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Installing a 240 volt esresso machine....

  • Thread starter Thread starter nyrussell
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nyrussell

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Hatteras Model
40' DOUBLE CABIN-Series I (1986 - 1989)
Okay, with all the knowledge here on the forum I just ave to ask this question....

My Friend has a Nespresso Machine that is 220V European that they use a converter for here. I might be able to get my hands on it. If so, How do I go about just wiring this up? I really do not want a converter with the attendant cords involved if possible.

Noel
 
you can't... euro 220 has 1 Hot, 1 Neutral, 1 Ground with 220v H to N whereas US 220 has 2 H + N + G with 220v H to H and 110 H to N

totally incompatible...

you have to use a converter, about $60 for a 1000W converter. It's PITA, a few months ago I got a 220v Sauce Maker from France (doesn't exist here... baiscally a small heating sauce pan with a rotating paddle) and add to order a converter, which is almost bigger than the appliance.
 
Damn, no way to run a line....
 
nope... euro 220v expects 220v on one line and N on the other. it will not work!

when i lived on St barths in the 80s/90s, we had euro 220 but at 60hz! We also used many US appliances which where easier to get and cheaper. It wasn't unsual to have both 120 and 220v service thru out a house. I did the electrical in mine when i built it and each outlet block had a US and a french outlet. Service to the house was 220v. the 120v circuit were powered by a 5KW step down transformer.

When using a US cloth dryer, we'd have a to use TWO 5kw transformer... taking each 220v line down to 110v. worked great.

bottom line is that euro 220v appliances do not work on US 220v power, you have to use a converter, regardless of Freq.

PS: if dont' know what an expresso machine is, you are missing one of life's best moment: sipping a nice expresso on the aft deck of a Hatteras MY :)
 
Pascal,

It would be possible to add an outlet with the converter hidden though? Think 3 year old grabbing at a mess of wires

Noel
 
All you would need is a male and female euro connector , plug in to converter and basically extend your wiring to wherever you are going to use expresso machine and put the other end, the female part there. Plug your expressos' male end into this outlet.
 
If its a Euro machine and wired for 220V its pretty easy to rewire internally. You would want a 240V heating element as while the 220V one will work it will burn out faster. The motor might also care as its 50hz but I bet your "converter" doesn't attempt to handle that, it just plays step-up.

This is a high-wattage device due to the heating element. These machines TYPICALLY have 240V US heating elements available and most of them can be internally re-wired easily to run on US 240V or 120V service, as many of them are imported over here. If you have a choice go for 240V as the usual way they deal with 120V is to put in a smaller heating element as most Euro machines when set up for 120V pull more than 15A and cause frequent breaker trips and the manufacturers don't like the hassle that comes from telling customers they need a DEDICATED 20A line in their kitchen to run them.

All this assumes it is a semi-automatic (no active electronics); if it has internal electronics (e.g. dosimeter for the water flow) you need to be more careful and make sure you deal with that. There may be a switching power supply inside (if so it PROBABLY is universal voltage or close enough to work ok) or a transformer - if the latter that may require replacement to get the proper secondary voltage.

(I'm somewhat of an Espresso nut and have a high-end cafe-quality machine hard-plumbed in my kitchen....)
 
Hey Noel, wouldn't it just make more sense to buy another espresso machine that doesn't require rewiring it or your boat?

You're gonna sink that thing if you put anything else on it. :D
 
no reason why you can't hard wire the converter although personally i dont' like to leave stuff like that on at all time. maybe hide it in a cabinet or something.
 
Standard split-phase power is 120/240V, not 220V. The extra 10% will impact heating element life.

Many marinas are actually 208 because they're taking from a three-phase drop. This is DONE WRONG but it is done all the time. The proper way to do that is to use a transformer to feed 120/240V split-phase from the 3-phase feed but those cost money and we know how much marinas like to spend money, right? Thus the 208 feed which they deem "good enough." This can (and sometimes does) damage AC compressors and other 240V loads, especially when you also get voltage sag due to insufficient wire diameter, poor connections and other similar ills that are common at marinas. I've seen 190V on a supposed "240V" feed when traveling before under load on the end of the "T" dock, and there's no way in hell I allow my AC units (or my refer!) to run off such power - I run my genset as while the diesel costs money compressors and refrigerators cost more money.

I'd contact the machine manufacturer. It is a near-certainty that they have the proper instructions and heating element for a 240V US installation for that unit. The pump motor PROBABLY won't care (it will run a bit fast if its a rotary pump but an espresso machine's pump pressure is regulated not by the pump but by a pressure-regulating valve and as such the unit's operation should be unaffected by this. If its a vibratory pump it likely won't care at all. Push comes to shove if its a vibratory pump they are available inexpensively - Ulka makes the pumps in 90% of the machines out there, with procton making most of the rotary vane pumps. Rotary pumps, however, are expensive.)

BTW if/when I find my "dream 58YF" and buy it one of the things that IS going in that boat is a high-quality rotary-pump espresso machine similar to the one I have at home. I consider that thing a necessity of life.
 
this is what i got for my sauce maker...

http://cgi.ebay.com/1000-W-Watt-Step-Up-Down-Voltage-Converter-Transformer_W0QQitemZ260436592561QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca33b07b1&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|293%3A1|294%3A50

years ago, you could find 110/220 transformers that were jsut that... traditional transformer with wire wound up to change voltage and inlet/outlet on each side. simple. not any more unfortunately... the new ones like this one are all fancy with a case, breaker, etc...
 
Isolate the neutral from the frame and put the green to the frame. Hook US 208 or 240 to the neutral and the hot and you are ready to go. 240 difference in potential is 240 difference in potential. It doesn't make any difference if it is relative to a neutral - just another conductor - or to two other conductors 240 volts apart.

Make absolutely certain there is no connection from the conductor connected to what was neutral to the frame anywhere. If there is you will take out a breaker. If there isn't it will work fine.

Ted
 

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