At 240 lbs

The Dahle 20831 is a Level 5 security
office shredder that is designed to be placed in a common area in a
busy office. We recently took a closer look at this machine, and in the
following report, list some of the Dahle 20831 EC's strengths and
weaknesses as we see them.

Strengths:

1. The 20831
   EC does more than your average cross-cut shredder. This machine
   destroys documents at a security level of 5, which is considered safe
   for even the most confidential of documents. This is, of course,
   complies with all of the FACTA laws as well. It is hard to find a
   departmental shredder that both has the kind of capacity the 20831 EC
   does, and provides the highest level of security that the vast majority
   of businesses would ever require.
2. The sheet capacity may not
   seem all that remarkable at first glance, however, in the world of
   security level 5 shredders, the ability to handle up to 15 sheets at a
   time, and to turn them into incredibly fine confetti is actually quite
   impressive.
3. The motor, at 2 horsepower seems very powerful,
   and we really liked that the cutting heads are chain driven to prevent
   any sort of slippage from ever happening. In our testing, this appeared
   to be a very rugged machine, and we saw no reason that it shouldn't
   give you years of use if it is properly maintained.
4. Speaking
   of durability, the cutting cylinders of the 20831 EC are constructed
   from a single bar of German steel. This allows for minimum flexing, and
   the production of a very consistent shred particle size. Dahle seems to
   have a lot of faith in them as well, seeing as how they are guaranteed
   for the life of the shredder.
5. The 20831 EC has a throat
   width of 16 inches. That means that this machine can handle not only
   the letter and legal sized sheets that will comprise the vast majority
   of your shredding jobs, but can fit larger computer printout sheets,
   and other larger sized documents.
6. The 20831 EC appears to us
   to be of very rugged construction, and we even like how it looks (which
   we really can't say for a lot of shredder on the market). Also, the
   waste bin capacity of 35 gallons is impressive and we found the bin to
   be rather easy to remove and unload, especially for a machine of this
   size.

Weaknesses:

1. At 240 lbs, this
   is a pretty big machine, and as such, it's intended for use by a busy
   office, and most logically placed in a dedicated spot in a central
   location. This is of course, not a problem, just be aware that when the
   shredder arrives at your office you will probably want some help
   getting it to its final destination. It will be shipped on a pallet and
   will need to be unloaded from the truck with a loading dock or a
   forklift. If you don't have either of those, you will want to make sure
   that you request a truck with a lift gate for delivery.
2. As
   with any shredder that is not rated for continuous use, you will have
   to be aware of how long this machine can be run without overheating. We
   had no real problems in our testing, but you should be aware that
   nearly every shredder has its limits, and you will have to learn what
   the 20831 EC's are.

Article Tags:
Dahl 20831, Artm Ntal