end (idler) Band Wheel (pulley) Assembly in against their spring-loaded pins.  Push the loose metal clip up behind the head of the shoulder screw (the one that retains the tension assembly and the band tension springs) to lock the tension assembly in (and keep tension off the pulley and bands.)  Slip the worn sealing band off of the Idler pulley, pull it out of the heater bar/cooling bar slot, then remove it from the drive pulley.  Repeat the process for the other sealing band.

Reverse the process to install new sealing bands - install one band at a time - place the new band over the drive-end pulley (the pulley at the motor end of the machine), then slip the band carefully down between the cooling and heater bars.  Make sure the outside edge of the sealing band is fitted into its respective Band Wick.  Finally, put it on the Idler Pulley and snap the clip out from behind the should screw to restore tension to the sealing band.  Repeat the process for the second band.

The Band Wicks are intended to "wipe" the Teflon surface of the sealing bands.  The Sealing Band should run through one of the two slots in the band wicks and the band wicks should be inserted into the sealer frame with the slot openings facing the bottom of the machine.  The Band Wicks help to keep the Teflon clean.  Band Wicks can be rotated so that when one slot gets dirty, the second slot can be used to clean the band - allowing you to double the life of a band wick.

If the gap between the heater bars becomes occluded (clogged) with burned-on residue, the bars will likely need to be removed, cleaned, and polished.  It is NOT recommended that the user attempt to remove the heater bars because replacing them properly is difficult and critical to proper sealer operation.  If this occurs, please contact BaggingGuys about our Ship-In Service for Doboy Portable Sealers!

If you accidentally overheat your Doboy HS-C or Bosch Doboy HS-CII Continuous Band Sealer or, if you put too much bag top up inside the sealer, polyethylene bags can become molten and will melt fast to the interior of the machine (see photos to left).  This is especially true if the bag top is directly exposed to the heater bars!

To minimize the chance of melting bag material inside your sealer, follow this advice:

1) Only heat-up your sealer to a temperature that yields the desired seal.  Overheating the material increases the chance of melting the bag top inside the sealer and also can thin the film at the seal resulting in a greater chance of seal failure.

2) Place only as much material into the sealer (i.e. extra bag top above the seal area) as is required to locate the seal where you need it.  The HS-C series sealers can accommodate about 1.25" of excess bag top above the seal, but if you are using soft, thin plastic it will "flop around" inside the machine and will likely rub against the top of the heater bars causing a "bread bag on a hot toaster" result.

If the gap between the heater bars becomes occluded (clogged) with melted and / or burned-on residue, the sealing bands and heater bars will likely need to be removed, cleaned, and polished.  It is NOT recommended that the user attempt to remove the heater bars because replacing them properly is difficult and critical to proper sealer operation.  If this occurs, please contact BaggingGuys about our Ship-In Service for Doboy Portable Sealers!

My HS-CII has two loose metal clips near the end where I insert the bag - The clips are loose and they rattle around !?!

Called "Clip C" in the User Manual - the HS-CII has two bent metal tabs with something of a “T” shape at the end of them. These metal tabs are supposed to be loose enough so that they flop around a bit, but not so loose that they can rotate around the screws that attach them to the respective L-shaped, aluminum brackets. There is one tab on each side of the machine. Their purpose is hold tension off the bands when you are removing and installing new sealing bands. Consult Figure 2 in the "Band Replacement" section of your User Manual – the metal tab is “Clip C”. When you push in on the L-shaped aluminum brackets (to which each idler band pulley is attached), you can push each of the metal tabs down behind the heads of the cap screws to keep the bracket in the compressed position, allowing easier removal and installation of the sealing band(s).

Use compressed air to regularly blow accumulated dust off of the exterior and out of the interior of the machine.

Periodically, inspect the HS-C and HS-CII sealer's black, Teflon-coated metal sealing band for wear and scratch of the Teflon coating.  For most applications, the the Teflon is important - i.e. it prevents the bag from sticking to the sealing bands.

If you need to order replacement sealing bands or band wicks, let us know and we will provide you with a quote.  HS-C and HS-CII Sealing Bands are sold in 10-pack cartons.

For most applications, the gap between the sealing bands should be 75% of the total thickness of the material you are sealing (measured with a feeler gauge inserted at the heating and cooling bars, behind one of the sealing bands - DO NOT insert the feeler gauge between the sealing bands as it will likely scratch off the Teflon coating.)

We will gladly try to talk you through proper set-up of your machine - Call us!

If improperly set-up for the material being sealed, the HS-CII can generate a noise ranging from a low, moaning/groaning sound up to a higher-pitch, “nails on chalkboard” screech. This unpleasant noise is typically caused by too much resistance / friction between the metal sealing band(s) and the aluminum drive pulleys and/or the brass heating/cooling bars.

The noise suggests your HS-CII sealer’s heating bar / cooling bar gap is too tight for the thickness of the film being sealed. As the film - sandwiched between the Teflon-coated, steel, sealing bands - enters the heat/cool bars; If the bar gap is too tight and the seal temperature isn’t hot enough to instantly melt the film (i.e. softening it and letting it thin-out in the area between the sealing bands), too-much thickness for the heat/cooling bar gap that’s set will cause the machine to have to work to force the film into the gap been the heater bars. This added resistance between the sealing bands and the heater bars (or, cooling bars, if that gap is too tight) or, slippage that can occur between the drive pulley(s) and the sealing band(s) when film resists entering the heat/cooling bars, can cause vibration and metal-on-metal squealing.

Proper gap adjustment and an adequate heat setting should reduce/eliminate this noise. See guidance, above, for advice on heat and cooling bar gap adjustment.

Not really.  The design of the Doughboy HS-C band sealer has evolved significantly since it was first built in the 1960s.  If your machine looks like the Pre-1970 machine in the photos above - i.e. Wooden Hand Grip, No bottom guards - (click the thumbnails for larger, detailed photos), most of the parts for your machine are obsolete and are no longer available.  A few of the parts are common to the newer, post 1970 HS-C design and may be available as new or pre-owned parts.  Call us for details.

BaggingGuys offers Pre-owned HS-C Sealers (1970-mid-1990s vintage) and new HS-CII Sealers, as well!

Owners and prospective buyers of the HS-C and HS-CII continuous band sealers often ask: "Can I use this machine all day", or "We operate a 3-shift packaging department - will the HS-C (or HS-CII) work 3-shifts", or "We want to keep the machine hot all day and only switch the motor on when we need to seal.  Is that OK?"

For the HS-C series sealers our reply is - YES, to the first two and NO to the final question.

Regarding the life span of a Doboy sealer - These Doboy portable sealers are well engineered, durable sealing machines.  We have customers still using original HS-C design machines with late 1960s and early 1970s serial numbers.  The HS-CII design was introduced in 1994 and it has proven to be just as reliable as the HS-C design.  Plus, the HS-CII is far easier to maintain and service.

Some customers use these machines once or twice a month, others run the sealers around the clock.  With proper care, either design will make your sealing operation(s) more efficient for many years to come.

Regardless of whether you use the HS-C series sealer for longer periods or intermittently throughout the day, because it's a band sealer with Teflon-coated, steel sealing bands, the operating recommendations are the same.

The steel bands on an HS-C series sealer should be moving, anytime the machine is heated to sealing temperature.  Stopping the motor / sealing bands while the heater bars are hot can result in deterioration of the steel sealing bands (i.e. the metal gets brittle and cracks) and premature wear of Teflon coating on the bands.  Therefore, you should start the machine's motor before warming up the heater bars and should turn down the temperature allow cooling  of the heater bars prior to stopping the motor.

We recommend letting the HS-C and HS-CII sealer motors run during brief breaks (e.g. a 15-minute coffee break).  For longer breaks (e.g. a lunch hour), we advise cooling down the heater bars and stopping the drive motor to reduce the mechanical wear and tear on the machine.  When you are ready to resume sealing operations, simply switch the drive motor on and turn the temperature knob back up to your desired seal temperature.  The HS-C / HS-CII should be ready to seal again in about 2-3 minutes.

Of course, for safety reasons, all Doboy sealers should be shut-down (and unplugged if possible) when they will not be used for an extended period - e.g. when finished for the day, overnight, weekends, etc.

Important - If you also use a Doboy HS-B or HS-BII Rotary Heat Sealer, please see the Duty Cycle advice about those machines on this page (Click Here).

If properly cared for and given timely preventative maintenance, a Doboy portable / tabletop sealer can provide you with decades of reliable sealing capability!

The standard Doboy HS-C and Bosch Doboy HS-CII sealers both operate on 115 Volt / Single Phase / 60 Hz (Standard, US Household) electrical power.

The HS-C (older styles) sealers draw 3.6 Amps.  The Power rating on the HS-C is 400 Watts.

The HS-CII (current machine styles) sealers draw 2.35 Amps.  The Power rating on the HS-CII is 270 Watts.

The 220 Volt (50/60 Hz) version of the HS-CII (with either a UK or German electrical plug - choose one) draws 1.2 Amps.  The Power rating on the 220V HS-CII is 270 Watts.

How do I make my Doboy Tabletop Sealer (HS-C or HS-CII) feed in the opposite direction? - e.g. The bags currently feed from the LEFT to the RIGHT and I want them to feed from the RIGHT to the LEFT (or vice versa)?

Assuming you have your sealer mounted to either the standard C-clamp (which comes with all new sealers) or the Optional Cast Iron Base - All you really do is turn the sealer around.  Here's how:

On an HS-CII - Using a 3 mm Allen Wrench (assuming you have the original, button-head screws); Simply loosen the two screws on the side that attach the HS-CII to its C-clamp bracket (or, optional Cast Iron Base), remove the sealer from the bracket, tighten the screws you just loosened, loosen the corresponding screws on the opposite side, turn the machine around, hang it on the bracket again (the bracket should be oriented so the machine is safely hanging in the slotted holes), then tighten the screws to secure the HS-CII to the bracket and you’re back in business – but, going in the opposite direction.

On a Doboy HS-C - Using a large, flathead screwdriver (assuming you have the original, pan head screws); Simply loosen and remove the two screws on the side that attaches the sealer to its C-clamp  bracket (or optional Cast Iron Base), remove the sealer from the bracket, turn the machine around, reattach it to the bracket using the screws you removed from the other side (the bracket should be oriented so the machine is safely hanging in the slotted holes), then tighten the screws to secure the HS-C to the bracket and you’re back in business – but, going in the opposite direction.

Many Doboy machines we receive for service have been user-adjusted in a way that defeats the machine's ability to operate properly.  The sealer is designed to have a fixed side and a spring-loaded side - this applies to the heater bars and the belt/chain guides.  We will gladly try to talk you through proper set-up of your machine - Call us!