GBC ShredMaster CX30-55 Cross-Cut Shredder, P-3, 30 Sheets, 1 - 5 Users

The CX30-55 is a commercial cabinet rather than an office machine, and the specification that says so is the throat: a 16 inch feed opening on a continuous-duty motor, taking 30 sheets a pass into a 55 gallon bin.

That is what you are buying. A 16 inch opening is wide enough that a file box can be emptied into it in handfuls rather than sorted, and a continuous-rated motor means the machine keeps working through a records clear-out rather than stopping to cool. It is designed to be shared by a floor or to serve a central destruction point, not to stand beside a desk.

Key Features

• 16 in (40.6 cm) feed opening. Letter, legal, A4 and A3 all pass flat, and a full handful goes in without being squared up.
• Continuous duty cycle. No cool-down interval built into the rating, which is what makes a box-at-a-time workload practical.
• Cross-cut at 3/16 x 1-1/2 in (4.7 x 38 mm). That is about 179 mm² per particle, inside the DIN 66399 P-3 band of 320 mm².
• Shreds staples, paper clips, credit cards, CDs and DVDs, so incoming material does not need pre-sorting.
• 30 sheets per pass at 20 lb bond, into a 55 gallon (208 L) pull-out waste container.
• Under 60 dB. Quiet enough for a shared work area, which is unusual for a cabinet of this throat width.
• TAA compliant, on a wheeled cabinet weighing about 240 lb (109 kg).

One thing about this model needs saying openly. There are two CX30-55 specifications in circulation. ACCO's EMEA GBC datasheet describes a 4 x 40 mm cut and a 165 litre bin, which would be a P-4 machine with a 44 gallon container. The US Swingline TAA part sold here, 1758583B / 1758583BF, is not that machine: it cuts 3/16 x 1-1/2 in and takes a 55 gallon bin, which is what the "-55" in the model name refers to. 4.7 x 38 mm is roughly 179 mm², above the 160 mm² P-4 ceiling, so the correct DIN 66399 class for this SKU is P-3. B&H, Newegg, MyBinding, DigitalBuyer, Shredder Warehouse and Whitaker Brothers all list the US part as P-3. If your policy requires P-4 or better, this is not the machine.

Specifications

Figures on this page are for the US Swingline TAA part 1758583B / 1758583BF. ACCO does not publish a motor wattage for the US SKU, so that row is omitted rather than carried across from the EMEA GBC datasheet, which describes a different cutting head (4 x 40 mm) and a different bin (165 L) under the same model name. Imperial values are the published ones; metric values are converted from them.

What's in the Box

Shredder on its wheeled cabinet with pull-out waste container, power cord and operating instructions. Shred bags are separate: ACCO's 35-60 gallon plastic shredder bag, part 1145482, names the TAA CX30-55 explicitly on its compatibility list. Shredder oil is part 1760049; oil sheets are also sold separately.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Buy the CX30-55 if a floor, a records room or a central destruction point produces more paper than an office shredder can absorb, and the material arrives in boxes rather than folders. The 16 inch opening and the continuous-rated motor are what make that practical, and the ability to take cards and discs means one machine handles everything a department needs destroyed.

Do not buy it if your policy calls for P-4 or above. A 3/16 x 1-1/2 in cross-cut particle is a P-3 particle, and higher security in ACCO's commercial range means the CM15-30 at P-5 or the CHS10-30 at P-7, both with much narrower throats and far lower sheet counts. And if you want a wider bin rather than a wider throat, the CX40-59 is quoted at 40 sheets and 59 gallons.