Chad C. wrote: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

This is something I've been thinking about too. Right now I will have a 12v flo-jet for water pressure, 110v for my grinder, and 220v for my auto-fill and auto-fill solenoid. I think that I can get around all of this by using a 110v generator (quiet little Honda EU3000is or even EU2000is should do the trick) and using a 110v to 12v DC transformer and a 110v to 220v AC transformer. It sounds complicated but because this whole effort is only for 2 weeks per year, I think that will be the easiest way to make everything work.

The main reason I want auto-fill is so I will worry slightly less about the machine running dry. I will have a whole slew of people helping to serve espresso and I want to know that I have a backup option if they forget to fill it manually. (I will still tell them that they need to manually fill it.