problem with paper shredder

[jamby]

Hi

I was google'ing trying to find information about paper shredders and fixes for their problems. Your forum was the only site that even came close to an answer.
So I joined and this is my first post. I have a 9 yr old royal 12x crosscut shredder. It suddenly stopped working after emptying the basket yesterday. Pryor to that it has worked as advertised for all its life.
It has a switch on the top with 3 positions reverse/off/auto. In the auto mode it will display a green light and wait for paper to be placed in the chute. Now it still reverses, but in auto no green light and no switch on when paper is placed in the chute. I have torn it down so I am looking at the circuit board and wiring under the top. Nothing sticks out as being the problem. I have disconnected the switch from the circuit board and checked for conductivity in both switch settings which showed the switch is working.

Thanks for your time
Jim

 

[Lightnsound]

What's that loose red wire at the bottom right of pic #1? Looks like it's by the switch that closes when the shredder is on a waste basket. If there's no waste basket in place, the switch is open and the shredder won't run.

 

[jamby]

Thats a piece of wire I inserted into the switfch to hold it close for testing. With the power on and that wire in the switch I can run it in reverse on the bench.
The shredder sets on its own housing with a pull out basket. The switch is operated by a tab on the basket that depresses the switch finger.

Thanks
Jim

 

[jamby]

Hi

Well I guess I'll bump this again.
I was hoping to find a way to rewire this shredder so I could switch it to the "Auto" position and have the shredder start in the forward direction and work as a shredder. I am guessing that one of the relays must be broken since neither the motor starts or the green light comes on.
Anyone have any ideas??

Thanks
Jim

 

[Transit]

9 years, really! It may be time to think new. COSTCO has deals with coupons, keep an eye open.

 

[jamby]

Hey

That "time to buy a new one" is taken care of by purchasing. And the rumblings I am hearing from that side of the house makes me believe a new one was ordered from office depot for $60 during a sale 2 days ago.

The thing that makes me want to keep this "old one" limping along is its steel construction of the shredding mechanism and gears. They don't make'um like they use to.

Jim

 

[jinman]

The "southern engineer" in me says that if the reverse part of the switch works, you swap the leads on the motor so that when you switch to reverse, it goes forward. At least you'll have a half-working shredder.:laughing:

I just replaced a Royal brand 12 page shredder that smoked the motor. One second it was working fine shredding just three sheets of paper and the next, it started smoking from the motor with a noxious smelling odor that stunk up the whole house instantly. I bought a new Fellowes W11C online and it seems to work great. The thing I like about it is that it just sits on top of it's shredder bin and you lift off the whole head to empty it. I can put a small plastic trash bag liner in the bin and just lift it out without getting confetti all over my office.:thumbsup:

 

[Bird]

I've never opened up a shredder so I don't know what they look like inside. I used to have one that was not a cross cut. It just made long, narrow strips. Newspaper run through that shedder was the best nest material I ever found when I was raising rabbits. And when a litter left the nest, I dumped that into the garden and tilled it in. But you guys apparently have bigger, more expensive machines than I do. When that old shredder died, in January, 2005, I bought a Fellowes S701CM (7 sheet) cross cut shredder from Walmart. And instead of a liner in the bin, it's just the right size for me slip a plastic grocery bag over the top, then turn it upside down to dump the shredded paper into the bag, so no confetti gets away.

 

[chasemech]

Here is a good reason not to mess with a paper shredder. A paper shredder started this fire, I bet if you mess with it and a fire starts, your insurance might say it you fault.

 

[Hakim]

I have my second Royal CIA crosscut shredder in use daily. I originally paid $99 for one at Wal-Mart; I got a second one about six years ago from Amazon online for about $200 including freight.

These have been true workhorse shredders. Only reason I have #2, is I sent #1 to my office where it still works.

The MAIN reason I use this unit is the crosscut size is truly "CIA" size; The Royal CIA 12X shreds up to 12 pages at a time into 3*10mm shreds. This is the smallest particle size I know from a consumer-grade shredder.

The particle size is 30 mm2, which meets the requirements for DIN 32757 Security Level 4. The next step up in security seems to be DoD-grade shredders approved for shredding classified material. These start around $1K and cut the paper to 0.8*11mm particles or smaller. (About 0.13 x 0.28 in). That small cut is required to truly obliterate your paper data, short of dissolving in acid, or other advanced means of destruction.

Even the smallest shreds can be recreated, but it costs about $5,000 per cuibic foot of shredded material; --- obviously, beyond the needs or scope of home office users, like me!

One thing to check (harder since you took it all apart) --- I often encounter the "won't start" issue, which invariably happens after changing out the 11 gal kitchen garbage bag I use as an insert. You have to position the dump drawer PRECISELY correctly, or the connection is not made, and it will not start. I sometimes had to insert the box 6-7 times before it "fit in" and started shredding again. Of course a final "bang with fist" at the top of the holder bin, more often than not "fixes" it.

Now with my data and paper having expanding to mammoth proportions, I do not have the time to sit there and shred thousands of pages. Now, I just toss the sheets of paper into 33 gal black garbage bags. And, once every six months I have Shred-It come out and they vaporize it all in a few minutes, I get a certified statement of destruction. Usually even though it may be around 15 or 20 of those huge garbage bags, I am charged the "minimum" of $75.

Now I see there is a site that has "problems and fixes" for this specific unit you & I have. I have not used the site, but it may have some tips or clues...

Royal CIA 12X Shredder Problems by FixYa

You can contact Royal at 1-800-524-0799, for parts, manuals and repair assistance.