Major Piece of Junk

This was my first shredder. It was small and compact and had the unusual features of having an electronic pencil sharpener and letter opener built into it. The cup inside which catches the sharpener shavings is just a cheap little plastic cup that you can buy anywhere. The entire shredder mechanism is tied into the pencil sharpener and letter opener motor; when one works, they all work. It seemed like a nice product. You remove the shredded pieces by lifting the relatively heavy mechanism off the top of a small wire basket.

The shredder did nothing but continuously jam and overheat. If you used it for more than a few passes, the electronic overload would kick in, and you had to wait a half hour or longer before it cooled down and you could use it again. After a few passes, the pieces would continuously jam into the mechanism and you had to lift the relatively heavy top, unplug it, and pick out the pieces a little at a time. Putting it into reverse most often was absolutely no help because the paper was already jammed half way into the machine along with many pieces and would not come out.

The machine's cutting mechanism is housed in a plastic casing. After a few weeks of use, I began hearing a clicking sound every time I tried to use it. I lifted the mechanism out of the basket and noticed that a relatively large piece of the plastic housing had cracked off and was jammed into the mechanism itself. I tried everything to remove it, but the piece was larger than the opening and it could not be removed. I noticed that there were screws around the mechanism housing, but they are situated so deep into the mechanism and are so tight, that even with a long screw driver, you cannot get to them and turn them. Little by little, the entire plastic housing was cracking and jamming into the mechanism. I began noticing a smell of something burning; it was obviously the plastic heating up every time the mechanism was used. By this time, you could only use the machine once before it jammed. I wound up taking this piece of junk and throwing it into the garbage. Friends, this is a major piece of junk. Buy a good quality shredding machine (if there is such a thing?). If you want an electric pencil sharpener, buy a pencil sharpener. If you want an electronic letter opener, buy that.