I think my son must have been playing with the switch. Anyway, it is in standby mode when on, but doesn't do anything when you try to feed it. Switch it to reverse, it runs no problem. Is this an easy fix? I'm not much with electronics, but I have repaired a clothes dryer...

Amanda, October 2007

The mechanical paper peed sensor acts like a safety switch, turning off the forward motion of the shredder if no paper is being fed in or can be accessed by unplugging the shredder and removing the 7 screws that hold the top together.

The mechanical paper peed sensor sits above the metal shredding wheels is a white plastic rod with a lever on one end that is placed over the wheels. This lever is depressed when paper is fed in to be shredded. At the other end of mechanical paper peed sensor rod is a spring loaded plastic disc/wheel. This wheel should mesh with another plastic disc/wheel at the far end of the shredder wheel shaft. The mechanical paper peed sensor wheel should contact the shredder shaft wheel on the same side that the electric controls are on.

Sometimes the mechanical paper peed sensor wheel gets jarred loose of its contact or the lever gets blocked by paper, preventing the shredder forward direction switch from activating.

CM, July 2022

Your Mechanical paper feed sensor is either stuck or broken. For hassle free troubleshooting. Call Fellowes Customer Service at 1-800-945-4545.

fellowesrep, February 2008