My OfficeMax brand shredder stopped working. Ther overload light comes on immediately, and nothing happens. I took it apart ot see if it was jammed, but it is not. I think a component on the circuit board is dead. I removed the overload heat sensor and shorted the wires to bypass it, but still the same result. It is an OM99732 model. Any ideas?

Parry, March 2009

Shredder worked perfectly until today. And like your posts it works in reverse, nothing else! The green light doesn't illuminate when switched on. I'm going to search videos on how to make this shred. I'm not concerned with the reverse on this unit, being that I've never had a use for it. If I find one I'll post it here.

JerBear, May 2016

Had the same problem. Couldn't figure out how to jumper the circuit board, so I reversed the polarity on the motor. Now when I run it in "reverse", it's actually forward, and it shreds. No auto feed, and I have to manually switch it off and on, but at least it works. These shredders are so poorly made, I'm tired of buying them.

bob, December 2015

Leany:
I had the same condition on my shredder - the reverse would work but the auto would not. I took apart the unit (there are six screws holding it together) I found the paper sensor, the "black" one, was covered in a layer of paper dust. Unscrew the bracket to get full access to the sensor to clean the dust off. The film has to be wiped off. No special tools are needed, except for the phillips screws, you'll need a long phillips screwdriver with a thin shaft or a long thin screwdriver as the access hole is small. Probably have more trouble finding a suitable screwdriver than fixing the shredder!

Vanessa, September 2014

Dont have an answer. My power light does not come on but the rev works . Its like its not getting power.

Leany, December 2013

One or both of the plastic brackets holding the roller bars that help feed the paper to the shredder is/are broken. The clunking noise I heard was one of those bars bouncing on the shredder teeth. The roller bars operate in the same way as a roll of toilet paper on a toilet paper holder. I could probably jerry-rig a new bracket using some industrial glue. It can't hurt. Otherwise the shredder will join one of many I've destroyed.

Sue C, October 2012

Here is a bit more on fixing an OfficeMax OM99732 Cross-Cut Shredder (OfficeMax Item 21243539): After just over a year of very light use, my shredder simply stopped shredding. The green "Power" light would come on and the motor would run in reverse but it simply would not shred normally. The fuse -- checked with a VOM (volt-ohm-milliampere) meter -- was good.

After testing the various switches (top-mounted control switch and inner safety-interlock switch), I determined that apparently the light-activated circuit that sensed when a sheet of paper was inserted had failed.

Let me take a step back and say that I contacted OfficeMax when my problem first occurred and called the 800 support number they offered. Because my shredder was out of warranty, I could not exchange it for a another one. OfficeMax had no advice on troubleshooting or how to fix my problem. Also, OfficeMax does not offer repair service or parts for the OM99732 shredder.

In the end, I found that jumpering the number 2 and 3 pins -- the center two pins -- on the back side of the four-pin circuit board connector for the photoelectric sensor wiring harness would make my shredder run forward. I accomplished this by simply soldering a "bridge" of solder between the two pins.

The downside of this fix is that the shredder runs continuously when I slide the control switch from "Off" to "Auto". Sliding the switch to "Reverse" reverses the shredder.

This isn't a perfect fix: I'd prefer to have the shredder work in the original automatic mode. Still, it shreds perfectly and I didn't have to throw a fairly expensive shredder in the trash because it was unusable and irreparable.

A better solution would be decent customer service from OfficeMax including tech support, reasonable out-of-warranty repairs and available repair parts. I'm not holding my breath.

Coc Zamudio, May 2011

I had the same problem. Though my fuse was a 6.3 amp fuse.

Mondo, December 2009

yes me too what a piece of junk!!!!!!

Bob, December 2009

I had the same problem with the OfficeMax OM99732 and it turned out to be a blown fuse on the circuit board. The fuse is soldered into the circuit board so if you do not know how to solder you need to find someone who does and will do it at a reasonable price. First check the fuse with an ohm meter to make sure it is your problem. I went to the local radio shack and got five 3 amp fuses and an in line fuse holder for a total of 6 dollars. Now when it overloads again I will a can replace the fuse without soldering. If the fuse is not the problem check for poor solder joints.

JMC, June 2009