Side by Side Comparison of: Powermatic vs Queen City Candy vs Fujima vs Sigara vs Hometown General

I've been using a Tops for many years and it served me very well. I bought this one because of the way the loading lever worked and the reviews. It was a small learning curve to get used to... but now I am so glad that I ordered this. If it lasts as long as my Tops did, I will be more than happy with this purchase.

This is the most efficient injector machine EVER ! Leave the toys behind.The only improvement could be a tray on top for empty cigarette tubes, instead of wasted spaceThis is a solidly crafted machine.I shouldn't have wasted my time with the Premier Excel machine that required so much self servicing and cleaning.The wimpy springs/injectors, and plastic gears, and the horizontal lever made for a clumsy operation.The Escel machine filled up with powdery tobacco residue that really jammed the works up !THIS Powermatic machine has cut my time and effort in half, with less fatigue and fumbling.HANK STAR is an excellent seller too !

Personally I think this is the best design hand crank on the marketI have used one for 2 1/2 years injecting 8 to 10 cartons a month 100s 4 to 1 over kings. I prefer 100s and the old one is getting a little inconsistenton the 100s. The new one that came in last week has injected 250 100s perfectly filling them and about 150 kings. Still stiff with newness it makes perfect RYO

I have been making my own cigarettes for about the last eight years. I have used the original "Top O Matic" and also the "Mikromatic. This beats them both for ease of use. It is much easier to pull the lever toward you than turn a lever to your right. So far I have had excellent results with it. It also seems to be well built. The man who owns my local tobacco shop (who is quite knowledgeable about cigarette makers) says it is a great machine. And NO I didn't purchase it from him!

After much research we purchased this manual injector machine. The savings we are experiencing is incredible. Only regret is not buying this sooner. Machine seems to be well built. No complaints here.Update March 12, 2015: Something is hanging up inside when trying to push the lever down, we cannot use without fear of breaking the lever or machine itself. Ordered a Powermatic II Plus (electric) last night for a replacement. Will be getting in contact with the company to find out how the one year warranty works and update here. We won't be going back to buying cigarettes after saving an incredible amount of money over the past four months. I'm hoping we will have a manual AND electric machine that work perfectly soon.Update March 27, 2015. Warranty service worked flawlessly. We now have a manual and automatic roller in perfect condition.

Bought this to replace my top-o-matic that was finally wearing out. This powermatic not only delivers a ciggarette everytime, but it also fixes all the short comings of the top-o-matic that made it painful to use.First and foremost, the injector handle going in a downward motion is a massive improvement. The topo was a pull level which eventually killed your wrists.Second, the tobacco fill box has lips around it. This is very important to keep tobacco where it needs to be and not down near the injector outletThird, the handle is large and comfortable. Again, on the topo it lacked greatly wish a small and painful handle.Fourth, the tobacco fill chamber successfully prevents over filling. This is because of the smaller opening leading up to the metal injector . This was a serious problem with the topo because it is very picky about fill levelThoughts? Well, the bottom is not removable like the topo. I can foresee tobacco filling up in there or getting really dirty. Is this a con? on the fence on that one.

Works great and so much easier than the other type of crank machines. Just wish it did 100's

I really like this over the old ones where the crank goes sideways. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars is because it is quite loud because it sits up above the table and it has a hard plastic bottom instead of the rubber bottom on every other machine I've ever owned.

having very good luck with it, I think it might be better than the Powermatic 2, I have one and it doesn't work well any more, the biggest problem is the tobacco, I have to break it up to work well, and get rid of the hard long pieces and stems a lot, I use pipe tobacco it's cheap, I might try a different brand at some point.

I think this makes better sticks than my electric powermatic2 but it will break if too much downward force is applied to the handle. This lasted for about 1000 smokes before the wife jammed it (with fine shake) and tried to force the handle down. I've just ordered a newly designed part to replace the broken item and Zico did not flinch or hesitate to cover the part under warranty. I'm hoping the redesigned part is more robust than the previous version because I prefer using this over the PM2 to make 100's since it seems to have a slightly wider throat it consistently makes 100's w/o a void near the filter end of the tube and I don't need to pack extra in the corners to accomplish great results. Compared to my PM2 this has a more robust injector spoon that is not likely to deform. It's simple design makes it pretty easy to repair and parts are readily available from Zico with free shipping.

I just received my injector, and think that it will work just fine for me. It does what it has stated that it would do - just as good as it said it would, and I am very happy with my purpose. The less-than-five-start-rating I gave it had nothing to do with the device, itself. I removed one star based on my package not being complete. The two hex-key wrenches were NOT included in the packaging, and THAT is why I gave it less than a five-star rating. Other than that, I am quite satisfied.

I've been rolling my own for about seven years. My previous machines were both Top-O-Matics but the results were barely acceptable. I read the reviews on the Powermatic 1 and decided to give it a try. First, the bad. The Powermatic 1 occasionally pushes the injector through the side of the tubes and doesn't push tobacco to the back of the filter. I've read that only one or two packs should be made at a time. I like to do a carton so I don't have to get all of the makings out so frequently. Out of a carton, I had seven tubes that experienced one of the two tubes mentioned. That's much better that either of the Top-O-Matics I had. Now the good points. First, more complete cigarettes from a carton, the motion in making a cigarette is much better than the circular motion of the Top-O-Matic and the pressure required is dramatically less. The Powermatic 1, in my opinion, is the best choice. The only question now is "Will it last?"

I would probably buy the Electric Model next time. Wow, the price has gone up since I bought this one. It works OK as long as you don't put too much product in the rolling section. Otherwise your cigarette is over stuffed or empty at the top. And you have to make sure your tobacco product is just the right moisture level. I haven't tried the Electric Model but for $10 more I would rather have that one.

My 1st Powermatic worked great for 8 months, then got very hard to crank. I sent it to the company and they fixed it. This second one was hard to crank from the start, even with no tobacco in it. I had to send it back to Amazon. The Powermatic works great when it works. After it fails, there is no way to take it apart for cleaning the inside. The 3/32 in. allen screw is too tight to turn with any wrench or hex sockets..

This is my second one of this pull down handle machine. I love it but ... my first one didn't last but 7 months and this one has a grinding feel in the handle from the start.. i figured my first one was just not well made, but now i am of the mind that none of them are well made and will have to go back to the other one that the handle sweeps across the machine... i am upset about that, i have fibromyalgia and that repeat motion made my hand hurt and go numb !! so this pull down handle machine was a blessing.. too bad they cannot get it to function without the grinding/future breaking/not working.I am not overfilling or using the powdery stuff.. just full tobacco strands.. very disappointed !!! Love the idea of the machine..This Seller was fantastic, the product was here within 36 hours.. maybe even faster.. i wasn't even looking for it before then..

I loved this roller until yesterday it broke less than a year old ? I admit I used this roller a lot [about two cartons a week] but what I paid for it 59.99 one would think it would last longer than that ???? Would not recommend if are doing a lot of rolling.I have an old roller that used a lot before I got this one and it is still going strong for half this price

I ordered this machine 27 Dec, received 31 Dec, broke 16 Feb.We loved this for the short while that it worked. We had mainly used the EXP1000 for many years, replacing once a year, but discovered the P1, so we upgraded. We received it and it worked flawlessly for 1 1/2 months. I was initially concerned about the BANG when injection was completing (I thought it was my wife, or the table) and tried it myself; same results, and I must say that it takes a lot less force than the EXP1000. We figures that it was normal, and would ease when broken in. Nope, never did ease up, but neither did it get worse. Excellent results with every filter, so we figured it was just like that. Until the pin on the main shaft that engages the handle sheared off both ends. I may be able to fix it, but we will see.I have contacted Zico, USA about the issue and am awaiting a response. I will update when it is resolved.

I gave this 3 stars because the machine does work well but, it lasted less than a week. I have been using a a different machine for 3 years with out fail. I was impressed with the ergonomic desing and ease of the pull bar, the reason I purchased this unit. I am disappointed that it failed so quickly. And yes, I made sure to clean the tobacco of stems before putting it into the tube.

I ordered this and am in the process of sending it back. I am glad that I was able to send this back. this product was nice for the first few cigs that we made and after that just continuously jammed and had to stop and clear the jam out. Mine was supposed to come with accessories like a little cleaning brush etc....but none were in box. I like the Top O Matic way better and we do own that and it rarely get's jammed. I do not smoke but everyone else in my household does so they make their own cigs....much cheaper. Anyway I was going to try the electric Powermatic and now since the experience with this machine I am afraid to order the powermatic electric.

Worked okay until 09-30-2016 then the plastic piece between the injector where you put the empty tube goes broke off now there is nothing to hold the tube in place.

This is obviously a newer version of the Powermatic I.. My old Powermatic is still working after years of use except for the recoil spring finally gave out. I purchased this unit and finally took it out of the box to use it last week. After 2 days of use one of the main bushings broke and the machine was useless.I robbed the spring out of it and fixed my old powermatic I. Unfortunately, since I didn't use the machine until a few months later, the return window closed and I am stuck with a 50 until for parts on my old machine.I probably won't buy another powermatic since they modified it and now it is cheaper material than it used to be.

We had been using a Top-O-Matic for the past 5-6 years and went thru 3 of them in that time. We generally go thru about a pound of tobacco per week between 3 smokers, so for the Top-O to last almost 2 years on average does say good things about their quality. The primary failure point on the Top-O is the spoon, which over time compresses to the point of uselessness.Because my wife has carpal tunnel issues, we decided to give the PowerMatic I a try, and I am very impressed with it's quality of build. It is much heavier than I expected and looking at the spoon alone I can tell it is much thicker material than what is used on the Top-O, so I expect it to last significantly longer.The cutting blade is titanium plated, which leads me to believe it won't be going dull anytime soon, and there is no gap under the blade for tobacco to escape into the machine itself. Using the Top-O you need to remove the rubber bottom after each use and bang out the tobacco dust, the bottom of this unit is screwed on and dust removal is not needed. Also it generates much less powder than the Top-O did, which means less waste and more cigs per pound of tobacco.The top of the unit has a nice chamber area which helps keep the table top cleaner than the flat top Top-O also.For those having issues with 100s, we did at first also, then I noticed that the chamber extends beyond the opening in the machine, spreading the tobacco into those gaps resolved the issues making 100s.We use only "The Good Stuff Gold" pipe tobacco, and primarily Zen tubes but will use other brands when Zens are out of stock locally. Stickier tobacco should be avoided in any machine and might cause jamming issues or damage.I'll update this review if there are any failures or issues with this unit, but after 3 pounds I don't expect any problems soon.UPDATE 9/29/13 - After 9 Months of Heavy Use:I just had my first mechanical failure of this unit.The machine was getting a bit sloppy so I took it apart for a cleaning and found a small piece of metal about the size and shape of a Zippo flint broken off inside the unit. There is a set pin that holds the handle in place, and allows the handle to pull out for storage and lock into place, and one side of it had sheared off, the other side had weakened to the point that it also sheared when I pulled at it.Without this pin the handle will spin freely and the machine will not function.I was able to find a short screw of the right size and with a self tapping thread, and after knocking down the sheared pin a bit deeper into the hole I was able to screw the handle to the shaft and make a solid connection. The machine now works like new again, however the handle no longer retracts for storage, which is no big deal.Some notes on routine maintenance while I'm here. About every 2-3 months the machine will need a clean out, 5 hex head screws will take off the bottom (remove the rubber pads to get to 4 of the screws.) I also add a touch of mineral oil to the gears and moving parts when I do a clean out. I use food grade mineral oil which can be had for about $3 for a 16oz bottle at most pharmacies. Just lightly brush on a small amount of oil, too much and you'll end up with a clumpy mess of oily tobacco dust.Other than this sheared pin, the machine is still in perfect shape. The blade is sharp and there is no warping of the spoon after about 700 packs of cigarettes (3 smokers in the house), so it still gets 5 stars.UPDATE 10/1/13Downgrading rating to 2 stars for durability reasons.My quick fix for the shaft issue lasted about 3 days. If the steel rod ended in a hex head that fit into the handle, this issue would never happen to the machine. Seems like an easy fix if anyone from the company reads these. The two pins that hold the handle in place is definitely the weak link on this machine. I just tried to drill thru the shaft so I could make a more secure bond between the handle and the shaft, but not having much luck with that method. If I had a drill press I might be able to pull it off, but with a hand drill it's just making a mess of the hole. Now shopping for a replacement and I'll see if I can repair this unit at a later time.UPDATE 10/2/13 - JB Weld FixLast night I JBwelded the %$^@ out of it, and it's holding.Used the JB Kwik epoxy, started out inside the handle and onto the shaft, then realized I still had a bunch left and ended up going along the shaft with the sheared off handle pins to the thickness of the handle connecter all the way across to the black O clamp. The 5/16th bar is now about an inch thick. Pretty sure it's gonna hold.

bought this as a christmas gift for my mom. it arrived on Dec 29th... today is Jan 9th and it broke already!!! it worked beautiful, perfect cigarettes every time until now. it jammed from tobacco power. we cleaned it out, but the metal part that goes into the tube ti fill it will not retract and the handle moves part way but does nothing. now i have to pay another $9 to the company for the warranty return shipping.

I liked the way the handle comes down instead of around which is why I picked this model for my husband. It jams after making about every ten cigarettes. You need to stop and dig out the fine tobacco from the chamber. However, this is the first and only machine we have ever used. Maybe they all work like that. This is not a product I would recommend.

I ordered this after reading extensive reviews and thought it seemed like the best bet. After less than a week it jammed and then the crank jumped it's track making it completely useless. It is virtually impossible to open making fixing issues impossible. Once we did get it open - we found that the lever associated with how the crank activates the injector had lost it's position and would not function no matter what. Had to return it. Bummer

I have bought one of these in the past. It had worked fine.. This new one has been a problem from day 1. I figured I would try different tobacco and that didn't help.. I tried different types of tubes and I am still having a problem with it. I see that I don't have the option to return this item because maybe I waited to long? I was trying to give it a chance with alternative products for making cigarettes. I am extremely disappointed.

I have purchased many of these same exact Powermatic cigarette machines and have been very happy. Until this newest machine that arrived today. In making an initial cigarette, this machine grinds horribly in two different places and stops TWICE in those two different places, all this in ONE single downturn of the handle. I am appalled because this is either a returned item that was not fixed before sending out again as new or defective from the factory and never checked prior to selling. Either way, there was no quality control check and I am very disappointed at this waste of my TIME and am returning this particular item.

Yes this machine started jamming up first day, had to send back.

New version with "updated handle" is junk, after 2 packs of tubes does not push to the end no matter what. Older one was fine, used it over a year. New twist mechanism is way too small and weak to push even lightly packed chamber, plus the cut off blade sticks out so much, that it scratches finger nails while packing. Switched to Mini, perfect every time. This one just junk, no warranty no nothing.

I bought this as a backup in case the Powermatic 2+ died, and since I was on my second electrical one, I decided to try the manual one by Powermatic. So once the electric Powermatic died, I did put this one in use in March 2015. Upon unpacking it, we realized the handle was not assembled correctly, or if it was, then I'm confused as to why the handle would come off in my hand. Reassembled the handle on to it, and began making cigarettes. It was very stiff, and took arm strength to pull the lever down. We chalked that up to being new, and needing to break in. Really thought this would be a great alternative, but as the last two months went by, it got harder and harder to pull the lever down. Turns out that it is nothing but plastic pieces on the inside. Not good construction or quality. So paid a ridiculous price for something that feels strong, but is weak and cheap. Don't waste your money. I have now ordered a Top-O-Matic in hopes that the reviews are accurate, and in hopes of it lasting longer than a little over 2 months!