Security is one of the major cause of concern for most of the people who use paper for communication and publishing. This is one of the reasons for the increase in the demand for paper shredders over the past few years. Are you a person who believes that the use of paper has decreased in the past few years? If yes, then your assumption is partially precise, the use of paper has decreased over the past few years as more people depend on the internet these days.
With this being said, the decrease in the use of paper is not high, it is negligible. Paper is still one of the largest medium of communication and publishing. Even today, most of the top companies and household use paper for communication and publishing and therefore, at the same time, they use paper shredders for security reasons. With the demand for paper shredder increasing, the type of shredders have also become diverse, there are different types of paper shredders available on the market today. Manual and automatic paper shredders are two of the major types of paper shredders based on the type of feed. If you are planning on purchasing a paper shredder here is everything you need to know about manual and automatic paper shredder and which one to purchase.
Manual paper shredder –
=> Most of the manual paper shredder comes incorporated with DC motor that drives the shredder teeth or blades. However, as you know DC motors get heated up quickly and they are not designed for heavy-duty use.
=> Manual paper shredders, as the name, itself suggests, comes with an arm that is depressed when the paper is fed manually into the feed space, once the paper is shredded, the arm returns to the default position with the help of a spring attached to it.
=> One of the things about manual paper shredders is that they are commonly used as home paper shredders.
=> One of the important things about manual paper shredders is that when the arm is depressed it switches on the device and when the arm returns to the default position, the device switches off.
=> As already mentioned above, a manual paper shredder comes incorporated with a DC motor and therefore, the duty cycle of a manual paper shredder is limited to less than 10 minutes.
=> One of the major disadvantages of manual paper shredder is that, if the device is overloaded, the motor could overheat and the machine would cease to function. This is one of the reasons to switch off the device every 5 minutes and allow it to cool for 5-minutes and switch on the device after that.
=> When it comes to waste handling capacity, a manual paper shredder has the least capacity, to be precise, the maximum waste handling capacity or the size of the bin is limited to 20-litres. One of the most important issues of such limited waste handling capacity is that if the bin is not emptied frequently, then the shredded paper could be pulled back into the shredder head and therefore, the risk of fire accidents is high.
=> Manual paper shredders come designed in such a way that it can feed only a maximum of 10 papers.
=> A manual paper shredder comes designed in such a way that the shred size is limited to something between 6mm and 8mm, this simply means, the security is comparatively low.
=> Construction – Manual paper shredders are commonly made of high-quality plastic and therefore, they are lightweight.
=> Price – When it comes to the price of a manual paper shredder, it is comparatively very cheap as it lacks complicated parts and advanced features.
Automatic paper shredders –
=> A majority of automatic paper shredders comes incorporated with AC motors and one of the best things about an AC motor is that they can run for a long time without any issues.
=> Unlike manual paper shredders, an automatic paper shredder comes with advanced parts like sensors that switch on the device when the paper is fed and switch off when the shredding is completed. Automatic paper shredders come designed in such a way that, the user does not have to feed the papers, the device automatically pulls in the paper to shred.
=> An automatic paper shredder has a higher class of security and therefore, they are commonly used as office shredders.
=> When it comes to duty cycle, as already mentioned above, an automatic paper shredder commonly comes with AC motor incorporated, which enables the device to run continuously for a minimum of 8 to 15 minutes. However, most of the manufacturer recommends allowing a cooling time of 5 minutes after every 10-minute use.
=> When it comes to waste handling capacity, an automatic paper shredder comes with a maximum holding capacity or bin capacity of 60-litres. However, you should know that the maximum capacity 60-litres could be found in premium heavy-duty devices only. If a medium-range automatic paper shredder is considered, the maximum holding capacity could 40-litres. One of the best things about automatic paper shredders is that they come with sensors in the bin that alerts the user when the bin is full and switches off the device to prevent fire and reverse feed.
=> The paper handling capacity of an automatic paper shredder is commonly limited to 400 papers in a single cycle, this simply means, an automatic paper shredder could shred 400 papers in about 8 to 10-minutes. However, the number of paper that could pass through the feed gap at a time is limited to 40 papers for the premium high-security models, 20 for medium-range models, and 15 for budget models.
=> Automatic paper shredders are one among the most advanced types of shredders available on the market, therefore, they come with a feature that enables the user to select the size of the shred. Based on the security the user require the shred size could be selected. Most commonly an automatic paper shredder will have the option to shred the paper in 4mm to a minimum of very tiny pieces for maximum security.
=> Construction – Most commonly automatic paper shredders come made of high-quality metal, some models will have a combination of metal and plastic. However, the chassis on which the shredder head is mounted would be made metal for maximum durability.
=> Price –As you have read above, an automatic paper shredder comes with several advanced features that include sensors, variable shred size,waste bin full sensor, and metal construction. Therefore, no matter what the brand is, an automatic paper shredder is expensive.
Conclusion –
Each of the paper shredders comes with their own advantages and disadvantages, however, if you want our opinion on which type to purchase. The answer is simple, if you want maximum security and efficiency, then an automatic paper shredder is the best option for you. But, if there is a budget restriction and there is no requirement for high security, then you could go for manual paper shredders.
