Rewiring a 1974 La Pavoni Europiccola boiler for higher wattage

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NicaDon
Posts: 132
Joined: 7 years ago

#1: Post by NicaDon »

I have a 1974 Series 1.7 Europiccola I am bringing to India for my move next year. I haven't yet used it because it is 240v and it's presently stored in the US while I am in India seeing where I will live. I now have a 120v Series 1.6 at my Nicaragua house with the switch changed to a Carling three position toggle to preserve the original for posterity and ease of use.

Recently I saw mentioned the later three position switch on the 1974-1979 only operate one coil or the other. If this is so is there a way to wire it so in effect have both elements work in tandem on high to give the full wattage and only the low power element on low while maintaining the off position, or is this a pipe dream? For all I know my Series 1.6 is only using one at a time, but it reaches full pressure in less than ten minutes from cold so I'm fine with that.
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RobAnybody
Posts: 440
Joined: 4 years ago

#2: Post by RobAnybody »

looking at the standard wiring of a V1.6 europiccola I'd say both the 200 and 600 elements are on with the switch on high. http://www.francescoceccarelli.eu/La_Pa ... C_1781.JPG
It should be possible to wire the 3 position switch in such a way that it powers both coils at the max setting. However if you have the aluminium base it will become quite hot with the combined 1000W (this was noticed up in one of the 'ultimate europiccola' threads)
cheers,
Rob
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drgary
Team HB
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Joined: 14 years ago

#3: Post by drgary »

I wouldn't worry about the base overheating, since the high setting for the steaming function is only briefly used. It's different if you're using a single coil heating element.
Gary
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What I WOULD do for a good cup of coffee!