You seem to have a terrible time getting instructions included with anything. ;) With mine the instructions are on the box itself as well as inside on the box flaps.

I would suggest you contact them - they provide all the contact info at Contact Us

and ask for a copy of the instructions that should have been included.

From your description of the noise I would hazard the guess that you don't have it put together right.

Dave

Looks like I thought right. As mentioned several times in my original posts that the Villaware/Roma machine is usually trouble free. I don't know anything about any loud 'snap' or about the brand you have chosen. When I mention a product I have had very good luck with (my Villaware posts are in the hundreds now), its usually a good indication that anyone else who is looking for similar, and gets the same thing I have suggested, will also find it as easy to use as I have. I don't like to give anyone bad info, and, I am sorry, but you have apparently chosen poorly, unless you can find someone who has used one of these before, or has the instructions, its going to be difficult to work with. If the company that makes these is out of business, I wonder why? Also, ask the seller why they are selling. If they are really honest, they may tell you its because they tried it and didn't like it.. Tough to guess at what the noises are, unless something has been broken or is inside is assembled the wrong way.

Good luck!

The box was taped shut so I doubt someone stole them. The only instructions on the box tells you to take it apart for cleaning as if anyone would leave the leftover tomato skins and seeds in it. Now you see why I dread and avoid ordering anything online sight unseen - except for a picture. There is only one way to put it together. The thing that turns, the drum, wont go in any other way. I'm really disgusted and disappointed. I sent them an email but I've been through this kind of thing before. It can take days or weeks, like with Presto. You get a brief and useless reply if you get any reply at all.

Ken, this one was mentioned in another post on this forum, that's why we bought it. The company has not gone out of business. What you're saying makes no sense. How can the company that makes it have tried it, didn't like it so decided to sell them?

There is only one way the turning roller or drum goes in. The tab forces the tomato against the hopper wall and that's what causes the metallic snapping sound. This is the problem with buying things online that you can't see, can't try, can't know if it's what you want. Now I'm either stuck with with it or I can try to return it and lose shipping both ways.

You're probably not supposed to run the thing dry. My electric tomato strainer states not to do so. If I run it dry I hear a scraping sound.

Zeuspaul

What I am saying is a NEW company has 'engineers' that design such a thing. They test it, make prototypes and such, and then, hopefully sell on the market when they consider it as being good for theuse intended. If the BUYERS market is saturated with many other brands that are very similar for producing the end result, are more well constructed, improved, and rededisgned and have been around 50+ years, I would doubt a new company can offer any such device that has not been tried and true for many many years of reliability. When you initially posted about a Foley, you were given photos and any links and suggestions for the BETTER designs, immediately afterwards. After reading this info, it appeared to me that you seemed to ignore my recommendations and suggestions (as you have done some times before), and go for obscure and cheap. I saw no mention of the model you have, except for a page on eBay, that had NUMEROUS other, moe popular models. As TV's People's Court always says: "cheap comes out expensive', is a good way to determine the future usefulness of such an item. If there is no instrctions, the thing should be 'intuitive' to assemble at the least. With more than maybe 5 different components all doing different things, you may have problems with proper assembly if no instructions are provided. Today, only 1/4 of the new businesses that start up, survive the first few years. The rest are at the mercy of buyouts, takeovers, exile, or obsolescense. Wish I could help further if I were to buy the RIGHT kind of strainer for you and shipping it to you free of any costs, seeing as how you do appear to be are a bit frugal. As mentioned before, just starting home canning now is MUCH MORE costly than even a year ago, so your facing an uphill climb unless you can find s really good sale out there hat someone else had done all the money and leg work for. Condemming all internet order processes for such items only narrows the gap for anyone looking to practicality first, and price second.. Switched around, you are the bearer of the end problems. Yes, do not run dry as even Villaware can chew into the red plastic augers that mash up against the staininess steel screens. Careful for anything with a 'tin plating' or 'galvanized' food contact surfaces.

zuespaul:
I think you're right. The tab that makes the snapping sound is the one that forces the tomato against the strainer, forces the "meat" through while the skins and seeds are cast aside - then spring-pops up again to grab more tomato to force through the screen. We'll soon have some toms to try it with. We're going to keep it because there's no way to know what we'll get next when buying online. I haven't received a reply from Napa yet. It's all very frustrating because when I canned in the past I could get canning and kitchen supplies like squeezers everywhere and it wasn't as built up here then as it is now. Today I went out looking for that Kosher sour salt (citric acid) and no one even knew what I was taking about. Only one store had a few Kosher items and no sour salt. I keep hearing the same thing from store owners or managers... "No one cans anymore. There's no call for these items." etc. This whole area is turning into a middle and upper-class suburb, a county of subdivisions, huge apartment complexes and malls where farms once stood. There aren't enough people canning here anymore. It's gone from rural to suburban in 20 years. That includes other counties around Nashville as well.

Ken:

Ok now I better understand what you're saying. Both of the squeezers or whatever they're called we bought are well made and are Stainless Steel. They will last a long time. I'm frugal because of our limited income as I explained before. I can't get online and start ordering things without any thought to the cost involved. Your SS disability check seems to be more than some people I know still working take home each week. Those people I know here on SSI or SSD could never afford the things you mention buying, from the fertilizers and gardening supplies you use to the kitchen equipment you have. Unless you have some other source of income your check must be way above what's needed to survive and much more than other people on SSD get each month. My friend Cathy couldn't even afford to keep her 3 cats because of costs of kitty-litter, cat food and rabies shots each year. She couldn't afford a computer or internet service, or one quarter of what you have. No offense Ken, but it seems you have difficulty understanding what a limited income is. Your SSD check must be a lot more than our combined SS checks. If we didn't care about debt and running up our credit cards, I could buy the best equipment out there, but that isn't going to happen. :)

I keep hearing the same thing from store owners or managers... "No one cans anymore. There's no call for these items." etc. This whole area is turning into a middle and upper-class suburb, a county of subdivisions, huge apartment complexes and malls where farms once stood. There aren't enough people canning here anymore.

Then the solution is to head out into the country to do your shopping. ;)

And just to clarify, the problem isn't with online shopping. Millions do it daily with no problems at all, myself included. But you have to do your homework, research, and comparative shopping first. Be an informed buyer.

I listed the Napa processor in a list of 4 different sites for you to check out along with several other brand names for you to research. it wasn't a recommendation, merely 1 source of many. It is a reputable company with a noted chef behind it and its products and the processor is the same one used in many Italian restaurants so there is nothing wrong with it. The Napa site also provides you with a Customer Service phone number you can call. The same processor and many similar to it are available from many other sources online - some with detailed assembly photos and use instructions and recipes - that a search by the brand name stamped on it pulls up.

It may not appeal to you personally but keep in mind that it is a new tool for you and all new tools take some getting used to. So why not call the company and at least wait until you have used it once before passing such critical judgment on it? You may discover it works quite well and it most certainly will work better and faster than the Foley strainer you had to begin with - and you had a hands-on look at it. ;)

Dave

No other income, but with my expenses, and the budgeting I have done for many years does offer me a lot of ability to get afew simple things I need. This year, the ONLY item I needed for all my home canning was a pressure canner (which is still unused now), and a jar of citric acid (1 quart). These were a total cost of about $85. Thats all that was needed for any canning I plan to do for many years to come. The last time I bought THAT much in garden soil ammendments was about 8 years ago, and spread out for 7 years, the cost as less than $100 per year. So you see, bulk is ok to buy and if it has a planned future, it will be expensive at first, but afterwards, you have much more money freedom for several years later on. I sold my old Victorio and Foleys years ao in a garage sale. Got next to nothing for them, but also unloaded 200+ bail mount all glass canning jars, and was happy to see them gone forever. Sometimes I also buy cheap junk computers, and am able to fix them up and sell in a garage sale. Also, a few canning items. My mom was kitchen gadget collector as my dad also collected stuff too. Between these items they collected, I had sold many that I knew I wouldn't use at all. Still have all the supplies for making home made sausages and meat curing. These were costly at first, but that was more than 20 years ago, so today they are still worth their collection and at a far cheaper price. Just don't give up on a hobby or a future profession if its expected to become very expensive, but DO be practical and choose items that have proven their worth, before buying. BTW. the Villaware has no 'wire of flipper', only a simple BIG screw that continually grabs the tomatoes and pushes them down the sieve non stop, and the waste easily flows out the end continously too. I just got burned on eBay and have been dealing with a person who advertised an item which was not the same as what I got. 2 weeks of battles and its going back now. Cost me $70+ and I have still to pay return shipping costs too. Life is not cheap anymore..

I got an email from them this morning and we put it together correctly as I suspected, as there was only one way to do it. They didn't address the loud snapping sound when the blade, set with a heavy spring, clears the drum and pops back up to catch more tomatoes. It's designed that way and I said it is well made with a nice large throat.

My husband wanted to keep that other squeezer. I'm not sure what he plans to use if for. Every so often he gets in the kitchen and does his thing. :)

Life certainly isn't cheap these days, sad to say. I'm so sorry I sold and gave away all my canning equipment when I divorced in the late 1980s. I had very good quality stuff and loads and loads of jars. But in those days money was no object. We canned because our sunny garden, fertilized with goat and chicken manure, produced enough for several families and was mostly organic. Rather than give it all away we got into canning. I didn't think I'd ever get back into it. Now, I'll slowly replace what I had back then but don't want to go crazy buying stuff. I've already spent close to $300 on canning supplies in the past 2 months.

Isn't it just the way things go, when you say you are not going to can anymore, and then soon after find it VERY NECESSARY just to survive. I find, that even if I don't use my sausage making equipment stuff every month (or sometimes years) I DO NOT toss, or sell ANYTHING I know that cost me money to buy and would be much more expensive to replace. Starting out in the 1980's with canning, was far cheaper than today. Its the STARTUP costs that kill you, if you have nothing left of the old equipment, and must re-buy new or be very resourceful again. Spending many hours to try and find a simple item and settle for another, and maybe much cheaper, alternative is not good practical sense. I have never seen a 'square' tomato, or a strainer that that has a square opening for use with a round tomato. They do exsist as by your evidence, but a 'flipping spring' is a bit more like tiny Foley, which actaully has a spring on the bottom to help hold that crappy, inefficent paddle and the thin wire that is supposed to push off the strained stuff on the bottom . If you REALLY want to save some money, return the Foley and use that refund for another very necessary device or supply. Waste not want not..