Fetco CBS-52H15 - Page 2

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
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Almico
Posts: 3612
Joined: 10 years ago

#11: Post by Almico »

Disclaimer: 120V bites, 240V will knock you across the room. If you are not comfortable, hire someone.
roblesrene wrote:Problem is I have another machine that plugs into this that is 3 prong only. If I changed to a 4 prong receptacle, could I put a 4 prong plug on the 3 prong plug?
Short answer: yes, but it would not likely be up to code.


The good news is that it appears you have four wires coming in from the wall, including the white neutral. I can't tell by the pictures, but it looks like the neutral is capped off and not being used. Take a volt meter and make sure there is not continuity from white to ground**. If there is, call a pro. If you don't have a volt meter, call a pro.

The Fetco needs the neutral and you want to keep it floating and NOT connected to ground.

If it was a 120V line it would be easy to just install another outlet next to the old one and plug both appliances in. I'm not an electrician, but I'd be surprised if your electrical code would allow piggybacking 240V outlets in series. 240V outlets require a dedicated line from the panel.

So instead of running another line, if this were my situation, I'd install a 4-wire receptacle in the wall that matches the amp rating of the Fetco. Depending on how it is configured, it could be a 25 or 33A max draw. If it's 33 you'd need a 40A NEMA receptacle and plug.

Then install a matching plug on the existing appliance and only use the red, black and ground wires, being careful to align the ground wire from the appliance to the ground socket (NOT NEUTRAL) in the receptacle.

**I say this because I just installed a new range and had to switch from 3-wire to 4 wire receptacle. As I got into the project I happened to be into my electrical panel and noticed the old green ground wire was connected to the neutral bar instead of ground. So basically if the range shorted I would be pumping 120V through the neutral wire throughout the house. Some would think, "what are the chances?" Well when I took of the back of the old range I found this:



Could this have been the reason my son's Macbook adapter sparked and fried 6 months ago? You bet. So...check the continuity. You never know what the last owner did.

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homeburrero
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#12: Post by homeburrero »

yakster wrote:I'll defer that to a qualified electrician.
Absolutely - hire an electrician.

As Almico says, your machine needs 4 wires based on your terminal block picture. (There are different configurations, and yours appears to be the single-phase version - on the left in this diagram: http://www.fetco.com/images/Files/cbs-52h52h20wd[0].pdf ) You appear to have the proper 240 volt circuit with the L1, L2, N, and GRND wires that it needs, just need to get it checked out and correctly wired up to the right receptacle and plugs.

The electrician would likely install a NEMA 14 (4-prong) receptacle of the proper amperage, then put the proper matching plug on the Fetco. I don't think the code prohibits using a NEMA 14 plug on an appliance that doesn't need or use the neutral wire, so the electrician may be able to simply put a NEMA 14 plug on your other appliance so that it could use the same outlet as long as the amperage rating of that other appliance is OK. The electrician will know and keep you safe.
Pat
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roblesrene (original poster)
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#13: Post by roblesrene (original poster) »

Thanks a lot. Really appreciate al the info!

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