So today I acquired a used Faema Compact 2. It needs a little TLC, and maybe some parts changed, but the price was simply too good to pass up. Anyhow, in a few months I will probably be relocating to a house where I will have no issues doing some electrical work and putting in a 220 socket, but currently I live in an apartment... Is there anyway I can hook this thing up? I was thinking that I could just plug it into the same place where my stove is connected, but no dice. The plugs are different.


Espresso Machine



Dryer and Stove

(Sorry for the bad pics... BlackBerry camera)

What does the collected knowledge of the forum say?

Yes, you can plug the 220v machine into the outlet for the electric stove. The stove outlet is wired for what appears to be a 40amp plug. The machine probably is rated at 20amps which is what the plug appears to be. Simply go to a hardware store and buy the correct plug and replace the existing one. That circuit will be a dedicated circuit and have plenty of safety margin. You can look on the electric breaker panel and see what the actual breaker amp rating is by the little numbers on the toggle.
Bernie

So, just to confirm, this is what I need?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?ac...80-SP-L&lpage=none

If it is, how would I go about changing it? Is there a guide on how to do this somewhere?

Proceed very cautiously.

That plug looks like the Faema is expecting 2 hots and 1 ground. But the dryer plug looks to me like 2 hots and 1 neutral. Make sure you know how the outlet is wired. You do not want to connect the Faema's ground lug to a neutral (and especially not to a hot).

I can't offer any advice on how to do this, just on how not to

Jim

I'm kind of frightened that you are planning on running a 240V line yourself (if that's what you meant) in your new house and yet aren't sure on how to change a plug. No offense meant; we all have to start somewhere, but just be careful!

Ben Z. wrote:I'm kind of frightened that you are planning on running a 240V line yourself (if that's what you meant) in your new house and yet aren't sure on how to change a plug. No offense meant; we all have to start somewhere, but just be careful!

What I meant was, I would be having one put in by someone who knows what they are doing. I am trying to avoid any electrical work if possible as I truly know nothing about it. But my current situation does not allow me to modify the electrical work here so I was just curious if there are any ways to get the machine to work without doing this.

What about a step-up transformer?

Vater5B wrote:So, just to confirm, this is what I need?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?ac...80-SP-L&lpage=none

If it is, how would I go about changing it? Is there a guide on how to do this somewhere?

That would be the one. However, JimG is correct that you need to know if your wiring is the old neutral/ground type or newer isolated neutral/ground. Here is a link: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electr...tral-vs-ground.htm

It would be well worth the $ to have a qualified electrician come out to the apartment or house and look at your breaker box. If he can't explain the difference find someone who can. Its one of those deals where I can understand it when someone explains it, but I have a hard time explaining it myself.
Bernie

Vater5B wrote:What I meant was, I would be having one put in by someone who knows what they are doing.

Smart. This is an easy job for someone fitting that description

Since this is temporary, maybe a reasonable approach would be to build a short, heavy extension cord that has the correct plug to fit the wall outlet, and the correct jack to accept your Faema plug. That would prevent you from having to change the plug again when you move.

Jim

Vater5B wrote:So today I acquired a used Faema Compact 2. It needs a little TLC, and maybe some parts changed, but the price was simply too good to pass up. Anyhow, in a few months I will probably be relocating to a house where I will have no issues doing some electrical work and putting in a 220 socket, but currently I live in an apartment... Is there anyway I can hook this thing up? I was thinking that I could just plug it into the same place where my stove is connected, but no dice. The plugs are different.

<image>
Espresso Machine


<image>
Dryer and Stove

(Sorry for the bad pics... BlackBerry camera)

What does the collected knowledge of the forum say?

I apologize, I was mistaken when I posted this message. I always install receptacles with the ground plug facing up, and when I looked at the prongs in this photo, it looks like it was a 20A plug. I was too quick on my post, afraid someone was going to miswire this.

Jamie

Thanks. I was just looking at his photo again and editing my post. I always install with the ground up and get used to looking at the prongs that way.

**

That is a NEMA 6-20A plug for 240V service. It requires 20A 240V service.

Jamie

The range outlet is a 240V 40amp plug. It should be protected by a 40A breaker.
Now on dedicated appliances like this you really should size the breaker properly for the appliance. So for this espresso machine you would use a double pole 20A breaker. The breaker & the outlet could be changed, without changing the wire and the setup would be legit for the espresso machine (but no more stove).

Can you technically change the plug on the machine and put it into the over plug, yes. It won't start any of the house wires on fire. However, it is not giving your espresso machine the proper over current protection, it is designed to have protection at the 20A level. The oven has protection at 40A.

You will also likely void the UL listing on your machine if you change the plug. This may make it more difficult if you ever want to sell it for use in a commercial environment.

Making an adapter cord as Nicholas suggested is likely going to be the solution. However, the link you provided for the male plug is for a 20A plug, looks similar to the 40A, 240V plug, but is smaller, and only for 20A.

I am looking to see if there is a pre-made adapter that is available for these 2 plugs, as I am a little hesitate to tell someone with little / no electrical experience to make a cord like this.

I do want to verify that this is only a 240V appliance. Can you look at the name plate on the machine and tell me if it says 240V or if it says 120/240V. If that is a factory plug on the machine now, it should be just 240V and there is no ground / neutral issue.

240V circuits do not use a neutral.

I will let you know when I can find in terms on an adapter.

Jamie

jamiedolan wrote:I do want to verify that this is only a 240V appliance. Can you look at the name plate on the machine and tell me if it says 240V or if it says 120/240V. If that is a factory plug on the machine now, it should be just 240V and there is no ground / neutral issue.

240V circuits do not use a neutral.

Thanks for all the help everybody!! I was really beginning to think I'd have this thing sitting here for a few months without use. Here are some snapshots of the plate Jamie:




Again, cell phone pics, so I apologize.

shadowfax wrote:Jamie, thanks again for the corrections. It's nice to have someone on H-B with your expertise... spot on about all of this. I do have a question on James' behalf, relating to your caution about putting a 20A machine on a 40A breaker. Can a person get some sort of fused extension cord/adapter, i.e. something he could plug in without modifications to the apartment wiring, that would install a 20A fuse on the line, so he could get the optimal electrical protection for the machine?

From a technical stand point, it is possible and would be a fairly simple device. I've spent some time here looking around on the web and can not even find any pre-made adapters for these 2 plugs.

You could build a small junction box with a fuse or breaker in it for a few dollars, but I don't know if he is up to making something like this on his own or not. It's not that hard, but you need to make sure the connections are made well and connected to the proper terminals.

Jamie

jamiedolan wrote:From a technical stand point, It is possible and would be a fairly simple device. I've spent some time here looking around on the web and can not even find any pre-made adapters for these 2 plugs.

You could build a small junction box with a fuse or breaker in it for a few dollars, but I don't know if he is up to making something like this on his own or not. It's not that hard, but you need to make sure the connections are made well and connected to the proper terminals.

Jamie

This is definitely something I would like to do. This machine is my new baby and I intended it to be a bit of a project. If you have a way to point me in the right direction I would love to try and keep everyone posted on the progress.

Vater5B wrote:Thanks for all the help everybody!! I was really beginning to think I'd have this thing sitting here for a few months without use. Here are some snapshots of the plate Jamie:

<image>
<image>

Again, cell phone pics, so I apologize.

OK, it is 240V, so it has no neutral. Just a ground. So there is no current that travels on the 3rd prong, so we don't have to worry about that.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am not finding any pre-made cords of the type you will need. You could make the cord, either just as an adapter cord or with fused protection in it. I don't think it would matter to your machine if it doesn't have 20A protection, but I am not going to tell you to do something outside of what your machine is listed for.

I can give some more detailed help. The basic concept is just as was mentioned earlier, a cord with the correct plugs on each end.

It ends up being very simple if you just make the cord with the 2 plugs and don't worry about the breaker size. If you want to try and make a cord with a fuse / break in it, this is much more complicated.

The easy way to make a cord for this with no fuse / breaker is this: Get a oven cord that fits into your oven outlet (same cord as what is on your oven). Then buy a Female extension cord style plug that fits your espresso machines male plug.

Then all you have to do is strip off the ends of the pre-made cord that don't have a plug on it, and connect them to the terminals inside of the extension cord plug. The terminals are labeled, and it doesn't matter if the hots are swapped, you just want to make sure the ground connection is on the correct terminal. You have to be a little careful when you strip the wire as it will be stranded and it is fairly easy to cut off strands. You have to take your time when making the connections in an extension cord plug as there isn't a ton of room in there and you have to make sure the connections are well make (screwed down well) and that none of the wires make contact with each other or other metal parts. (and of course you need to make sure that none of the wire is over stripped causing bare wire to be exposed where it should not be. It should only be stripped long enough so it is bare where it is connected to the screw / terminal and have insulation on it the rest of the way.

Does that make sense?

Jamie


p.s. I need to get some sleep, but will check in tomorrow. My regular espresso machine is this cheap Artie espresso thing with a pressurized portafilter (I hate the pressurized portafilter). I had a La Pavoni Club sitting in the basement I bought for $10. I cleaned it up really well today, (cleaned each hole on the shower head with a dental pick) and removed the crema enhancer. I pulled a test shot on it tonight and it worked great (nice clean puck). I just roasted up some of Tom's Classic Espresso blend. Can't wait till morning to pull shots and froth milk. Mazzer Mini e is sitting full of my fresh roasted beans.

Thanks for all the help! So, just to make sure I understand, I get one of these cords:

Then strip the end and wire it up to one of these connectors:

And everything should work out.

Looks like I'll have a nice little project! Thanks again for everything!