Cleaning staples mailmate shredder full#

We now also know that we need a way to convert 120V AC to 120V DC.Įnter the magical world of rectifier bridges! The fact that this is a 120V motor can be considered a good thing, since no transformer will be needed in the new circuit. The other two are blue, and from what I can tell, they are probably from a sensor of sorts, since there was an overload LED on the cover. In this case it's a 120V DC motor. Note that there are 4 wires coming out of the motor,and two of those are obviously the DC power wires since they are black and red. When taking out the motor, check for a sticker with the specs. correct me if I'm wrong, but nonetheless. I have my doubts about reversible AC motors. I of course kept the board for any salvageable components in a future project.Īpparently, this shredder came in a version with an AC motor, and a version with a DC motor. In my case, I had no clue as to what was broken, so I just removed the circuit board and cut the wires as close to the board as possible, in order to give me some room to move later on. Soldering iron and solder - recommended, but it's possible to do without.ĭremel - again, recommended, but it's possible to use other cutting tools

Insulator for some connections - heat shrink, electrical tape, marettes.Ĭrazy long philips screwdriver - I used an 8 inch #2, but it was tight, so maybe a #1 would work better On-off switch - optional if your DPDT switch has an off position let's say that I hadn't quite grasped the mindset of photographing for instructables yet. The downside is that this project was done way back in February 2010, and the first steps were not documented with photos. This is my first published instructable, yay! The simple fix is to make a basic circuit that will run the motor forwards and backwards. I always wanted to get a shredder to dispose of sensitive documents, so when I stumbled on an ad for a broken shredder to give away, I jumped on the occasion!īasically, the electronics inside were shot, but the motor was in perfect working order. The Fellowes website tells you how and where to purchase it.Here is one way to inexpensively bring a shredder into your home office! The Powershred is available at Staples, along with some other retailers.

Like the Mail Mate, you remove the shredder basket to empty it - and it doesn’t make a mess! In addition, the shredder basket is actually a step-on can, so you can use it to collect other recyclable papers along with your shredding. I thus concluded that there was no such thing as a shredder that empties neatly.Īnd then I discovered the Fellowes Powershred® DS-1 Cross-Cut Shredder at a client’s home. This echoes the experience that I have at most of my client’s homes or offices. However, I used a Mail Mate shredder at a client’s recently to shred a huge volume of paper, and we needed to use the vacuum afterward.

I haven’t shredded too much at my dad’s yet, so I haven’t had to sweep up too many paper scraps - just a few. To empty the Mail Mate, you pull out the shredder basket instead of taking off the top. I bought a Staples Mail Mate shredder for my dad, hoping to avoid this problem. That means there are tiny little pieces of cross-cut paper just waiting to fall on the floor when I remove the top.

Cleaning staples mailmate shredder full#

However, when I see the red light indicating that the receptacle is full and needs to be emptied, my heart sinks because I haven’t figured out a way to empty my shredder without making a mess.Įmptying my shredder requires me to remove the heavy top which contains the shredding mechanism. I use my shredder frequently, and it works very well.