Since it may be some time before you hear anything from Italy I'd pull the wires off the element, test the element again, clean all contact surfaces & try again. You could also try running the issue by Phillip at Caffe Lusso as they are a Bosco distributor even though there is nothing about that on their website.

Phaedrus wrote:I measured again, and I got 9.2 ohms (the leads to the element were connected and the power to the machine was off). I powered the machine on and read 120V across the two terminals of the heating element. The neutral is switched by the SSR, so I pulled the lead going back to the power switch off and connected it to the terminal with the lead going to the element, powered on and I still saw the same 4ish amps being drawn. The smart outlet again showed about 550w being drawn. I'm stumped.

I may have missed it earlier in the thread, but is it possible the problem is on the supply end, rather than the consumption?

I've tried multiple outlets, I even went as far as putting the 20amp to 15amp converter cord on and plugged into a known good 15 amp outlet in my kitchen. Same behavior and same measurements. I don't want to say that the outlets being the culprit are off the table, but wouldn't there be some indication that the supply wasn't up to snuff? Like some kind of voltage drop? (Outlet voltage tested fine - it also was rock solid with my Vetrano plugged into it, albeit at 15 amps)

If you have the correct 120v/2000w element & it is getting 122v but only drawing 550w then there has to be something off inside the element. What else could it be?

It seems so improbable on a new machine that was hand-built and tested. The silver lining is that it works and produces great coffee. I just have to turn it on at 3am.

Your machine shipped when the virus disaster was well under way in Italy. Might have been rushed out the door?? Who knows?? If the issue isn't on your supply end then something is amiss inside the machine.

JohnB. wrote:If you have the correct 120v/2000w element & it is getting 122v but only drawing 550w then there has to be something off inside the element. What else could it be?

That makes sense, but heating elements are so simple and straightforward, aren't they, that it's difficult to understand how any kind of failure would be anything but complete. Hoping Roberta and her family will get through this Covid business and that Italy will return to some kind of normalcy sooner than later.

Since I'm seeing voltage AND resistance on the heating element, I'm thinking the next thing I need to do is disconnect both leads from the element and test it again. Last time, I had trouble getting the wire nuts off the element without having the entire pole spin, I have to see if I have thinner wrenches or something more elegant to hold the rear nut in place. While I have the cover off, is there anyone that can think of some other test(s) I can run?

I was curious so checked resistance of my heater. It measured 6.9 ohms. I did not disconnect the leads to the heating element.

Bluecold wrote:I'm sorry, I thought I saw a double element on a Sorrento photo. Can you measure element resistance?
I think there is a chance you're running a 220v element on 110v, which would be consistent with the power being 1/4th of the rated power.

Well my friend, you win the Internet today. None of this made any sense, so I borrowed a different multimeter and measured the heating element again. This time, I got 28.7 Ohms. Plugging that value in to an Ohm's Law Calculator with R=28.7 and V=120 yields I=4.18 and P=501. Exactly the measurements I was seeing and exactly what you predicted. Changing V to 240 yields P=2007. So this is a 240V element even though it's stamped 120V into the metal. I'll have to get in touch with Bosco to get the element swapped out. Not looking forward to changing it though, I think I'm more terrified of swapping the element than the coronavirus.