I live in Japan, I've been using an Andreja Premium and a Fresh Roast 8 with a step up/down transformer to bring Japanese voltage from 100V to US like 120V.

It was all great until after a heavy Roasting/Brewing session the transformer itself burnt out, (it didn't bother to blow the fuse or trip the breaker)

Today I tried plugging my machine directly to the 100V outlet

Now if I'm not mistaken, a heater rated at 1400watts (Andreja's) with 120V would be like a 1000W at only 100Volts

I pulled a few shots and noticed no difference in flavor. Which i expected since the HX only needs the boiler water to be up to temperature to brew properly.

Now, my question is,
Would this affect the heating elements or anything else in the machine?

I would think it's just running at 70-80% heating power, so is not really working any harder, right?, and it just takes longer to heat up and maybe affect flush and recovery times.

thanks

I don't think the heating element will mind too much about a lower voltage than it's rating, but I'm not sure about any other electronics you may have on the coffee machine. It's certainly better to be under voltage than over voltage, but maybe someone else can comment on whether the lower voltage will affect the lifespan of any of the electronics. I would think that at 9% under you would probably be okay.

The problem is the increase in power consumption.

1400w / 120 = 11.6 amps

1400w / 100 = 14 amps

Not sure, but in my part of the world many items are rated for 13amps, you may be pulling too much load due to the drop in voltage.

The reality is that it is not running at 80%ish but 120%ish.

Edit- Japan 50hz as uk, US 60hz. This may impact more then voltage if the machine is rated at 60hz- check it may say 50-60 or it may not.

I didn't take amperage into consideration, so I'm actually increasing my monthly bill
The machine is rated 50-60Hz, that should be ok

The resistance of the heating element should surely be constant, so the power generated by the element will go down, not up, won't it?

I would think so too
Less voltage, less current

but it would take longer for the elements to reach the boiler temperature, drawing current ,but I don't know if its really that significant.

lsjms wrote:The problem is the increase in power consumption.

1400w / 120 = 11.6 amps

1400w / 100 = 14 amps

Not sure, but in my part of the world many items are rated for 13amps, you may be pulling too much load due to the drop in voltage.

The reality is that it is not running at 80%ish but 120%ish.

Um no - although a lot of people will think the same as you. Ohms law doesn't work like that. Manufacturers can't fix watts or amps, they can only determine a resistance to output whatever power is intended.

To get 1400w at a nominal 120v the resistance of the heater would need to be ~10.3 ohms. At 100v, therefore, the power would be ~970w. (watts = volts squared/ohms)
Amperage would therefore also be lower at 9.7.

I don't see either how a lower voltage would be detrimental to the components:

• the heating element will simply be less powerful, simply lenghtening the inter-shot delay
• the solenoid valve(s) should still have enough power to open
• OTOH, the vibratory pump will oscillate at a lower frequency (50 Hz) and with lower power. As they usually develop around 15 bar (the OPV then opens to let go anything over 9 bar) this should not be an issue either and should not require any adjusment. Still, you might want to check brew pressure.

--
Louis

No problem except recovery from steaming.

The electronics will take a wide range of input voltages, they are routinely designed to handle anything from 100V to 250V. The Vibiemme will draw (100/120) squared the normal power, or 970 Watts. An espresso machine can get down to 750 watts and still pull a shot per minute. However, the recovery from steaming is slower, and you'll need to stay away from steaming more than 6 ounces at a time.

Thanks for all the replies, that's what I was hoping for.
I'll keep the steaming issue in mind.