Powershred 425Ci 100% Jam Proof BAA Compliant Cross-Cut Shredder

The 425Ci is the largest Powershred cross-cut cabinet in this group and the one built for a floor: thirty sheets a pass, a 12-inch throat, a 30-gallon bin and an automatic oiler so that the maintenance task nobody remembers happens by itself.

The throat is what distinguishes it. Twelve inches takes ledger and A3 flat and lets someone feed a loose handful without squaring it up, which is exactly how a shared machine gets used in practice. Combined with a continuous-duty motor and TAA compliance, it is a central shredding station rather than a departmental one.

Key Features

• Twelve-inch throat. Ledger, A3, legal and letter all feed unfolded.
• Thirty sheets per pass at DIN 66399 P-4, cut at 5/32 x 1 1/8 in (about 4 x 29 mm, roughly 113 mm² per particle).
• Automatic oiler. The machine lubricates its own cutters, which removes the single most-skipped maintenance task on any shared shredder.
• Continuous-duty motor for non-stop operation.
• 30-gallon bin in a 22 x 20 x 37.5 in cabinet weighing 125 lb.
• 100% Jam Proof System, SafeSense contact protection and an Energy Savings System.
• Shreds paper, staples, paper clips, credit cards, CDs and DVDs and junk mail.
• TAA compliant, cUL approved and UL listed, with a two-year machine warranty and a lifetime warranty on the cutters.

The auto-oiler is the feature that justifies this machine over a cheaper cabinet in many buildings. Every shredder needs lubrication, and on a shared machine it is the task that gets deferred until the cutters start struggling — at which point the sheet capacity has already dropped and someone is calling it faulty. A machine that oils itself removes the human factor from the one maintenance job that determines how long the cutters last, which is why the lifetime cutter warranty on this model is a reasonable commitment for Fellowes to make.

Note also that the cut here is slightly finer than on the 125Ci and 225Ci: 5/32 by 1 1/8 inches rather than 5/32 by 1 1/2, about 113 mm² against 148 to 152. All three are P-4, so the class does not change, but the 425Ci produces the smallest particle of the group.

Specifications

Sheet ratings are Fellowes' figures for 8.5 x 11 in, 20 lb paper. Fellowes publishes no decibel value for this model. Our supplier data listed a 9.5-inch throat for this machine against the 12 inches Fellowes and its distributors publish; we have used the manufacturer figure.

What's in the Box

Shredder on its 30-gallon pull-out bin, with power cord and operating instructions. The automatic oiler needs a supply of Fellowes shredder oil, part 35250, which is ordered separately. Aerosol lubricants must never be used.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Buy the 425Ci as a central shredding station for a floor or a building. Thirty sheets a pass, a 12-inch throat, a 30-gallon bin and continuous duty mean it absorbs whatever arrives, the auto-oiler means it keeps doing so without anyone remembering to maintain it, and TAA compliance clears the procurement gate for federal and prime-contractor buyers.

Do not buy it on the strength of a security level above P-7. No such level exists — the DIN 66399 paper scale ends at P-7 — and our supplier data claimed one for this machine, which was simply wrong. The 425Ci is a P-4 cross-cut machine. If you need micro-cut, the Microshred 225Mi is P-5; if you need genuine high security, the Fortishred HS-440 is P-7 and takes four sheets a pass. Do not buy it for a small department either: at 125 lb, 37.5 inches tall and 30 gallons, it is more machine than eight people need, and the Powershred 225Ci or 125Ci are better matched.