nope not ridiculous. Just like the heating element the light was designed to produce its rated output at 220 volts. running it on 110 is kind of the same thing of being on a dimmer. for simple resistive elements like heaters and lights half the voltage translates to four times less power. this means roughly 4 times longer to boil. so a step up is definitely a good thing it's just not required for safety is all I was getting at above.

Why not spend the $$ on a 120v element instead of a transformer?

Thijs has been incommunicado the past few weeks so it's unclear if he still has those elements in stock. Paul (Cafelat) is out of stock as far as I know.

It's odd that he isn't answering inquiries as he's usually pretty good about that. The elements are still up on his site so I would think that he still has them. I've installed one of Paul's & one of the ones Thijs supplies in early Caravels & Thijs' element was a much better fit.

Agreed, my experiences with Thijs' customer service have been great so far. Maybe he's on vacation or some such. Anyway, hopefully he still has stock so folks can get these beautiful machines running on native currents.

I have just emailed Thijs (forget if I had tried before) regarding what items are in stock right now. I'd be thrilled to get an element immediately and get that part out of the way. I'd tried Paul via email and PM on here, but I've had spotty luck reaching him in the past. I chalk it up to him just being a busy guy, but it seems that his elements have been out of stock for months now. The seals of my machine are reported to be in great condition, and not needing replacement yet, but if I make an order with Thijs I'll wind up with the seal kit as well.

I paid for the seals from Thijs around the December time frame when he said he just got the seals delivered (or coming). I got a Paypal refund 2-3 weeks ago without an explanation. I have forgotten to email him to ask for the reason and not sure if I want to add to all the emails he's receiving now.

FWIW: I ordered and paid for a naked portafilter and seal kit for my Caravel from Thijs (Brooks Espresso Machines) on December 22, 2014. The portafilter arrived February 19th but as of Saturday I still have not received the seal kit. Prior to order placement I received quick e-mail responses from Thijs; however not so much lately.

Here's part of my Feb 9th email from Paypal:

The funds have been returned to your account.

This payment was returned for the following reason(s):

hijs...@hotmail.com did not sign up for a PayPal account or did not complete the registration process.

Thijs replied to me via email yesterday, so he's around.

Anyway, back on topic: if indeed 110v heating elements are not available, you can make a 220v Caravel work by adding boiling water to the kettle, but in my opinion it's well worth spending $50 on a step up transformer to have it working as it was meant to.