Hope this doesn't come across as condescending, just wanted to make that clear.

No worries and for the most part, I agree. Singles and double are slang terms and your terms are both correct and less confusing. Smaller breakers for load centre breakers are available, down to 5-amp and are mostly used in pony panels. I think the 5-Amp ones are only available for DIN panels and maybe only in single-pole, whereas the 10s are available for primary load centres.

Note to Rob. I've just looked back at your original post. If I understand correctly, the receptacle you show is connected to the 40-Amp double-pole breaker in your load centre. That receptacle is only rated for 20-Amps.

Spoke to an electrician and went with this 2 pole 20amp GFCI breaker. Not inexpensive as they are about 10x the price but a must considering the proximity to a bar sink.

redbone wrote:Spoke to an electrician and went with this 2 pole 20amp GFCI breaker. Not inexpensive as they are about 10x the price but a must considering the proximity to a bar sink.

Looks like a good plan to me - always best to talk to a local electrician. They know the code and also know the idiosyncrasies of the local inspectors.

It may be worthwhile to replace the Caravel's power cord with a new one that has a NEMA 6-20P plug, and save the original in case you want to put it back to museum condition. The old cord and plug may be worn and not up to snuff. Internal wiring may be also be old which can be replaced without worry. Hopefully the switches and thermostat are good.

If you want low amperage overcurrent protection for the little Caravel you might be able to wire in a 5 amp appliance fuse to help with that.

Once on a GFCI you may find that the machine has ground fault issues. If the element is tripping the GFCI and you want to try the Francesco Ceccarelli trick to possibly fix it, be sure to guard the machine and treat it as if it were a live wire while running it ungrounded.

nce on a GFCI you may find that the machine has ground fault issues. If the element is tripping the GFCI and you want to try the Francesco Ceccarelli trick to possibly fix it, be sure to guard the machine and treat it as if it were a live wire while running it ungrounded.

^^^+1 Also, if you dribble any water down the outside of the kettle (the water reservoir), you'll pop the GFCI (don't ask me how I know this )

Got the GFCI 240v breaker going with a NEMA 6-20R outlet. Reading 244v with a multimeter and 122v on my regular household plugs. The 220v Caravel turned on and heated quickly without tripping breaker but I started to see some light smoke coming below the boiler around element. Not sure if this was due to residual light compressor lubricating oil that I used early on refurbishing or if the element was reaching its threshold. The original wiring was replaced with thicker gauge. I did not get any smoke when plugged into a 120v outlet even after a long heat up time. Glad I got a GFCI breaker with this higher voltage setup even though the element is pulling less amperage vs same wattage at 120v.

It's always a good idea to check insulation resistance before turn on the power...

The original wiring was replaced with thicker gauge.

You didn't have to do that, but you can't go wrong with heavier wire. A 220-volt heater draws less current than the same size 120-volt heater. So, as a general rule, when converting a European machine to a 120-volt element you need to go up a wire size. But, running a European machine on our 240-Volts needs no wiring change.

I think your analysis of the smoke being on account of the hotter element is correct. My Caravel with 220-volt heater does not get all that hot. I'm hoping to get a 120-volt heater for it soon and I expect it will run much hotter.