The Causes of Laminator Pouch Jams and How to Fix Them

By Jeff McRitchie

job, jobs, career

While owning a pouch laminator can make life easier in a lot ways, it can also cause you some grief from time to time. That's because the items you're working with can get stuck in the machine. This is known as a "pouch jam" and they can be inconvenient to say the least. Luckily, these jams can often be prevented and they're usually easy to fix. Here's what causes pouch jams and how you can fix them.

• The first thing you need to do is shut off your laminator. If you don't, the machine will continue to run and it could burn itself out. Also, working with a machine that's still turned on can be dangerous, even something as innocuous-looking as a laminator.
• Once the machine has been turned off, take a look at it so you can determine the exact nature of the problem. Oftentimes, a laminator will jam up because the item being processed is too thick for the machine. It could either be that the pouch itself is too thick or you tried to laminate a three-dimensional item. If this is the case, turn the machine back on, put it in reverse mode, and try pulling gently on the pouch to remove it.
• Sometimes a laminator will jam up because the pouch ends up getting wrapped around the rollers. This is usually caused by adhesive building up on the device. If this happens to you, you can try the process outlined above to try to solve the problem. To prevent this from happening again, make sure you use a carrier when processing your materials. The carrier will prevent the melted adhesive from oozing out of the pouch and keep your laminator clean.
• If your machine has a pouch jam lever, you can try using it to free the jammed material. All this lever does is separate the rollers somewhat to make it easier to dislodge the stuck item. This feature should help you out, so give it a try.
• There are some laminators have hinges so they can open up much like a printer or fax machine can. If your device has them resolving pouch jams (and other problems) will be a bit easier. Make sure the device is unplugged and has cooled off beforehand so you don't end up burning and/or electrocuting yourself. Also, be gentle so that you don't damage the machine.
• If you've tried everything and you still can't get the pouch out of the laminator, you should call in a professional so he/she can assess the problem. You could technically take apart the laminator and try to fix things that way, but doing so can void warranty and might cause further problems.

No matter how careful you are, jams are bound to happen at some point. Luckily, you can try to prevent them from happening and it's usually pretty easy to fix them. You just need to be careful and have a little bit of patience. Good luck and happy laminating!