Frequently Asked Questions
Need help? Be sure to get the answers to your questions!
All Fellowes paper shredders will carry a warranty to be free from defects in material and in workmanship for a specified time period.
To determine the specific warranty on your model paper shredder, you will want to check your manual as the actual warranty may vary depending on the model of shredder.
If you do not have or cannot locate your paper shredder manual or if you have a more specific warranty issue or warranty claim, contact us here.
Many of the Fellowes personal shredders (small shredders that can fit under a desk) are repairable and will have parts available. If you would like to check your model shredder to determine if parts are available, please contact us, and advise the model of shredder, the shredder’s serial number and a description of the part needed. The serial number will be located on the bottom side or front edge of the shredder head – below the bar code.
*** Please note: If your shredder is still within the warranty period, we ask that you do not open your shredder until speaking with a Fellowes Representative, as opening the unit may void your warranty.***
Fellowes office/commercial shredders (large shredders that cannot fit under a desk) are repairable and parts will most likely be available. Please do not try to repair the shredder yourself or you will void your warranty. Some of the models included in the office shredder line are 125i series, 225i series, 325i series, 425i Series, 485i series, etc.
To order replacement parts, request service, or if your model shredder is not listed, contact us to ask us about your shredder. *** Please be sure to include your serial number from your shredder for the fastest service ***. Our response time is typically within 24 business hours.
For immediate assistance, please call 5122 1231. Our office hours are 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday through Friday.
If your shredder is a small personal shredder that sits on top of a waste basket. It is possible that the safety interlock is not being engaged, which will prevent the shredder from operating.
To check this, first remove the shredder head from the basket. Inside the basket there will be a small tab. If your basket is plastic, it will be a molded plastic tab that will stick out about 1/2″. Metal or mesh baskets will have a small L shaped bracket that will have a 1/2″ tab sticking out, on the inside of the basket.
On this style of shredder, there will be a corresponding groove, or opening that this tab will need to be aligned with. The tab slides into the groove or opening, and triggers a switch. If this switch is not engaged, the shredder will not turn on. If your unit has lights, the red and green lights will be illuminated, but you will have no reaction from the machine.****DO NOT use anything other than the basket to engage the safety switch. Improperly engaging this switch can result in injury.****
Shredders with Pull Out Drawer
Shredders with a pull out drawer for a waste bin, have a similar safety feature. The drawer will have a protruding molded plastic tab somewhere on the drawer (usually on the right hand side of the drawer) that will slide into a corresponding groove, or opening on the bottom side of the shredder head. Inside the groove or opening, there is a safety interlock switch that must be engaged in order for your unit to work. Please be sure that the basket and this groove are aligning properly or that the tab is not broken or bent
Cross-cut/Micro-cut shredders require regular oiling of the cutting blades to maintain proper operation. Failure to oil the blades regularly could result in reduced sheet capacity performance, excessive noise during operation, paper jams and possibly shredder failure. It is good practice to oil your shredder every time you empty your basket.
We recommend using Fellowes Powershred Lubricant #3608601.
Caution: Never use flammable synthetic oil, petroleum-based, or aerosol lubricants to oil the cutting blades. Some agents may be flammable. NEVER USE WD40.
To oil the cutting blades:
1) From the top of the shredder, squeeze the recommended lubricant across the full width of the blades.
2) Move the power switch to Auto (I) position and allow the blades to run at least 3 seconds.
3) Move the power switch to Reverse (R) position and allow it to run for at least 3 seconds.
4) Repeat steps 2 & 3 above at least three times.
To test SafeSense® move the power switch to the “on” position. The green ready light should illuminate and the shredder will run for a few seconds and shut off. This is normal.
Simply touch the shiny chrome area around paper entry throat. The yellow sensor light should turn on, indicating that the SafeSense® feature is working.
If the SafeSense® light is flashing continuously, this indicates that the SafeSense® feature is in the override position.
WARNING: The SafeSense® feature will NOT work when the override switch is activated. Reactivate SafeSense® before you begin to shred.
Use your manual to help locate where the SafeSense® Override switch is located on your model. Once this is located, flip switch to opposite position and re-test using instructions above.
Note: some units do not have an override switch.
There are several reasons this may have occurred. Review these troubleshooting options:
1) The shredder has exceeded the maximum continuous run time and requires a “cool-down” time. Wait 30-60 minutes to allow the shredder to cool off and try to shred again. (The shredder may cool down sooner and begin to work again.)
2) The shredder is jammed. To clear a jam follow these steps:
3) If you have a shredder with the SafeSense® feature and touched the metal around the paper entry slot, it will stop and the light will come on.
4) If the solutions above did not solve the problem, please call us at 03-51221231 and a trained representative will be happy to troubleshoot this problem further or explain your in-warranty and out-of-warranty options.
Fellowes generally tries to order enough parts for any given machine that we will be able to supply replacement parts for approximately 5 years after the model has been discontinued. This will vary slightly by model (commercial machines will have parts for much longer time period).
This does not mean if your shredder is over 5 years old that we do not have parts, nor does it mean that if your shredder is less than 5 years old we will carry a specific part.
However, if you need a replacement part for an older model shredder that you believe to be discontinued, contact us. to have our friendly customer service check the availability of the part needed.
For fastest service, please provide the following:
– detailed description of the part needed
– serial number (located on the bottom of the shredder head or on the front edge of the head – below the bar code)
– parent part number or CRC#, located on the same sticker.
Fellowes Customer Service normal response time is typically next business day.
In most cases, if a shredder is running continuously, this does not indicate that anything is broken.
A majority of Fellowes shredders have 2 small electronic sensors in the throat of the paper entry slot. These are designed to work by shooting a signal to each other; when the signal is broken (by paper entering the throat) the shredder turns on, and when the paper passes through completely, the sensors are able to recognize the signals and the shredder turns off.
If paper dust, debris or oil has covered the sensors it can break the signals (indicating to the shredder that paper is being entered) and can cause the shredder to run continuously. This is a little bit more of a problem on cross cut shredders since the oil can very easily cloud the sensors.
The good news is that it is as simple as wiping off the sensors to clear away anything that may interfere.
To locate the sensors, unplug shredder and look in the paper entry throat and in the very center there will be two small sensors that look like small glass beads or marbles. If your model has a safety flap over the cutters, you may need to lift this to get access. Please note that if you have an Intellishred shredder (i.e. PS79Ci, 79Ci, SB89Ci, SB99Ci, etc.) there is a paper gauge lever in the middle of the entry. You will need to look past this lever in order to locate the auto sensors.
Once you locate the sensors, use a cotton swab dampened with rubbing alcohol to wipe away any residue or dust. You may need to clean it a couple of times. Also if there is any visible paper debris in this area, remove with cotton swab or needle nosed pliers.
Almost all of the time, this procedure will solve the problem, and may be repeated as part of routine maintenance as needed.
If you do not have electronic sensors, see below for additional instructions.
Some of Fellowes smaller home shredders offer a mechanical sensor rather than the electronic version.
Mechanical sensors are also located in the very center of the paper entry throat and look like a small plastic divider in the middle of the cutting blades. In most models the sensor is white, but can also be gray or black.
How does it work? When paper is entered into the shredder, the mechanical sensor is pressed down causing the shredder to start shredding. Once paper has passed through, the sensor will release to normal position and stop shredding.
If paper debris is putting some weight on the sensor it could be ‘stuck down’ and not able to return to the normal position. This can happen more often if you recently had a jam that was able to be reversed out.
With the shredder unplugged, locate the sensor and remove any paper debris from around or under the sensor . If the shreds are not reachable, use a tweezers or needle nosed pliers to remove unnecessary paper.
Be careful to not put too much force on or around the mechanical sensor as to not damage it.
If you are having difficulty with this troubleshooting, or the troubleshooting did not resolve your problem, contact us. Generally customer service officer will respond the next business day.
Note: Strip-cut shredders do not require oiling.
Do not use any oil or lubricant that is dispensed from an aerosol container or that is petroleum-based. Use of such aerosols, oils or lubricants will void the warranty and could create a fire hazard and cause serious damage and/or injury.
Regular oiling of cross-cut / micro-cut shredders is a necessary maintenance step to keeping the shredder functioning properly and prolonging its life.
The frequency of oiling needed is determined by a range of factors such as the type of paper being shredded, the amount being shredded and whether the shredding is intermittent or continuous. For instance, if shredding continuous form paper, oiling may need to occur every 10 minutes.
It is a good practice to oil the cross cut shredder each time the wastebasket is emptied. (High security shredders should be oiled every 15 minutes or when capacity drops).
There are two acceptable oiling Methods:
1) Depress and hold the reverse button down. Put the tip of the oil bottle and squeeze oil across the paper entry, continue to depress the reverse button for another 10 seconds.
Please click on the link below to view a video demonstration of the oiling procedure.
Standard oiling method –
http://apps.fellowes.com/tools/video?link=z4G8MCeOutw&autoplay=1&rel=0
-OR-
2) Depress and hold the forward button. Put the tip of the oil bottle and squeeze oil across the paper entry. Release the button and press the Auto-On and shred one piece of paper. Press and hold the Reverse button for 2-3 seconds.
It is recommended that Fellowes Powershred Oil #3608601 be used for oiling Fellowes shredders or a suitable substitute. A suitable substitute is limited to vegetable based oils, with a flash point over 450 ° F, that will not go rancid.
When using oil not in the original Fellowes Powershred Oil bottle, oil must be dispensed from a plastic long nozzle bottle.
Yes! Our Fellowes AeraMax Pro AM3 & AM4 air purifiers demonstrated, through independent laboratory testing, to be effective in eliminating aerosolised concentration of SARS-CoV-2 by 99.9999% through a single air pass test of the purifier.
Also, AeraMax Pro air purifiers reached 99.99% airborne reduction of a surrogate Human Coronavirus 229E in a 20m3 test chamber within 1 hour of operation in a separate test.
In addition, AeraMax Pro air purifiers:
Are also certified to be effective in reducing airborne concentrations of influenza A(H1N1) aerosol in a test chamber, reaching 99.9% airborne virus reduction within the first 35 minutes of operation
All our machines are certified to capture 99.97% of pollutants at 0.3 microns
Our AeraMax Pro AM3 and AM4 H13 True HEPA filters capture at least 99.95% of pollutants at 0.1 microns, tested to EN1822 standards.
Aeramax Pro Models: Plasmatrue is always on and cannot be deactivated.
AeraMax Models: The PlasmaTrue Technology feature on the AeraMax can be turned off by pressing and holding down on the PlasmaTrue Icon on the touch screen display panel for approximately 5 seconds. The PlasmaTrue Technology indicator light will turn off, letting you know that the PlasmaTrue Technology feature on the machine is turned off. Please note that if you turn off the PlasmaTrue feature, it may reduce the coverage area below the AHAM certified rating.
Your machine has been designed to accommodate both Fellowes® True HEPA Filter with AeraSafe™ Antimicrobial Treatment and Fellowes® Carbon Filter. Using the machine with only one of those filters would dramatically reduce the efficiency of your air purifier and may result in abnormal air circulation noises, as the space left by the missing filter would allow part of your indoor air to circulate freely without being filtered.
Not with the source of the mold. Consult a mold remediator. For more information, contact The National Association of Mold Remediators and Inspectors. However, AeraMax Professional utilizes a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, which captures airborne germs and allergens including mold spores that are drawn into the system.
Yes, it is essential to only use Fellowes filters, as other types of filters will not correctly fit into your product. Other types of filters will not correctly fit into your product. Other types of filters will leave some air gaps in your product, through which dirty air will be able to pass without being filtered and cleaned. Using other types of filters will dramatically reduce the efficiency of your air purifier.
You do not need to turn the air purifier off when you are changing the filters. The unit is designed to disable the fan when the filter panel/drawer is opened. Once the filter panel/drawer is re-inserted, the unit will return to the previous state of operation.
Yes. Your Air Purifier will remove up to 99.97% of any particles with a size equal to or larger than 0.3 microns in the air going through the filters.
For Aeramax Pro models: If you want to adjust the fan manually as opposed to allowing it to adjust automatically based on the quality of the air, then you can press the “+” or the “-” key to increase (+) or decrease (-) the speed of the fan.
For AeraMax models: If you want to adjust the fan manually as opposed to allowing it to adjust automatically based on the quality of the air, you can press the Fan icon to increase or decrease the speed of the fan. When in Turbo setting, pressing the fan icon will return the air purifier to the lowest fan speed setting.
Aeramax Pro Purifiers:
AeraMax Purifiers:
• AeraMax™ 90/100/DX5: Make sure the filter panel is snapped into place.
• AeraMax™ 190/200/DX55/290/300/DX95: Make sure the filter drawer is securely closed.
1. Make sure the air purifier is on.
2. Locate the Filter Icons on the display panel.
3. Press and hold the Filter Icons for 3-5 seconds until you hear a short beep. At this time, the HEPA Filter Icon will flash amber. Press the Filter Icon to alternate between the HEPA and Carbon indicator lights.
4. Once the desired filter is illuminated, press and hold the Filter Icons for 3-5 seconds until you hear a short beep. The indicator light should turn off. Repeat this process for each filter as needed.
• AeraMax PRO AM2/AM3/AM4:
1. When installing a new filter the unit will automatically detect the filter type but the user will have to manually reset the filter replacement indicators.
2. To reset any of the filter replacement indicators, press and hold filter type button that was replaced (HEPA or Carbon) until the light turns off.
3. Repeat for other filter types as needed. When replacing the hybrid filter, reset both the HEPA and carbon indicator lights.
The product takes into consideration the quality of the air it cleans as well as the period of time it is being used in order to determine the amount of dirt and pollutants that have been captured by/on the filters. Once this amount has raised a level where the efficiency of the machine is about to start decreasing, the machine tells the user it’s time to replace the filters.
AeraMax Pro is designed to complement HVAC systems by filtering air at the source of the contaminant. Also, most HVAC systems do not utilize HEPA filtration, which captures airborne contaminants as small as 0.3 microns including viruses, bacteria, and other airborne contaminants. HVAC systems may not have activated carbon filters to remove odor and volatile organic compounds, or bipolar ionizers to reduce airborne contaminants.
On an average: Carbon Filter: average of 3 months; HEPA Filter: average of 12 months
This may vary depending on the cleanliness of your air.
Yes – the Fellowes Air Purifier is designed to clean your indoor air 24-7 and it will not consume more than an incandescent light bulb in normal conditions of use.
Yes. Smoke particles are part of the pollutants that your Air Purifier will remove at 99.97% of the air going through the filter.
1. Verify that the filters are clean.
2. Verify that the air exiting the machine does not blow towards a source of smell (i.e. perfume, air freshener, etc.).
Note: Your machine will remove strong odors first – such as smoke odors – and could allow lighter smells (i.e. smells coming from a cleaning product) temporarily linger.
School of Hygiene and Preventative Medicine at the University of Genoa, Italy.
The AeraMax AM PRO AM III PC unit was tested. Due to the similarities in construction between the AM III PC and AM IV PC the University has determined that the AM IV PC would provide similar performance values if subjected to this test. This also translates to the AM3 and AM4 non PureView units.
The AM2 has a different construction around the fan, scroll housing, motor, and filters. It would need to be tested separately in order to be able to make this claim.
Here are ways to test that the sensor is working properly:
AeraMax™ DX5
• Your indoor air is probably clean with no pollutants in it. To verify, place a dry erase marker or hand sanitizer – or any other object emitting a strong smell such as a perfumed item close to the right side of the handle on the back of your air purifier.
• The AeraSmart™ Sensor, located to the right of the handle, will detect the odor after a few seconds and trigger the amber or red level of your AeraSmart™ Sensor Indicator Light.
• If this experiment does not work, verify that the bag has been removed from around your filters and conduct the above experiment again.
• If this still does not work, the AeraSmart™ Sensor of the unit is probably defective. Please call customer service.
AeraMax™ DX55/DX95 and all AeraMax PRO AM2/AM3/AM4 units
• Your indoor air is probably clean with no pollutants in it.
• To verify, place a dry erase marker – or another object emitting a strong smell such as a perfumed item close to the right side of the machine, by the Fan Speed Indicator.
• The AeraSmart™ Sensor, located on the right side of the air purifier, will detect the odor after a few seconds and trigger the amber or red level of your AeraSmart™ Sensor Indicator Light.
• If this experiment does not work, verify that the bag has been removed from around your filters and conduct the above experiment again.
• If this still does not work, the AeraSmart™ Sensor of the unit is probably defective. Please call customer service.
The AeraSafe Antimicrobial Treatment protects against the growth of bacteria on the True HEPA filter which cause mold, odor and product deterioration.
The Carbon filter is a pre-filter that captures the bigger particles to avoid clogging the HEPA filter. The Carbon filter is designed to help remove VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) from the air. The Fellowes Carbon filters are also treated with Sanitize TM (an antimicrobial agent that prevents the growth of microbes and impurities on the filter).
A True HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Absorption) air filter is a filter that removes up to 99.97% of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns.
The AeraMax True HEPA filters are also treated with AeraSafe Antimicrobial Treatment that prevents microbes from growing on the filters.
CADR stands for Clean Air Delivery Rate. It is a measure of the appliance’s ability to reduce smoke, dust, and pollen particles from the air. The higher the CADR rating your Air Purifier has, the more efficient your air purifier is at removing pollutants.
The CADR rating, tested and reported by AHAM (Association of Household Appliances Manufacturers), is a voluntary certification. All of our Units do have a CADR rating. It is possible to find air purifiers on the market without a CADR rating. But for such products without an AHAM tested CADR rating, the information related to their capacity to clean the air is not reliable.
What are the CADR ratings for the Fellowes® AeraMax™ Air Purifiers?
AeraMax™ DX5: 75 (Smoke/Dust/Pollen)
AeraMax™ 190/200/DX55: 126/129/124 (Smoke/Dust/Pollen)
AeraMax™ 290/300/DX95: 191/196/188 (Smoke/Dust/Pollen)
Always put items in the appropriate size pouch. Place the item in the pouch centered and completely touching the sealed edge. Insert pouch into laminator sealed edge first. Keep the pouch straight upon entry.
It depends on when you purchased the unit. It may be one or two years from the original date of purchase. We recommend keeping a copy of your original receipt for your records in the event you should need warranty service. This is your proof the unit was purchased with in the warranty time frame.
For further information regarding your warranty, please contact us and submit your question. Please make sure you provide your model number and serial number in your correspondence.
Sometimes paper has dust or specks on it which minimizes the effectiveness of the adhesive. Make sure the surface space is clean before laminating. Heavily printed sheets, especially those with large dark areas, are at times difficult to laminate with a pouch laminator. Some materials that cause problems include, but are not limited to, coated papers, photographs or high gloss paper.
Either the temperature is too low, or the combination of your pouch and document is too thick.
First, try passing your work through the laminator one or more times, or raising the temperature setting if your machine offers multiple heat options.
Otherwise, you should choose a thinner pouch, or reduce the weight or thickness of the documents you are trying to laminate.
Your document may be too thick. Also, your document might be too large for the pouch size used. Make sure there is a minimum of 1/8″ seam around the entire edge of the pouch. In addition, please make sure that you have selected the proper pouch thickness on the laminator.
Plastic comb: For economical and most – versatile presentations. It’s a standard, well-known finish that’s perfect for presentations, sales and marketing material, brochures, menus and more. Popular with architects, scientists, sales and marketing professionals and manufacturers. Plastic binding is the most popular solution for many reasons.
Advantages: Pages lay flat for easy reading and turn 360 degrees for photocopying, most versatile-pages are easily added and/or deleted, binding combs are reusable, broad binding range-from 2 to 500 sheets.
Thermal binding provides a smooth book-style finish perfect for mailing and filing. It’s great for reports, proposals memory books and year books. Thermal binding is fast and allows the user to bind multiple documents at once. Thermal Bound documents do not lay completely flat when open like plastic comb and wire binding.
For further information regarding your warranty, please contact us and submit your question. Please make sure you provide your model number and serial number in your correspondence.
Wire binding provides a secure, stylish premium look. It’s perfect for sales and marketing presentations, training booklets, financial reports and more. Wire binding provides a secure finish, as once a document is bound it can’t be modified. Wire bound documents lay flat when open and rotate 360 degrees for easy viewing.
Please bind the documents again and make sure the sheets are in contact with the glued spine by tapping gently on a flat surface. In addition, be sure to check that the setting is correct and promptly remove your documents after binding cycle is complete.
Our Crystal gel products are made entirely from polyurethane, and are latex free. While latex is not intentionally added to the product, it is not made in a clean room environment. Meaning, we cannot guarantee small amounts of cross contamination.
Latex comes from natural rubber. Polyurethane is petroleum based and includes no natural rubber. The gel on our keyboard managers and fabric covered gel products include a lycra/neoprene cover which in some cases is made from dry natural rubber. All natural rubber contains trace levels of latex and should be avoided by those with extreme sensitivities to trace amounts.
To clean Fellowes Wrist Rests, simply use a damp cloth to wipe the surface clean.
Cleaning is easy for Fellowes mouse pads. Simply wipe the surface with a damp cloth to clean any soiled or dirt on the mouse pad. We do not recommend immersing the mouse pad in water.
No, the gel is a non-toxic substance that may cause minor irritation, but no harmful effects.
Fellowes gel wrist rest products typically carry a one year warranty from the original purchase date.
Did not get your questions answered? Contact us today.
Our friendly staff will attend to all your enquiries. For immediate enquiries, Call us at 5122 1231 during office hours, Monday- Friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm. We look forward to assist you.
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