Is your element the kind where there are two elements that are wired in series for 220 V and parallel for 110?

If so, you could disconnect one and run the machine at 110. That'll give you 2000 W, which might be okay. Insulation would buy you a little more. Eer, better run it on a 20 amp circuit ...

PhaetonFalling wrote:Damn it... Someone wanna trade machines temporarily?

A serious 220 machine, for a serious 110 machine

I'd say this is your best bet...I don't know of anyone in that area that would do the trade.
A serious 220 machine is not overkill for passionate espressoheads, although for an apartment it's a different story. Too bad you can't throw that baby on a cart and plug it into something in your building, like maybe where the laundry room is.
Can you imagine that? Running downstairs, rolling out the cart, plugging in it, run upstairs to brush your teeth fire up the laptop and grab your cups and pitcher and run downstairs to pull your shots. Now that's a story to behold, you'd be legend in my book....

Too bad you can't throw that baby on a cart and plug it into something in your building, like maybe where the laundry room is.

Thats probably actually not such a bad idea.. there's a laundry room on each floor... I could plumb it into a bottle with a flojet pump, and keep that underneath the cart...now... I just gotta find a cart... the cups will fit on top of the espresso machine, and I can pop my laptop on my back, wheel my cart down the hall to the laundry room, do my laundry and drink my espresso... I must go investigate this... I wonder if I can unplug the dryer, or if it's locked in... or even if its the right plug. I'll keep you all updated.

edit: the crappy washer and dryer in the laundry room run on 110-115... I feel defeated.

Just to be sure... temp trade is still open... please notify whoever you know.

Reviving a sleeping thread here - what did you ever do to get your machine running?

I'm considering either a 110V or a 220V Synesso, and if I went the latter route, I might need to run it off a converter, so curious if you tried it.

Converter?
that is a bit fruitless. Ohm's law...
The reason you up the voltage is so you can get more happiness running. The converter cannot magically draw more amps from the incoming 110V line than that line has to give.

If that apt. situation is still going on consider doing what I did. Nobody needs a stove AND the machine :p

The black box is simply the 240V equivalent of an outlet. then i fitted both the stove and the machine with a compatible plug.

So buy 1 plug for stove, 1 plug for espresso machine, 1 outlet.

You can also do this in NEMA 630 flavor. That is your choice.
If you don't have washer /dryer OR electric stove... you are SOL.
But usually one of these will be at hand :p

PhaetonFalling wrote:the prongs on the plug look like this

-- |
^
It has a horizontal bit, a vertical bit, and then a ground.

He said plug, and this looks like what an Edison 20A, 110V plug to me. Pretty much the same as yer standard extension corp plug, but with one of the current carrying conductors turned 90 degrees. This female connector is designed for 125V (110 - 125V) to accept both. Your apt is probably designed to take 15A plugs, so the receptacles only have the parallel connectors.
Are you sure that it's a 220V machine? Not that they don't make connectors in that shape for 220, but it's not common. Keeps folks from making that mistake.
Anyhoo, 220V is usually fairly common in US homes, because that's what is sent to US homes. It's just sent along with a center tap from the 'pole pig', or transformer, so that there are two 110V legs available. The power that you are being sent is 220V, you're just using half of it at a time. Find your breaker box. Every other breaker, vertically is the other half of that 220V. Putting in a 220V breaker is simple. Getting that wiring to your machine, and doing it safely, and up to local code is the hard part. I'd be wiling to bet that you have 220V just hiding in a closet somewhere. And if you don't, I'd better get cracking on this 110V two-group project soon! ; >

check the pictures on another thread:
post-pic-of-your-home-espresso-setup-t5194-180.html#p74865

includes the 2x110 to 220 converter box.