Tag: paper shredder

Royal 1212x Paper Shredder: Forensic Analysis

Royal 1212x paper shredder, shredded the teeth on a plastic gear, rendering it inoperable junk. Bought from Costco.

Royal 1212x paper shredder, shredded the teeth on a plastic gear, rendering it inoperable junk. Bought from Costco.

Friend David brought me his broken Royal 1212x paper shredder. The motor runs but the shredding teeth no longer turn. He bought it from Costco for about $100. As with other “Made in China” shredders I’ve taken apart, I suspected a plastic gear broke. In this case the plastic gear slowly shredded its internal teeth, leaving the shredder motionless, useless and broken. This shredder is still available on Amazon and other places, so it is still for sale. I suspect that other shredders from the same brand have the same internal components.

Garage Door Torsion Spring Tension Adjustment

My garage door was getting a bit heavy. It seems like I should have been doing maintenance on the door every 5 years or so, and did not know. The counter-balance to the double door are 2 torsion springs that give the door an assist on the way up.

These torsion springs are under tension. You need to get special 1/2″ diameter winding bars that insert into the holes, and then undo the two bolts that hold the spring to the main bar, then turn the winding bars to add tension, followed by retightening the two bolts. I strongly recommend the winding bars and no substitutes, but I did find some 1/2″ diameter bar in my garage, and it worked out tight enough.

Cheap Chinese Made Junk Products: Paper Shredder

Chinese made paper shredder, no brand name nor factory, model number WMC6X,  irreparable because of this cheaply made plastic gear. While there were many metal parts in this paper shredder, the gears driving these metal parts are plastic? Who decided this? What a waste of resources, not to mention cheating the consumer. Photo 3x macro.

Chinese made paper shredder, no brand name nor factory, model number WMC6X, irreparable because of this cheaply made plastic gear. While there were many metal parts in this paper shredder, the gears driving these metal parts are plastic? Who decided this? What a waste of resources, not to mention cheating the consumer. Photo 3x macro.