What to do If You Get a Pouch Stuck in Your Laminator

Pouch laminators are great. You can set one on your desk and can instantly laminate all sorts of documents, id cards, name badges and signs. However, if you have ever had a pouch get jammed inside of your laminator you know just how frustrating it can be. Even more frustrating is the fact that you can easily ruin your laminator and might need to buy a new one. Here are some quick tips for dealing with a pouch jam when using a pouch laminator.

1. The first thing to do if you end up getting a pouch stuck in your laminator is to STOP the machine. Turn off the switch and unplug the machine before the jammed pouch has a chance to do more damage. Unfortunately, a jammed pouch has the potential to quickly burn out the motor on your laminator. By turning off the laminator you can prevent this from happening.
2. After you have turned off the laminator you can assess the damage and try to determine what the problem is. Some pouch jams are caused by users attempting to laminate items that are too thick for the laminator to handle. Pouch laminators should not be used to laminate 3D objects, sticks, leaves, branches, wood or other thick materials. When a laminator tries to pull these thick object through the motor may not be strong enough or the rollers may not be flexible enough. If you catch this problem in time you can simply turn your laminator back on and put it in reverse. Gently pull on the carrier while the laminator is in reverse and see if it will come out.
3. If the item that you are trying to laminate is not too thick it is possible that the laminating pouch has begun to curl inside the machine. Even if your laminator says that it does not require a carrier, you should always use a carrier when operating a pouch laminator. A carrier will prevent glue from squeezing out the sides of the laminating pouch onto the rollers. It will also keep the pouches from curling up and wrapping around the rollers. Again, the best method for trying to get a pouch out if it is beginning to wrap around the rollers is to turn the laminator back on, put it in reverse and gently attempt to pull it back out the feed slot.
4. If either of the last two methods works to get the pouch out of the laminator you might need to resort to more drastic methods. Some pouch laminators have hinges on the side of them that allow you to open them up to deal with pouch jams (just like a laser printer or copier). If your laminator has these then you can try opening the laminator up to see if you can further assess the damage. Just remember to unplug the machine and let it cool down before you open it otherwise you can burn yourself or potentially shock yourself.
5. If your laminator does not have hinges to open it up, it might have a pouch jam lever. This will effectively separate the laminating rollers slightly while you pull out the jammed pouch. You can try this and see if you are able to dislodge the pouch that way.
6. Finally, the last resort would be to open your laminator. Unless you know quite a bit about electronics and are confident working on electronic equipment I would not suggest this. However, some users have been able to open the laminator up and clean the rollers or dislodge a pouch. If you are not comfortable with this it might be possible for a service technician to do it for you. However, on smaller laminators it is often cheaper to buy a new laminator than it is to attempt to repair the old one.

If you do get a laminating pouch stuck in your laminator these are a few things that you can try. However, in order to keep this type of thing from happening in the future it is important to remember to always use a pouch carrier and to never try and laminate anything other than paper using your pouch laminator.

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Written by Jeff McRitchie
©2006 www.MyBinding.com