Thanks folks. I will have to think about it when I am next in Seattle (where the Peppina is, although the power cord showed up in a box in Chicago while I was unpacking ). I have been wanting to try out a PID, and so I probably will give that a try. If the immersion heater is not up to the task at least it is only a $5 experiment.

Take Care,
Dan

I'd just use a converter plug and fill the Peppina with a hot water kettle. 350w should be enough to keep it up temperature.

That sounds like a good idea, my kettle is 1500W and so it is very fast. Thanks for all of the suggestions folks.

So, i've found out what FEAR stands for, its "FElice ARosio" after the man who invented the Peppina.
The earliest Peppina patent i found was from 1960.
He also designed another coffee machine with Ernesto Valente. 'Owner of Faema' Ernesto Valente.
Actually, Felice was a very busy coffeemachine inventor.

Here is the patent for the dual temp Peppina with the wide group. 1982

He also designed the Faemina (springlever) together with Valente And a massively complicated hydraulic group which looks to be fully automatic pushbutton operated.

Cool huh?

Thanks again for posting that picture Bluecold, I was poking around on EBay today and found a PID dealer in Chicago, so I ordered a Fujitsu PXR3 for $64. I figure it will be nice to be able to pick it up local rather than ship (kind of silly since I had the La Peppina shipped from Alba, Italy). I was going to replace the element, or buy one of the Sous Vide units I see around, but I figure buying a PID separately gives me more flexibility in case I want to use it for something else later on.

My PID controller blew this morning. It went out with a bang so to say.
Apparently somebody spilled water next to it. It was soaking wet on the bottom. Unaware of that i turned it on and after a bang all the lights went out.
I took it apart and i can count 3 blown up paths, a couple of charred SMD thingy's and a molten coil.
Glad i didn't buy a Fuji PXR3.
So, no espresso for me until the new PID arrives. I was just getting the hang of it.

So, ddr, if you also make a box like i did, waterproof it.

Yeah, i thought about that. I've still got a week or so to find a water resistant solution since thats how long shipping from auberins takes. Nothing bad about auberins though. Their service is great. I sent them an email because i had very weird AC line interference. When connected to the ground, or if i touched the metal parts of the Peppina, the temperature readings jumped around wildly. I got a very fast reply with some more questions, and after answering those questions i got another fast email back with detailed instructions on how to fix it.

Hi everybody,
I just received my very own Peppina from Italy (actually badged Piccolina). I'm just starting to clean it up. While descaling I have found a loose piece of metal wrapped around the element. It can be slid along it and looks like lead. I'll attach a picture. Does anyone happen to know or care to speculate on it's purpose/origin? I can't imagine what use it is so can I remove it?

Could it be some sort of "sacrificial" metal like zinc to offset any metal type of corrosion / unusual growth build up in the water tank, similar as described is this thread :http://www.home-barista.com/levers/strange-growth-in-reservoir-t9744.html