Okey Dokey...

Sorry I've been away, I've been studying an packing up, and and moving out and moving in.

I've driven my espresso machine (the Fiorenzato) from Orange County California out to Bloomington (Monroe County) Indiana. And here I am in a little apartment without 220v 50hz power. sooo... what do I do now?

the prongs on the plug look like this

-- |
^

It has a horizontal bit, a vertical bit, and then a ground.

So.. am I just screwed and lugged this coffee machine to Indiana for no reason? or is there something I can do about it?

btw.. does anyone want to come over and have some "install/modify the coffee machine" fun?


Sincerely,


Namson

It should be 220v 60Hz, unless you are not in the US. Yup, you are pretty much hosed.

That plug is 220v 30A. Your oven (provided it is not gas) should have a 50 amp 220 you could tap into. You would need to have an electrician make a 220v splitter with a 50 amp male for the wall, a 50 amp female for the oven and a 30 amp female for the espresso machine. You would not be able to use both at the same time. It would either blow the breaker or you would get a visit by the fireman when you burn down the building.

A safer bet, if you have a dryer hookup you could do the same with it and put yourself a note on the dryer to make sure the machine is off before you start the dryer, or unplug one and plug in the other.

I know this response will be of little help, but if I may ask, what did you do to power the machine in your old place? I've never seen a kitchen that had a 220v outlet for appliances. I'm guessing you must have used a stove or electric dryer outlet in your last place.

I think it would be worth a wiring job, as long as you can make sure you're not powering your machine and the stove or dryer at the same time. If youre accustomed to keeping the machine powered up all the time, you might have issues.

Hey Dan,

Speak for yourself.

I'd sacrifice three quarters of my neighbors for a good shot!

There are converters that allow you to take 2 x 110v circuits, and convert them into a single 220v circuit.

http://www.quick220.com/

I have been considering purchasing one for testing purposes and to drive a welder....I believe the only possible requirement you may not be able to meet in an apartment, is that the two 110v circuits have to be on different phases. Not sure if apartments have both phases available or not....

The kit comes with some sort of tester to determine if you have two phases etc. Could make for some ugly cords and wiring.

I was thinkin' Step-up transformer.. but I don't know anything about those... Would that work?

This quick 220 option sounds pretty good too.

The machine is 4000W and the plug on the machine says its only 20 amps.

I didn't plan on changing any wiring. I was looking more for an external option... but even if I did have to change the wiring professionally...eh... see below:

I'd sacrafice three quarters of my neighbors for a good shot!

In my home we ran the machine continuously and had an electric stove that also ran at the same time with no problems. We did the same thing split the oven outlet off to the coffee machine. If I had an electric oven. I'd be fine with just unplugging the oven and keeping the espresso machine plugged in... if you have coffee, you really don't need to cook all that bad... I'd save in espresso money, in one day, what it would cost to eat for at least that day, if not two.

Sincerely,

Namson

PhaetonFalling wrote:I was thinkin' Step-up transformer.. but I don't know anything about those... Would that work?

Nope. Step-up would give you the necessary voltage, but you still need 4000W power, which means almost 40 amps on the 110V circuit feeding the transformer.

Jim

If you need that much power, I don't think the Quick220 is an option either....simply too much power draw for even two 15 amp circuits....power is power....what goes in has to come out of somewhere.

If you are pulling 4000W, you need 4000W in...and two 15A circuits will give you about 3000W.

Check the specs at the site....the limits are there.

Damn it... Someone wanna trade machines temporarily?

A serious 220 machine, for a serious 110 machine