KOBRA 300.2 S4

The KOBRA 300.2 S4 is a P-2 strip-cut departmental shredder that cuts 3.8 mm strips at 31-33 sheets per pass, powered by a 900 W (1 1/2 HP) continuous-duty motor and collecting into a 40-gallon (150-liter) cabinet. With KOBRA's Oil-Free System, bags are its only consumable, which makes it a low-attention choice for print rooms, schools and distribution offices disposing of non-sensitive paper in bulk.

KOBRA 300.2 S4 at a glance

• 31-33 sheets at 70 g/m², 27-29 at 80 g/m²
• 3.8 mm strips, rated P-2 O-2 T-2 E-2
• No oiling required (Oil-Free System)
• 40-gallon (150-liter) cabinet on casters
• Shreds CDs/DVDs/Blu-ray, floppy disks, credit and chip cards

Why the bigger cabinet matters on a strip cutter

Strip waste is springy and traps air, so on a strip-cut machine the bin usually fills before anything else runs out. The 300.2 S4 tackles that with a 150-liter cabinet, against 110 liters on the 300.1 S4 with the same 3.8 mm head. The 900 W motor, up from 600 W, keeps the stack rate steady through long sessions, and it has thermal protection with no timed cool-down. Expect frequent bag changes anyway when running 30-plus sheets at a time; pressing the waste down before the fill sensor trips recovers useful space.

Oil-free head, chain drive and safety features

The carbon-hardened knives need no routine lubrication and are rated as unaffected by staples and paper clips. They run on a metal chain drive. If the machine has sat unused for a long time or has swallowed adhesive labels, arrange a service rather than adding oil. Energy Smart standby, automatic start and stop, automatic reverse on jams, and a safety stop when the door opens or the bin is full are all standard.

At 60 dB(A) it is a little louder than the 55 dB(A) 300.1 S4, so a copy room or mailroom is the natural home.

KOBRA 300.2 S4 specifications

300.2 S4 against its closest alternatives

• KOBRA 300.1 S4: the same 3.8 mm oil-free head with a 600 W motor, a 29-gallon bin and 27-29 sheets, in a shorter and quieter 92 cm cabinet.
• KOBRA 300.2 S5: the same cabinet with a wider 5.8 mm strip and up to 40 sheets; faster, with coarser output.
• KOBRA 300.2 C4: P-4 cross cut at 3.9 x 40 mm and 25-27 sheets on this cabinet, for anything containing personal data.
• KOBRA 310 TS SS4: a 3.8 mm P-2 strip with touch-screen controls, a 13 in throat and up to 39 sheets.

Who should buy the 300.2 S4

It is right for operations that generate a lot of paper nobody needs to protect: superseded print runs, packing slips, general office waste. It is not a privacy shredder. P-2 strips keep whole lines of text intact and will not satisfy a records-destruction policy for personal or regulated data, and it is nowhere near the 1 x 5 mm particle NSA/CSS 02-01 requires. For confidential paper, step to the 300.2 C4 or the P-5 300.2 C2.