LOL I bet they're not very happy with you right now! You blew their cover!! Thanks man. You're video was concise.

This video shows how important it is for preppers to not just trust claims of others or manufacturers. Test your storage units before trusting them. I think you could carefully knife off the plastic flashing and then buff it out smooth. Our business does some injection molding of parts where a piston seal goes against the flashing and needs to hold pressure without leaking, so I'm speaking from experience on both the design and manufacturing side.

Great discovery which saves many potentially dangerous events with food storage.

I use the gamma seal lids for a cannister filter in my aquarium. I couldn't figure out why I kept getting air bubbles specifically from the filter and figured I had an issue with my seal somewhere in the lid, and thought I did something wrong. This explains so much. Thank you, Jim!

Thank you for this warning Sir! This is a wealth of information so I don't have to learn the hard way.

I would have liked to see the water test again after the "seams and flashing" were cleaned up. I immediately checked my Gamma Lids and cleaned up the Flashing. They weren't bad, but an ounce of prevention goes a long way.

Just found this video and tested the for lids I bought as they seem to be the same brand. Can't believe they make this claim when they obviously fail! If water can get out, air can definitely get in. Thanks for letting us know. Found any that actually work?

Brilliant! I have some regular food grade buckets I got from the bakery. I need to test them, and this is a great way to see if they are air tight. Thank you!

Gamma should pay you/ hire you and fix that issue

We recently purchased BPA free, food grade, 60 gallon containers. We noticed raised edges in several spots and carefully sanded them down just in case these raised edges could prevent a proper seal . They work great 👍🏽. We will be checking the 5 gallon buckets/gamma lids as well. Thanks for sharing this test. I wouldn’t bring mine back if all it takes is a little sanding/trimming to fix the problem. But I surely can be on the lookout when we make future purchases.

Thanks, that's amazing. I did the reverse by putting them under a sprinkler for a time. I caulked around the bucket inside and out and it still gathered water. I built up some caulk around the lid and still got water. What I finally settled on is thick trash bag plastic lining the threads. That's held up well, but I'm going to start checking to see if there is mold flashing causing leaks and if cleaning those off and adding a bit of glue sealant if those won't keep moisture out.

Just found your channel and saw this. I have a lot of Gamma Seal lids in my storage. Good to know they are not air tight. I do pack my food in mylar. People need to know this, since if they do NOT use mylar thinking their foods are air tight and water proof, say a flood hits...they've lost everything. Thanks for sharing.

Same thing happened to me, my Gamma lid from Menards also leaked. I am SO GLAD I came across this video. Now I know what to check for. Im going to return all 3 lids that I bought. Thank you for posting this video

Wow! I own and use several and was looking at buying another for flour. Thanks!

Definitely can see the separation on the gasket. Thank you!

Good catch Jim ,you saved me some money!

thank you for posting this. i just got mine today from lowes and i will test to see if it holds water no pun intended.

I've worked in injection molding and it should of never of made it through the inspiration ! I can say with the cover you had I wouldn't of thought of flashing! Ty

thank you for taking your time and sharing. I would have wasted a lot of time and effort. have a blessed day

that was the reason I was gonna buy gamma. No more , thanks to your cool stuff. Too cool to know., now. TY sir

There are two easy solutions. 1. Use a Drexel tool to remove the mold marks. 2. Use a utility or XActo knife to remove mold marks. Good discovery. I'll have to go look at what I have on my gamma seal. Thanks for video

You are absolutely correct! Those seams in the cover, or which those of us in the industry refer to as flashing, is responsible for permitting wicking of any fluid past the gasket. Any rooky engineer would’ve been able to quickly identify the fact that the manufacturer of these lids used a poorly, very poorly designed tool with which to go into production. This two components system would have been successful if the manufacturer had voted a bit more attention to the tool design responsible for fabricating these components, but unfortunately, they did not and even made claims which are not true.

Thanks for showing me this! We just purchased four of these and I was about to store a large amount of rice.. I will definitely be checking this first... and returning them. They are WAY to expensive to be a faulty, untrustworthy product! I might as well buy the regular, dependable lids for much cheaper. Better safe than sorry!

Thanks for the explanation.

Just cancelled an order for 3 Gamma Seal lids. This video is most interesting. I picked up 4 lids at Home Depot from a company called Leaktite Screw-Toplid. The label makes no claims as to air or water tightness. The seem to be made the same as Gamma Seal lids. I found no flashing or mold sprues anywhere. Water pours out no matter how tight the cap is screwed in. Almost impossible to get it back out if screwed in heavily. The ring attached to the bucket did not leak. Will be returning them and using cheap snap on lids.

Thank you sir!

Thanks for the heads up. It should come in handy when needed. Take care.

Thanks for the tip. Great vid!

I never thought of the Gamma Seal kids to be airtight, just convenient to open and access the contents.

Great video. Thanks for testing and sharing your results with us.

Thank you Sr.

thank you so much for sharing

Thank you for the information, I am storing hundreds of pounds of rice beans and spice in mylar bags. but I want my buckets to be air tight as well.

Thank you

Nice video. I'll show this to Hubby so you can double check ours. I don't store a lot but I do store bulk flour and sugar and I certainly don't want them to get wet. Thanks Jim. I subbed ya.

Thank you for an excellent demonstration 👍 Saved me from waisting my money 💰

Jim, thanks for informing the public. Please inform the company of false advertisement and their interest should be to correct the problem.

Good to know extra info, thanks ! I'm new to prepping, so this is important info to me. I know about sealed mylar bags with oxygen absorbers for long term. But I wondered about the efficacy of using these for shorter term rice etc to keep bug and moisture free. Thanks again !

Thank You Sir

Excellent review to point out the engineering issue. The double gaskets as you mention do not create a back-up system as they are totally independent of each. The double gasket has to be in one spot, right after the other. Makes sense to me at least what you are pointing out. My experiences with Gamma Seal is that it does have some molding inaccuracies for a dependable air-tight seal, or water tight seal.

Wow! Thank you so much.

Great job Jim! I think folks that are storing rice and beans and such will be sorry 10 to 15 years from now that they didn’t use Mylar bags or jars.

Thank you! 😎

Much obliged!

Thank You.

Thank you so very much! You have saved us from buying this pretty expensive lids. Bless you heart! We have just subscribe to your channel.

That explains a lot. Thank you.

I use them on the buckets I'm currently eating from only. I use mylar bags 02 absorbers and regular home depot buckets. I've been storing food for over a decade with no problems.

ill just use lowes or home depot BUCKETS WITH MYLAR BAGS FOR FOOD STORAGE

I have the same experience with the gamma sealed “vittles vault” ....wet moldy chicken feed.

thank you for the sharing the experience. It is sad to know that even here in USA, we have China cheaply made stuff.

Good information!! Thanks!

FYI cutting off the mold lines on my lids didn't fix the leaking, I believe there's another design flaw in play here

Wow. Excellent investigation here. Glad I chose the "mallet" style instead. Much better luck creating tight seals to protect the products I need to store.

Done a little prepping here and there over the years and concluded using dry ice to fill a covered bucket before sealing it was easiest and likely safest for long term storage. CO2 being heavy stays down in bucket but not sure how much loss of CO2 could come from heat expansion or what level I could depend on having CO2 in the bucket when it contracted in cooler weather. I know CO2 likes to suck up heat and expand but never did math on how much. Was guessing only half bucket on bottom would likely maintain CO2 to avoid O2 spoilage. Good with some probabilities but ignorance of CO2 is enough to keep me wondering. ;)

Jim White, Thank you Sir good video! You could probably trim that plastic off with hobby knife! Then it would seal!

I have the buckets with gamma seal lids because we had mice and need a way to store food the lids are great for us since we don't do long term storage we are always opening and closing the buckets we buy a lot and put it in the buckets and refill as we go.

I burried a bucket with that lid on it. Dug it up 4 years later. Yes there was water in the bucket. The contents at the bottom was unusable( can foods). But from one can up everything else was fine. I would recommend covering the bucket with a trash lid or something so water doesn't get in the bucket.

Oh my gosh I hope they fixed the problem because, I just ordered 5 from Amazon.

ill keep using mylar bags inside of these, thank you

I do not use them for storage. I use them for easy access after breaking the seal.

You're correct, this is a mold seam and should have been trimmed off at the manufacture. Poor quality control. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. The simple fix is to use a sharp razor knife and trim the excess "Mold Squeeze" off the ring lid. I agree the costumer shouldn't have to do this. It is a good product and I will continue to use them. I'll now be aware of what to look for and fix the issue before using them. I have about 10 of these in service and now I'll have to go back and inspect each of them. The contents are all OK as they are in Mylar. But for extra seal I'll need to fix the lid seals. Thank you for this information.

I bought my first two gamma lids ever recently and today was assembling the adapter ring and was about to put the lid on when gasket on the lid portion came off. It split in two. I thought about taking it back to Menards but got out the glue instead. I couldn't get it to glue with the two ends meeting so there is a 1/8 inch gap or so I tried to fill in with glue. It's so aggravating!

Excellent Video, I would look at leveling the extrusions and trying to find a big o-ring or flat gasket. These would definitely have to be wrapped in a contractor bag before burying full of food and etc.

I would suggest that one rereads the label. There is nothing written there that states that it is 'waterproof.' It states that it can be used for "Dry Food Storage," "Lawn & Garden," " Construction," and "Pet Food." I have used Gamma Seals on 5-Gallon Buckets for storaging my survival supplies, kitty litter, cat food, dog food and other products. I've found that it makes it easier to open the containers and get to what I need to get to quickly and effortlessly. If I need to store water, there are other methods of doing so.

I have some from HD and will take a look at this problem. The ones I got from HD to not look like that at all.

IWILL BE CHECKING MINE FOR THE SAME DEFECT. THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP

I only want these for ease of opening. I had no intention of storing food long term without a mylar bag and oxygen absorbers as well anyway. And Bay leaves. They just look so darn cool and easy to open. I am quite weak, can't open jars lol

Air tight is not water tight. It is a common misconception that if something is air tight then it is also water tight. Air molecules and water molecules are different and do not perform the same. Water creates pressure on a seal that normal standing air does not. Something that is water tight at 1m may not be water tight at 5m and so on.

Thanks for your I was going buy a few buckets

I saved up and bought 7 gamma kids. Saved up and bought buckets from Lowe’s. They didn’t fit properly and now I can’t send gammas back. Thank goodness I had only filled my 2 gallon Pail w brown sugar. What a waste of time and money. Thank you for this video.

So basically just trim the flashing and tighten down on it?

I buy the GAMMA lids strictly for ease of access to the bucket contents. I also don’t just dump food products directly in the bucket and seal. I don’t care if it IS a food grade bucket. I also divide my goods in to smaller, manageable sizes and either vacuum seal or enclose in Mylar bags first.

huh ill have to sand these down when i get mine for dog food then test with water after, if my container comes like this, good video!

I have the exact same one you do. Does this come in a single piece? I can't get the 2 pieces apart. It seems to be just one piece??

I have used them for critter food and now need to remove the old rims and install new ones but can't get the old ones off..Any suggestion? the buckets have stuff in then, do I need to empty the bird andsquirrel food to be able to put foot inside? thanks

wondering if silicone grease will seal them

I think they might have changed their manufacturing methods. I recently bought some of these and I can't even find a hint of a mold seam (not even one that has been trimmed/cleaned up). I'm going to test them like you did when I have a chance.

Thank you for this info if they say these gama lids are supposed to be air tight they should be, but Mylar bags should always be used I wouldn't have depended on just the lids also those containers keep out the rats there is one concern though what about rat urin or what if your place was flooded you better hope those Mylar bags are air tight 🙄

Thank you so much. Is this a brand issue, or gamma lids in general? I get free buckets from the baker section of my local grocery store. I'll definitely make sure my long term storage food is sealed separately in bags with oxygen absorbers. These lids are still better than floppy bucket lids loosely just sitting on top. I make my own laundry detergent. It was half a bucket's worth, made it in September. I dip into it to fill my small container to take to do the laundry. After 3 months, everything still smells fresh like day 1. But I'll keep this in mind when it comes to long term food storage. Thanks.

Can I use those buckets to store wheat berries in it for like a year?

Can't afford to store much food anyway but thanks for the information.

Wish I had viewed your video before I bought 10 bucket assembly's from Amazon :( I'll look at removing the mold seam to create a good seal and find the mylar bags for better results..

Good info! Jim, have you tried to clean up the mold marks and see if they are airtight?

I bought some black buckets with Gamma Lids. same leake problem. The flat area on the Gamma lid that snaps onto the bucket permanently ...... it has a flat ring all the way around for the screw on/off lid gasket to seal against. This flat ring has 4 spots that look like it is a bad casting, or where the plastic was poured into the mold. These 4 spots are right in the middle of the flat area the screw on top seals against. The spots are rough, and will NOT allow a seal with the lid gasket. My index finger is on the lid seal, and middle finger on the supposed smooth ring it must seal against. See the massive bumpy defect? I drill a small hole on each lid, and use a small hand held food vacuum devise to suck the air out of all containers. Then quickly put electrical tape over the hole to permanently keep the vacuum in the container. I tested it with vacuum and the opposite.... pumping pressure into it from our compressor. The air leaks out on all 4 defective, bumpy points of the lids. From your video, and what I found....... these Gamma Lids suck!!! Very poorly made products, with NO quality control. Falsely advertised to say the least. China would have built a better product than these cheaply made USA lids.

did you try scraping away the flashing and seeing if that fixed it?

I really use them because they are more durable for Stacking buckets. The regular lids from Lowe’s will degrade during long term storage.

Thanks for the heads up! However, I was hoping for a solution; other than just getting a refund.

Jim, great video, thank you for heads up!! Very important.. HOWEVER... I have several of these, purchased in 2017, that do not have the problem you show here... i.e. no flashing/mold problems. I replicated your test with one of my lids... put in 3 gallons of water, turned it upside down... left it for 2 days.. no leaks. I note your video is 2018.. so.. did company downgrade their lids? Are there knock-off imitations out there? Maybe from China? To Gamma Manufacturer (if you read this): Comment please!!

As soon as I saw that tarp and whiteboard set up, I knew I was in for some learning, I would like to note the it may be air tight enough for air, but the additional weight and pressure exceeded it's normal pressure specs? I don't trust them at all now tho, the design is seriously flawed, especially the mold marks... but the question is, are they any better than a normal bucket lid?

You can use your buckets with the regular lids on tight, as long as you store your food in my lar bags for long term. Use the gamma lids for pantry storage for easy use. Also they don't stack well, the lid or the bottom of the bucket will eventually crack. If you put the buckets in a shed, they may not last even a season, and will crack.

Thanks Jim, for showing their claims are false. I have several of the 40 lb capacity vittle vaults and really hate to hear this.

(Oops!)...any more, unless seal is leaking with air bubbles going up. It could be like a garden hose connection to much force blows the gasket out? I found gasket to be u.v. UN-stable but gamma sales them in bulk. Anyway good eye opening experament, never thought to test them this way!🤔

Looks like you could take a dremel tool and carefully clean off the plastic burrs and make them work although you shouldn't have to do this.

I just received 6 plastic buckets just like this ones, thank you all tested them first

I have the same problems with mine.

purchased one with a bucket for car washing. Luckily I tested the so called "seal" beforehand and it was leaking. Hoping that someone could help me to fix this problem.

Thank you sir for this video. I used them for dry animal feed, and just last week opened one and found it completely moldy. I thought I could trust made in America products. Have you had a response from the company about this?

I'm getting ready to incorporate one of these in a dust collector to replace the bag. Came across your video. Good observation for sure. After seeing this I removed the seal from my new one after seeing the same things you pointed out. Took a razor blade to trim the excess and sanded down all of those plastic flashings.shouod go a long way in helping it seal. Will add a rope seal if it doesn't.... One way or another it will eventually. Lol

Never thought these buckets were Air tight everyone's gotta use mylar bags and the bucket for long term food storage with Oxygen absorbers.