Ativa DQ83Mn Paper Shredder - Green light won't turn on

Ativa DQ83Mn Shredder

I bought an Ativa DQ83Mn Shredder from OfficeDepot back in February of 2008.  I believe Ativa is OfficeDepot’s own tech brand. It worked perfectly for atleast four months. Then one day it just wouldn’t turn on. Normally all I do is push the button to Auto mode and the green light goes on. Now nothing happens in any mode. In disgust, I left the shredder to die for a few months before I finally looked for the receipt today. I went online to check the warranty info on the product and see what was the best path to go, deal with the hassle of getting it fixed or replaced or just buy a new one. After all I had bought it on sale for $29.99, and it seemed more of a hassle to go through warranty.

Luckily for me, I found a problem post on this shredder online:

Fixya – Shredder won’t turn on

A poster carlosquinto said he had the same problem, and after talking to tech support, it was determined that the electrical contact between the shredder and basket was not touching each other! Huh? There needs to be electrical contact between a mesh basket and shredder? Interesting… I guess it makes sense. Sort of a safety feature that won’t allow the shredder to go on unless it is safely over the basket. I decided to look at my shredder one last time. It seemed to be placed perfectly over the basket… But then I lifted the shredder about 1 mm above the cord cutout on the basket. I heard a click and the green light went on! I let the shredder drop back into it’s normal position and the green light went off! Hmmm, it is due to the electrical contact! After a little maneuvering, the green light now stays on for good.

Yayeee! A fixed technical product issue. So few of those…

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