Jeff McRitchie

Dahle 30114 Personal Shredder Review

The Dahle 30114 is a personal-use shredder designed to be placed beside your desk and used occasionally throughout the day. In this review, we will discuss the list of this machine's strengths and weaknesses as we saw them during a recent test.

Strengths:

1. This is the smallest shredder offered by Dahle, but it still packs a pretty impressive punch. The small size makes it perfect for its intended use which is to be placed within arms length of your desk for fast easy shredding when the need arises. Dahle claims that this machine can shred up to 100 sheets in a typical day, and our testing found that the 30114 was up to that task.
2. There are a lot of personal desk side shredders on the market with a lot of different capabilities. There are not all that many of this type of shredder, however, that offer level 3 security. Considering the increase in identity theft crimes, and the ever-present possibility of someone going through your trash or recycling to get your personal info, level 3 security paper shredder should be considered the minimum you should look for in a personal shredder. The 30114 offers a nice cross cut that gives you ample security for destroying such documents as bank statements, financial records and credit card applications.
3. The feed opening width of 8.75" inches is wide enough for the vast majority of documents you will be needing to shred. It can handle both letter and legal sized sheets without any problem at all.
4. The 8 gallon capacity is pretty nice for such a small shredder. Plus the cross cut mechanism will help to cut down on the frequency of bag changes. That is always nice.
5. We found the controls very easy to use, and especially liked the function that allowed us to place the machine in automatic on/off mode. When this function is activated, all the user has to do is to place their documents into the feed opening. The machine starts automatically and stops when the job is done. Very handy. Also, as a safety function, the machine will not operate when the shred bin is full.
6. The design of the cutting blades is pretty unique and very effective. Instead of the stacked-together cutting knives that a lot of the shredders use, this machine utilizes blades that are made out of single solid rod of steel that is a lot stronger and should prove to be much more durable as well. Dahle seems to think so, anyway, as they offer a lifetime guarantee on these cutting blades.

1. This is a machine that is intended to be used sporadically throughout the day, and should not be used to do a large amount of shredding in one sitting. Overheating is less of a danger with the thermal protection on the motor, but if you try to use this machine past its capabilities, you will likely end up having to wait for the shredder to cool down before you can continue shredding.
2. Shredders need to be oiled on a regular basis and this one is no exception. Dahle offers no auto oiling system that can be added to the 30114. That means that you will need to stay on top of that particular maintenance yourself, just like you would with any other shredder.

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