I have an Astoria lever machine with propane and I would like to temporarily run in on 110v with the element disabled. I don't feel like buying a $150 water fill Gicar unit if I can get away with a $20 transformer.... I believe the 220v transformers will generate 50hz signal.

Have you heard of this or done it yourself? I basically want my machine to run on propane and a little 110v generator. My Gicar says 10amp which I think is crazy......

The control unit says:

RL 40/1E/11
ALIM 220/240Vac 50/60hz
K1 10A 250Vac

It also has a wiring diagram. I will try to get some pictures up tonight.

That should work. You will be boosting the voltage from 110v to 220v, but the Hz will stay at 60Hz.

As long as you disconnect the heater there should be no heavy load on the electrical, so in theory you should be able to run the controls just fine. The biggest power draw will likely be the voltage transformer.

If you run this "off grid" often you might want to consider a battery store, 220v inverter, and perhaps even a solar panel. Depends on how much power the system pulls, but this would be silent and who wants to listen to a generator next to a great lever machine if you don't have to? Just an idea.

I'll check out the battery or solar options. I will also be using my commercial espresso grinder so I know I need to handle some amps... how many I need is another question.

Do you know what amperage your water fill sensor uses on your commercial lever machine? My water fill box says 10A which is just.... nutty... It's a couple of solenoids and a little logic wiring. I want to be sure I get a big enough AC transformer. I will only use the system off-the-grid for a couple of weeks per year so I want to keep it as simple as possible....

Much better solution:

Open up your controller. Inside you will see a little white or blue plastic box which is a step-down transformer, usually to 15 or 12 volts DC. You can bypass this transformer entirely and input 12 volts from a battery of appropriate voltage to the output terminals of the transformer and your controller will work just the same. All it has to power are a couple little relays and logic circuitry, which shouldn't draw more than 1 amp maximum.

I recently had to do do some brain surgery on a controller (soldering a new surface mount component) and realized that these things are way, way, way overpriced for what's inside.

I'm going to probably leave my unit intact because for 50 weeks out of the year I use it on 220v in my kitchen. I will try to track down an old unit and maybe I can fix it to modify it. That's a great idea!

Also, I opened my unit up to see what was inside and Ooooh boy is it simple. It pains me to think of spending almost $200 for these things! If it ever dies I'll be sure to fix it myself before shelling out cash.

bm_cricket wrote:Do you know what amperage your water fill sensor uses on your commercial lever machine? My water fill box says 10A which is just.... nutty... It's a couple of solenoids and a little logic wiring. I want to be sure I get a big enough AC transformer. I will only use the system off-the-grid for a couple of weeks per year so I want to keep it as simple as possible....

I think the 10A rating is stating that the controller will effectively switch a 10A heating element without problems. It's definitely not using 10A of power for the sensors or pumping.

(Switches typically tell you what their max rating is, not what the circuit needs to be or what it will pull. A device power info plate is intended to tell you the max current the appliance will pull off of an electrical circuit.)

Best of luck!

It sounds like the 110v to 220v option will work. I was also given a faulty 110v water fill unit that I plan to take apart and learn to diagnose. I see a few people who claim to have worked on repairing the gicar units but I haven't found detailed instructions yet. Have you ever come across one?

BTW, what do you think of this transformer? Is it overkill at 500w?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TP ... 0DO6V6TB84

That looks like a good option. Those little switching converters are (very generously) rated for 500 W peak. Not overkill.

Regarding the 12V direct idea I mentioned, besides the autofill circuit, is there anything else electrical in the machine that would need to be powered (solenoids, etc.)? I suppose if you already have a 110V generator going, then the converter you posted might be the best solution. But if you'd like to enjoy silence, you might want to consider switching to a battery-plus-inverter setup with something like this guy.

I need to run a coffee grinder too so I will need 110v anyway.

I didn't know about the 12v option hidden in the black box. Good to know! Wouldn't you then need a 12v solenoid coil for the auto fill valve? Parker offers such a thing. If a Flo-Jet is being used, you can actuate the manual fill valve which then initiates the Flo-Jet to fill the boiler. You don't need an auto fill in a free-range set-up. My patio setup required nothing from my house when I used my manual Hario grinder.

I just posted this to YouTube, you can hear the 12v Flo-Jet come on when the manual fill lever is pulled:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr7-p5k5a- ... ata_player