Fellowes 99Ci 100% Jam Proof Cross-Cut Paper Shredder

The 99Ci is the model in Fellowes' small-office range where the duty cycle stops being the limiting factor: forty minutes of continuous operation, double the 79Ci, paired with eighteen sheets a pass and a 9-gallon bin.

It is the machine to choose when the shredding gets done in sessions rather than a few sheets at a time. Forty minutes at eighteen sheets is several hundred pages, and the larger bin means you are not interrupted halfway through by a container that needs emptying.

Key Features

• 40 minutes on, 40 minutes off. Twice the run time of the 79Ci.
• Eighteen sheets per pass on 20 lb paper at DIN 66399 P-4.
• Cross-cut at 5/32 x 1 1/2 in (4 x 38 mm, about 152 mm²).
• 100% Jam Proof System and SafeSense contact protection.
• SilentShred acoustic design.
• Shreds paper, credit cards, CDs and DVDs, staples and small paper clips.
• Nine-inch (230 mm) paper entry with a 9-gallon pull-out bin.
• 25.19 x 11.44 x 17.31 in, 36.4 lb.

The step up from the 79Ci is worth spelling out because the two machines look similar on a shelf. You gain two sheets a pass, three gallons of bin capacity and twenty extra minutes of run time, and you pay for it in footprint and weight. The sheet count is the least significant of those three. The run time and the bin are what determine whether a shredding session finishes in one sitting.

As with the rest of the Ci range, Fellowes excludes adhesive labels, continuous form paper, transparencies, newspaper, cardboard, large paper clips, laminates, file folders and X-rays. Small clips and staples are fine; binder clips are not.

The 100% Jam Proof system is the same arrangement used across the Ci cabinets, and it is worth understanding what it does. Rather than stalling on an over-thick handful and requiring someone to reverse the cutters and pull the wreckage out, the machine reads the stack at the entry and refuses to start. The failure mode becomes a five-second annoyance instead of a five-minute repair, which is precisely what determines whether a shared shredder stays in service. SafeSense works on the same principle at the other end of the risk scale, stopping the cutters if a hand touches the paper entry.

Specifications

Sheet ratings are Fellowes' figures for 8.5 x 11 in, 20 lb paper at rated voltage. Fellowes publishes no decibel value for this model, describing the acoustic design only as SilentShred, so no noise row is shown.

What's in the Box

Shredder with 9-gallon pull-out bin and power cord. Fellowes specifies its own non-aerosol vegetable-based shredder oil, part 35250, and asks that the machine be oiled each time the waste bin is emptied. Aerosol lubricants must not be used in any shredder.

There is no separate bag part number published by Fellowes for this bin. Most buyers run it unlined or use a generic liner; if your shredded waste is collected by a confidential destruction contractor, check what presentation they require before you settle on one.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Buy the 99Ci for a small office of five to eight people, or for anyone who shreds in sittings rather than a page at a time. Forty minutes of run time means a backlog gets cleared in one afternoon, the 9-gallon bin means the interruptions are manageable, and the materials list covers cards and discs as well as paper.

Do not buy it if the machine will be fed continuously through a working day. Forty minutes is generous for a small-office shredder but it is still a cycle, and the continuous-duty Powershred 125Ci at 20 sheets and 14 gallons is the correct class of machine for a department. Do not buy it if a policy names P-5; the Microshred 225Mi is Fellowes' micro-cut option. And if the volume is genuinely small, the 79Ci costs less and takes up less room for two sheets fewer per pass.