GBC Heatseal H312 Jam Free 12.5" Pouch Laminator - 1702770

Staff Review

GBC Heatseal H312 Jam Free Pouch Laminator Review

The GBC Heatseal H312 jam free pouch laminator (part number 1702770) is designed to replace the GBC Heatseal H310 pouch laminator and includes several new features and improvements over the old model.  The H312 is part of the new GBC Jam free line of pouch laminators and is designed to laminate documents with both 3mil and 5mil laminating pouches without a carrier. The H312 pouch laminator even includes a free trimmer to help you trim your documents after you have laminated them.

Strengths / Features:

• The Heatseal H312 is designed to laminate documents with both 3mil and 5mil laminating pouches. It has a 12.5″ wide throat for laminating documents with menu sized and large menu sized laminating pouches.
• The H312 laminator includes a variable temperature control that allows you to adjust the temperature of the machine for cold laminating with SelfSeal cold laminating pouches or for picture perfect laminating using either 3mil or 5mil laminating pouches. This allows you to adjust the laminator so that you get perfect lamination no matter what type of paper you are using.
• The H312 offers several features to help keep the laminator from jamming. It has a jam release lever that allows you to temporarily pull the rollers apart so that you can remove a jammed laminating pouch. It also includes a special pouch cleaning sheet that is designed to help you remove any excess adhesive that may build up on the rollers.
• The H312 comes with a convenient small trimmer that is designed to help you quickly and easily trim your laminated documents. The trimmer included with the H312 uses a fixed razor blade that slides back and forth to quickly and easily trim off excess laminate from your laminated documents. This is a great bonus for users who want to trim the output from their laminator.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• The GBC Heatseal H312 is the highest level laminator that GBC makes that does not accept 7mil and 10mil laminating pouches. Although 3mil and 5mil laminating pouches are the most commonly used thicknesses of laminating pouches, the inability of this machine to run thicker pouches is something that should definitely be considered especially considering that if you simply choose the next model up you will have this feature.
• The H312 boasts carrier free and jam free lamination. However, if you read the small print on the box you will find out that this only applies if you use GBC brand laminating pouches and regularly clean the rollers of the machine. If you do not run the cleaning sheet through the laminator on a regular basis or if you use laminating pouches that happen to contain a higher concentration of adhesive you may end up wrapping laminating pouches around your rollers and ruining your machine.
• The H312 has a variable control that allows you to adjust the temperature of the machine. However, it does not offer a variable control for speed. The speed of the H312 is fixed at a fixed speed of 14″ per minute which is average for this type of laminator.

Recommendation:

• The GBC Heatseal H312 pouch laminator is a great choice for a small office or home office that does light to moderate amounts of laminating.
• The only major drawback to the H312 is the fact that it cannot be used with 7mil or 10mil laminating pouches. For only a little bit more the next model of GBC laminator has this capability.
• If you do decide to buy the H312 you need to remember to run the cleaning sheet through the laminator on a regular basis to prevent adhesive from building up on the rollers. If adhesive does build up it can cause pouch jams and potentially ruin your machine.