Contents
Fellowes Powershred 60CS, 10 sheets, safety level P-4, 22 litres review
First impression:
Fellowes Powershred 60CS Review
The Fellowes Powershred 60CS came to us safely packed in 2 parts. On top of the heavy cutting head unit with all the electronics and mechanics and below the 22 litre / 6 gallons collection bin (enough for around 300 sheets of paper shreds and with a transparent fill level window). Aesthetically, it is pleasant and looks good, almost elegant, even after we had tested it for a few days, we could tell that it works very quickly. The manufacturer intended this device primarily for private use/home office. However, small offices (up to approx. 5 employees) should also manage well with it.
Shredding performance
The first thing you notice is the noise level, which (unfortunately) corresponds to the noise standard in this price range (69dB). The sheets are cut into 4×40 mm shreds (P-4 safety standard) – absolutely sufficient for privacy. The built-in safety sensor (Safe-Sense), stops the motor reliably if fingers get too close to the slot. The Fellowes Powershred 60CS has the main power switch, LED indicators for on/off, overheating and when Safe-Sense proximity is detected. The selector lever allows start, stop and rewind.
Fellowes Powershred 60 CS Review
If you want to delay the 20-minute cooling process as long as possible, the Fellowes Powershred 60CS should not be permanently loaded with more than 7 or 8 sheets, because the more power, the more heat, the faster the end of the approx. 6 minutes of continuous power will come. We also tried other products besides paper. The Powershred also manages paper clips (together with the paper), as well as credit/plastic cards, CDs/DVDs, laminated paper and thin cardboard.
Many users expect the stated maximum sheet cutting capacity to be some kind of continuous output. However, the manufacturer publishes this figure to indicate that it is a maximum performance that can only be met in exceptional cases (in addition, the maximum recommended paper capacity is 100 sheets and 5 credit cards).
Looking at the way it works when shredding, there are two scenarios in our experience:
- The shredder is in continuous standby during daily operation and if you occasionally find paper, you simply throw it into the shredder. The shredder then howls briefly from deep sleep to get up to operating speed and shreds the pile. After that, it’s back to continuous standby.
- The other scenario concerns occasional mucking out actions where „mountains of paper“ the size of folders accumulate (folder contents – 50mm wide up to 350 sheets, „usual” width (80mm) approx. 600 sheets). Here you have to pay attention to the thickness of the paper pile, otherwise, paper jams can occur more often. Continuous use makes a permanent quantity of 8 sheets recommendable. At the same time, the Powershred 60CS still works quickly and “you can get ahead” with your paper pile.
Fellowes Powershred 60CS Product information:
What we noticed positively:
(+) A speedy work without a big break was at 5 to6 sheets per pass in our tests. In our experience, this corresponds to a normal amount of paper that is used once or several times a day. Therefore, the Fellowes 60CS is well equipped for everyday office use.
(+) The automatic mode switches to standby after 2 minutes
(+) SafeSense stops as soon as fingers touch the paper gap.
(+) 22 l / 6 gal capacity (approx. 300 sheets) of the waste bin is sufficient for several weeks in “normal operation”.
(+) Can also be physically switched off via the mains switch – no permanent stand by.
What we noticed negatively:
(-) On the other hand, if you use more than 5-6 pages at a time, the Powershred 60CS slows down with each additional sheet per pass and you can hear that the shredder has to work harder and harder. If you try to shred 10 sheets (70 gsm quality) at a time, even slight jamming of the 10-sheet stack causes a paper jam, which then has to be cleared by reversing the shredder.
(-) The operating noise corresponds to the volume of a conversation, except that all shredders rev up briefly on contact with the paper in order to achieve the necessary processing speed. This is what makes the noise so unpleasant and conspicuous in the office (all shredders with a weak motor have this principle, unfortunately).
(-) The run-on time after the sheets are processed is short. 1 to 2-sec longer is optimal to clean the cutting unit. We didn’t manage to keep the Fellowes 60CS running for a long time. It stops just before the next sheets come in and then starts up again immediately.
Room for improvement / Neutral:
(0) In the viewing window (smoked glass colour) you can only see the last 20% or so of the filling level. If you see bits of paper, you have to interrupt the shredding, to prevent those snippets from bin getting stuck in the blades. A deeper window would be better.
TIP: Lift the cutting head briefly and push down the “fluffy” stack of paper courageously This gives you about 50 sheets more capacity the first time.
(0) Hitting the “stop” position (slide switch with “on – stop – reverse”) in the middle is not so easy because you can quickly slip back into reverse. A toggle switch like the power button would be better.
(0) For emptying, the heavy cutting head has to be lifted off. Unfortunately, there is only an indentation on one side for lifting and snippets tend to fall out of the cutting head onto the floor.
Conclusion:
The manufacturer advertises a technically maximum processing volume of paper, but you should not expect that this amount of paper can be processed in continuous operation.
The paper detection works well and starts automatically when you feed it with paper. Ideally, there should be no more than 5 to 6 sheets at a time. If there is more paper, it starts to “fight” audibly and threatens to overheat quickly. It is better to feed it less paper at a time and more often, and it will thank you with good, constant performance without a forced cooling pause.
The automatic shut-off on hand contact works reliably and is certainly worth its weight in gold, especially if there are children in the household who like to try out everything. The gap is extremely narrow, so no (little) finger should fit in, but better safe than sorry. Who knows what other ideas the “little ones” will come up with.
One more TIP: it’s best to use a thin bin liner, then you don’t have to constantly clean the collection bin of fine paper dust and snippets. And regular oiling prevents the Fellowes Powershred 60CS from becoming slower and even louder over time.
For daily office use in a private environment or in a small office (2 or 3 persons), the Fellowes Powershred 60CS can be recommended without restrictions. You should limit “mucking out” actions to 1 or 2 folders per day (incl. counting paper in stacks and cooling breaks), or spread them over several days. According to the manufacturer, 100 sheets and 5 plastic cards/CDs/DVDs are the intended daily output.
