Converting European Appliance for US

[tsherrod]

I recently had a guy ask me if I could run a dedicated 220v 20amp receptacle for an Espresso machine he bought in Europe. An electrician there told him that it would be no issue if a dedicated circuit was run and the plug on the appliance was changed out for a 20 amp plug to fit US receptacles. Another electrician here said he would not do it because of the difference in Hz. The appliance is rated for 50/60 HZ so that shouldn't be an issue. Does anyone know if this should be a problem? I would need to install it on a kitchen countertop. I am not sure what I would need to do for GFCI protection if it is a 220v plug. I am also concerned it may void the warranty and am currently waiting to here back from the manufacturer. Any ideas or concerns would be helpful.

 

[tsherrod]

My understanding is that only 125v is covered for GFCI protection on kitchen countertops. I presume it might not take into account altering a small appliance that is 220 and easily movable. I am not sure if that might be some other consideration beyond that.

 

[PetrosA]

If not for a 240V receptacle in the kitchen and my Italian espresso machine, I would be a very grumpy boy in the morning and in the afternoon and in the evening and at night.

You could certainly put it on a 2 pole 20A ground fault breaker. There are three main loads in an espresso machine - the pump, the heating element and various solenoids. Some more advanced machines will have a PCB, but that should have it's own separate voltage supply which will probably work fine here. The heating element doesn't care what frequency it sees. The solenoids should all be dual rated. There are two kinds of pumps used, vibratory and rotary vane. The vibratory pump should have no problem working on 60 Hz, it'll just vibrate faster. If it uses a separate rotary vane pump, they usually will be rated for whatever voltage the local market is and often come with a separate cord set or be dual rated as well (these are almost exclusively used on commercial machines).

And a pic of Ol' Grazia, my one true love

 

[DarylH]

As long as it's rated 50/60 Hz you should be OK if you get the voltage right.

 

[DarylH]

Also wanted to note that I have an Expobar espresso machine.

Thankfully it was made for the US market. It's needed some repair over the years. Started tripping the GFCI outlet when the heater started going bad and was putting some leakage current on the ground. First time I popped the cover I thought the thing had been wired by the Unibomber. Turns out though that this was actually kind of a putdown to the Unibomber who as it turns out was very meticulous. In any case, these Prosumer models are pretty stout and fairly easily repaired.

The heater does consume a fair bit of power warming up the boiler and keeping it warm. Because it takes time to warm up I put mine on a timer. That way it is warm when I get up and then turns off on its own (because not everyone else in my household remembers to turn off appliances when they're done).

I've never tried to find a 220 V GFCI outlet, but thing I noted when having my pool pump replaced with a variable speed version was that we did have to switch brands on the breaker at the sub panel to keep the GFCI circuit from tripping on motor startup.

The load in the espresso machine is different though so likely won't have any troubles.

 

[iwire]

Keep in mind that the NEC prohibits supplying appliances in homes with 240 volt unless the appliance is rated more than 1440 VA.

210.6 Branch-Circuit Voltage Limitations. The nominal voltage of branch circuits shall not exceed the values per-mitted by 210.6(A) through (E).

(A) Occupancy Limitation. In dwelling units and guest rooms or guest suites of hotels, motels, and similar oc-cupancies, the voltage shall not exceed 120 volts, nomi-nal, between conductors that supply the terminals of the following:

(1) Luminaires

(2) Cord-and-plug-connected loads 1440 volt-amperes, nominal, or less or less than 1?4 hp

 

[PetrosA]

Keep in mind that the NEC prohibits supplying appliances in homes with 240 volt unless the appliance is rated more than 1440 VA.

That shouldn't be a problem with most coffee makers or cordless kettles from outside the US, but there's also nothing to stop the customer from using that receptacle for other appliances that might be less than 1440W once it's installed.