Expy,
Agreed with Howard's post above. There has gotta be a wiring issue. It shouldn't be an over-amping issue. Look back several pages in this thread to Howard's travails (nice usage). He prevailed on his wiring travails.
Let us know how it is going.

Pete

You're absolutely right. When plugged in thru the Kill-A-Watt, it's drawing
1.2amps and 140watts but once it heats up for a few minutes initially,
then it'll trip the breaker. After that it'll trip again very quickly every time. Consulted
the LeverMeister Doug/OE (LMDOE) and tried removing the indicator light from the circuit,
then bypassing the switch (basically nothing left but power to element), LMDOE suspects
it's the heating element.

Eventho wiring is not my forte, everything said about its simplicity is spot on. I'm already entertaining
the thought that if I got a decent standalone steamer (Bellman?), the pump machine might need to go,
replaced by 2 Caravels and still save some precious counter space.

oh great, now I'll have to go thru yet another 90 page thread...

expy98 wrote:I'm already entertaining the thought that if I got a decent standalone steamer (Bellman?), the pump machine might need to go, replaced by 2 Caravels and still save some precious counter space.

If you can texture milk with a Bellman, your a better Home-Barista than I am. Peacecup is right, You'll want a closed boiler lever to go with the Caravel and the Export being a spring lever is also nice. I'm going the other way, my open boiler is a spring lever (La Peppina) and my steamer is the full manual (Gaggia Factory).

The first time that I tried steaming milk on the Gaggia Factory, I realized that there was no point going any further trying to make the Bellman work, it was just night and day.

there are tricks to the bellman- and if you have mastered them then it works very well... Another good steamer is the Calandra- kind of an electric bellman- very powerful steamer...

Jack,

You are making me jealous.

Trade you my Caravel portafilter for your Export.

Oh nevermind...
there are so many decent steaming machines! Levers and pumps of course.
The real thing here is, if you need a steaming machine that is also portable.

yakster wrote:The first time that I tried steaming milk on the Gaggia Factory, I realized that there was no point going any further trying to make the Bellman work, it was just night and day.

Much as I hate to admit it, yakster speaks the truth. I've had nothing but a Bellman (well, Benjamin & Medwin to be exact) for steaming milk at home, and approximately 33% of the time I can get properly textured milk, but it's by and large totally unpredictable. The pressure it generates seems to vary wildly in accordance with the ever changing quantity of water in the boiler...

Suffice to say, when I tried the steamer on the in-laws' $150 "Cuisinart" machine over the holidays, I realized I've been essentially been trying to run a marathon on one leg for all these months.

I wish those damned PVs weren't so hard to come by (and/or a few hundred $$$ cheaper) in North America... but then I suppose my Caravel would probably only get jealous anyway. You can't win!

If anyone out there has a workable milk steaming solution that doesn't involve buying an oversized, clunky closed boiler machine, I'm all ears!