The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

Admittedly I have given this much critical thought but I figured I'd throw it out there and see what the forum thinks...

It looks like I will be going back to the land of 110VAC very shortly. Most likely this means I will have to sell my mini and buy a new one when I arrive home or since I've grown rather attached to my particular machine perhaps I could convert all the 220VAC components to their 110VAC equivalents at a cost of only a few hundred dollars.

A quick glance through an old parts manual seems to indicate that the major parts to replace will be the heating elements, pump, control board, solenoids and triac.

Does this effort seem worth the hassle?
Am I missing anything major (or minor)?
Is it likely that I could source all these parts from CCS?
And finally, any idea what a rough parts cost would be?

Sorry for all the questions but any feedback is greatly appreciated!

I'll venture a guess that it'd be cheaper to sell your Mini and make a fellow Porsche owner happy
and buy a new one to help the US economy than it is to convert it. No wrenching required and get a new warranty.

Or a step-up transformer which is necessary anyway for all those vintage levers that you're bringing back:

http://www.voltagesuperstore.com/voltag ... rter.shtml

Had you posted a couple of weeks earlier, we coulda met up for coffee or beer...

2000W step-up voltage convertor? $100 I think?

I have the 1500w model altho my machine is only 700w. It works but rather clunky and the thing weighs a ton.

It may cost you very little if you can connect the Mini using the the 2 phases here in US/Canada as the voltage between the two is 240V. However, you must consult an electrician. Instead of Neutral, Hot and Ground wires, your cable will carry two hot and ground.

Related Google hit:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electrical-W ... -phase.htm

Thanks for the replies.
I guess first I'll try to put it up for sale and see if I can find a worthy buyer for it. My wife now sees the espresso machine as an essential kitchen appliance, so who knows if it sells maybe she'll let me upgrade to a GS/3 and a new grinder...

If it doesn't sell... short term I could go the step up/down transformer route (I already own a 3000W model) and long term afterI get settled see if it's possible to have an AC outlet modified for 240VAC.

I use a 5000AMP converter for the V2 I brought with me from the US to Israel , the shop told me you need twice the power your device require for a long term use , I also use it for my K10 WBC grinder

I ended up running it off a 3000 watt transformer. It's been running for 8 months with no issues but it does seem to produce less steam. Not sure if that's a result of the transformer or something else.

My kitchen has an extra 240VAC outlet that I could use if I made an adaptor cable but the x-frmr has been working well enough that I haven't bothered.

If you are comfortable with voltmeters, you can measure the output voltage of your transformer and see if it drops when the steam boiler heating element is on. It should keep up in theory but... Also wait until both elements (brew and steam) are on and see how this affects the output. If the voltage drops, then your heaters are not performing at full power.