I recently came across some very nice wiring diagrams for the La Pavoni Europiccola dual switch models. These are from a person in the UK who does repairs of La Pavoni and Zacconi machines: Avicenna's Solution

Peter at Avicenna's graciously allowed my to copy and post his diagrams here. I like them because they are simple and make some important things very clear - like how the wiring is different between the old switch and the new one, which is important when replacing a switch on an older machine because you have to wire it up differently. Also makes it clear how to tell which element is the high watt and which is the low watt, and instead of numbering the switch terminals he shows where they are in relation to the switch labels. He also makes it clear how the light inside the switch works in the circuit.

One caveat - his diagram indicates live and neutral ('L' and 'N') with the live wire going to the thermofuse and neutral to the switch. I know that some machines in the US have the live wire going to the switch and the neutral going to the thermofuse. (not sure - it may even be that most US machines were wired that way. Anyone know about that?)

Of course a machine can be wired either way and still work. Having the live (hot) wire go to the switch does seem better in my opinion because you don't have so many live terminals under the hood and would not have a possibility of a ground short from an element while the switch is off.

Thanks for this info. I've been having a hell of a time getting my wiring to work and it now looks like I put the heating element unit back in at the wrong rotation. I've attached a photo I took and labeled to try and get this issue resolved.

Since I have a machine that used the original white switch, which failed, and have purchased a new black switch, which diagram should I use?

I think you are missing a connection between 'A' and 'D' (as labeled in your picture). I think on your machine it would have been a metal strap between the two terminals. Other than that it looks right to me, even though it's a little hard to see which wire is where on the switch.
You should be using the diagram for the black bodied switch. In your machine the black (live) cord wire goes to the switch and the white (neutral) cord wire goes to the thermofuse - which is fine.

In your picture, A and C are the 800 watt terminals and B and D the 200 watt terminals.

homeburrero wrote:I think you are missing a connection between 'A' and 'D' (as labeled in your picture). I think on your machine it would have been a metal strap between the two terminals.

I see that strap connection in your earlier picture:
Help with La Pavoni Europiccola heating element gasket removal

Hope it's still around somewhere - you need to put it back on.

It is and I've put it back on. Stefano instructed me to take it off when using my multi-tester to see which terminals were 200W and which were 1000W. My multi-tester gave me the same reading for both. I've also corrected how the heating element was attached to the base -- it was rotated 120 in the wrong direction.

I'm still trying to get this working but hopefully will make some progress tomorrow. An eye exam today slowed me down.

Anyone have the diagram for the Pro?

I posted a picture a while back:
Need Wiring diagram for Pavoni Professional.

On the pictured machine, the white wire from the cord hooks into the upper (furthest from camera) switch terminal near the boiler, and the black wire to the lower (closest to camera) switch terminal near the boiler. On the switch side away from the boiler the upper (furthest from camera) lead is to the thermofuse, and the other one is to the pstat.

Be aware that the switch in a pro can go in upside down and look and work fine. It is asymmetrical and the leads to the cord go to the terminals near the edge of the switch.

I should be a good citizen and share and create a nice diagram - it would be pretty simple - but the circuit diagramming program I have (Dia, from free software foundation) is just too lame and frustrating.

OK -- I've re-wired per the diagram with the black switch and double-checked my connections. I still get no light on when I flip the red switch. With the red switch still in the on position I get a red light when the white switch is halfway between the I and II positions.

I'm currently looking for a small appliance repair shop where I live but thought I'd post a photo of my current wiring in case I'm missing something.

You have it wired correctly. Just to show my thinking:

• Black from cord goes to near-to-boiler side of red switch - good
  White from cord goes to thermofuse, then to a 200w terminal, then to a 800w terminal, then to far side of red switch - good
  The free end of the 800w terminal goes to near end of white switch - good
  The free end of the 200w terminal goes to far end of the white switch - good

Since it's not miswired and is still malfunctioning I think it's time to involve a repair shop. They should make sure the switch is good, wires are good, then check the elements. It is concerning that you think you saw the same resistance across both the high and low elements. The resistance on the 200 should be about 4 times that of the 800. No element terminal should be shorted to ground. (Always run the machine on a properly grounded GFI circuit - that way if you have an intermittent short in an element it will let you know by tripping the GFI.)