Re: ascaso dream voltage conversion

In article <5on0lqFnksqcU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Danny <danny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Bill (Adopt) wrote:

Wow! It still may not be a mistruth...!

I'm still not too sure about this, although am quite happy
to accept the sensible suggestion(s) of Peter and Jack, as
they may well know better than I.

As most of us in GB, we're well used to dealing with dual
and multi-phase, (universal), internal power-supplies but
not, at least in my case, with respect to Coffee Machines.

However.. it would be /most/ unusual if a piece of recent
Euro equipment, such as any of the Ascasos, were to have
equipment visibly identified in the dual fashion of,
"230VAC/50Hz - 120VAC/60Hz", if that power supply and the
machine internally serviced by it were not meant to handle
such a clearly marked dual/multi-phase input...

The listings that are labelled on the machine - especially
if it has the CE (Euro) logo - are required to be there and
required to be accurate - by some very detailed European
legislation.

So I wouldn't immediately blame your machine supplier for
mis-identifying the intended use, or the labelling.

I suppose it's possible that Ascaso are accidentally in
breach of European law, perhaps without realising it. If
so, they will certainly appreciate being informed about
this possible breach, before they're hung, drawn, roasted
and then ground into espresso granules by the relevant
European Commissioner!

Euro fines can be extremely severe ..ask one Mr W. Gates,
who may have a recent and very sore experience of this.. ;'))

I think I would still first try an alternative fuse ..and
then perhaps a quick email to Mark Harrison at Verde Coffee
(dotcom), who at least can pull the guts out of an office
machine and prod the interior for a quick reply - even it's
merely to say that neither he nor his techies have the
foggiest idea about it..!

..strange it is, I must admit.. but I'm sure you've yet again
pointed up something that is becomming increasingly relevant
in the personal trade of various electrical objects to and fro
across our ever 'shrinking' Atlantic...

:))

Bill ZFC


Whilst not utterly inconceviable that an espresso machine could run
dual voltage, it is *very* unlikely. Elements run a specific
voltage/amperage. A 220v element running at 110v would take twice as
long to do anything. There is nothing between an element and it's raw
current, apart from the pressurestat or thermostat. It's possible to
have an arrangement whereby elements are wired in series or parallel
to acheive either voltage, but there would have to be an internal hard
link to add or remove to facilitate this. Other parts are definitely
not interchangeable wrt voltage. The OP is referring to a
brochure/manual which, as Jack has noted, might merely refer to the
different models covered by it.


Yes, I do understand Danny. I think I have already
said so to others if not apparently to everyone...!

My thought is simple ..that we may not be too far
away from the influence of dual, or Universal power
supplies.

I've commented at length in a continuing thread
conversation above or elsewhere...

Clearly I believe that such is possible ..notwithstanding
the demands of the heating coils which, as I see it, are
about the only thing that would presently give a little
room for further thought - and even then I wonder just
how much..

As a purely passing example of what might be just around
the corner for portable espresso coffee machines...

...I have an 85c heavy solid steel satellite dish array,
mounted on the end of a rather heavy motorised unit that
swings from one horizon near to Florida in the USofA, to
the far east horizons picking up satellites from Eastern
Russia, not too far short of the Chinese border ..and of
course, the multitude of various satellites in between.

The power supply to swing this heavy - many kilos (*2,3
for lbs US) is about a quarter the size of a standard US
cigarette packet. It lives connected to the mains inside
a digital satellite FTA unit which itself is only about
the size of a slim A5 paperback 'airport' book(let).

The little motor that manouevers this heavyweight array
so accurately and so powerfully, even in 80mph plus winds,
is supplied by a 12v feed at around or mere 300 milliamps
from the above titchy little internal FTA box switch-mode
power supply.

So, as you see, I have no problem with tiny motors and
little relays doing very, very heavy jobs with a minimal
low voltage and low ampage input..!! ;))

However, so far as the OP goes - and not to forget the
origin of this interesting conversation - I do believe
that he should at least approach the techies of an
'independent' supplier; one who is presently selling
these machines and who will have brand new, just released,
examples to hand that can be immediately 'looked' at.

Hopefully the OP can then just to check that Ascaso haven't
already found some way of applying a dual/universal plug and
play switch mode type of internal power take-off.

...and that's all that I advised... (oh, that and checking
any fuse or power cut-out).

I don't disagree with anything or anyone else ..at least
as far as our present state of knowledge goes...

;))

hh

Bill ZFC
e&oe.. just in case! ;'))

--
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Domain Host Orpheus Internet -=- http://www.orpheusinternet.co.uk/
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