With the
increased concern about ID fraud and theft, it would be irresponsible
of us to
scare you into buying a shredder but it is worth bearing in mind there
are
strange people out there who root through our bins and try to steal our
identity – we know we’re great, but really??
To be on
the safe side, there are loads of shredders on the
market and we urge you to
consider what you will be shredding before buying one.
Some are designed for confidential documents
where as others are more suitable for general recycling (or making
comfy nests
for your pet hamster …).
Types
of Shredders
Personal
Shredders – light use
Ideal for
1-2 users
Designed
for underneath the desk use
Typically
20-50 sheets a day
Office
Shredders – medium use
Ideal for
3-10 users
Typically
50-100 sheets a day (not continuous use)
Departmental
Shredders – heavy use
Ideal for
10+ users
Typically
for continuous use
Types
of Cut
Ribbon/Strip
Cut
Provides
conventional everyday security by shredding paper into unreadable strips
Confetti/Cross
Cut
Shreds
paper into small confetti-like pieces providing higher security and
reducing
bulk waste
DIN
Level
The DIN
Level is an industry wide classification which denotes the size of the
cut
strip/particle you require. The more confidential a document, the
smaller you
will need your cut strip/particle to be so people can’t piece it
together once
it has been shredded!
DIN Levels
are classified as below:
DIN
(or
Security) Level 1
Used for
shredding general documents
Ribbon/Strip
cut
Cut width –
6+mm
DIN
(or
Security) Level 2
Used for
shredding general documents
Ribbon/Strip
cut
Cut width –
3.9mm-6mm
DIN
(or
Security) Level 3
Used for
shredding confidential documents
Ribbon/Strip
or Confetti/Cross cut
Cut width –
1.9mm wide or 3.9mmx30-50mm size particle
DIN
(or
Security) Level 4
Used for
shredding sensitive documents
Confetti/Cross
cut
Particle
size – 1.9x15mm
DIN
(or
Security) Level 5
Used for
shredding top secret documents
Confetti/Cross
cut
Particle
size – 0.78x11mm
Machine
Features
Bin
Capacity
The Bin
Capacity is how much waste the body of your shredder can carry and is
measured
in either A4 sheets (single sheet weight 80gsm) or by litres.
Warranty
Please note
shredders often have a separate warranty for the machine and for the
cutter –
check each manufacturer’s terms carefully
Unless
otherwise stated, a 2 year warranty is offered on the entire machine
Automatic
Stop/Start or Automatic On/Off
The automatic
stop/start is a safety sensor or switch, built
into the shredder that automatically starts when paper is fed into it
and stops
when shredding is complete.
Automatic Reverse
The automatic reverse
feature senses when a shredder has
been fed too much paper or become overloaded and stops shredding before
reversing the paper out slightly (this prevents a jam).
Thermal Protected
Motor
This is a feature
which protects the motor from overheating
thereby prolonging the service life of the machine.
In the event that the
motor approaches overheating the
thermal protection cuts power and only returns it after a cooling
period.
Shredder
Capacity
The number of sheets
you can feed at any one time.
Throat
Area
The opening where you
feed sheets into.
Shred Speed
The speed that a paper
shredder can shred, usually measured
in metres of paper per minute or second.
Hopper
A hopper is a type of
bin where paper can be dumped before
shredding.
Feed
Width
Indicates the maximum
width of paper that can be shredded.
Turbo
Jam
A button on Fellowes
products which clears jams quickly.
Multimedia
Although all shredders
are designed to shred paper, some can
also shred other materials such as CDs, credit cards, staples and
paperclips.
Please check each
manufacturer’s product description
carefully to determine what your shredder can shred.
Oiling
A shredder’s cutting
mechanism should be oiled regularly to
ensure maximum performance from you machine.
You can either squirt oil directly into the throat area (and
press
reverse for a couple of seconds to ensure even coverage over the
blades) or
squirt oil onto a sheet of paper in a zigzag motion (ensuring total
coverage of
the sheet) before running through the machine as normal then pressing
reverse
again as above. An alternative to this method is to buy ready oiled
sheets –
these are safer as they ensure an even coverage of oil over the sheet.
Shredder
Waste Sacks
Useful sacks which fit
into your shredder bin and catch all
the shredded paper. This makes emptying
and recycling the waste a lot easier.