Rancilio Silvia 120V

adrian522

Hi,

I've bought a Rancilio Silvia off ebay , it arrived today but I fear it is an american model as it came with a strange 3 pronged plug.

It was listed with location of UK so I wrongly assumed it was the European version.


Can this be used here at all?

I've tried using a standard adapter and it seems to get power but I don't want to use it if it may get fryed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hope I haven't made a very expensive mistake.

Doodee

Can you take a photo of the socket type it uses?
It would help to identify the region.

I would not use it with an adapter if it is an american version. You will be trying to draw 1kW+ through the adapter and it will probably fry. The other issue is the damage that can occur to the Element as the US versions vary to the EU ones.

Having imported an American Coffee machine for filter I can tell you that if it is indeed a US machine, you can either try swap out the parts for EU versions (Very tricky and expensive) or else buy a Voltage converter and change the plug (Converter will cost you about 90euro +/incl delivery).

adrian522

Here it is , not nearly as worried about the plug as the voltage which the documentation says is 120v

Gran Hermano

You can view the owners manual here:
http://www.espressotec.com/store/pc/catalog/rancilio/ra1000_rancilio_silvia_manual.pdf

They ship with a label that details whether 110 or 220v,details in manual.
If the original label isn't stuck to the base look at the electrical schematics included in the manual as it appears they use different colour wiring into the plugs for the two different models.

I would highly recommend not trying to see if it works until you are 100 per cent sure, you might need to get a converter to step down the power from 220 to 110.

adrian522

It's a 120v machine. sounds like I'll need to converter, or else send it back if I can (unlikely) or else sell it on again, which doesn't sound like a terrible option...

adrian522

is this the sort of thing I need?

The silvia is 41 watt...

http://cgi.ebay.ie/100W-100-WATT-STEP-DOWN-TRANSFORMER-UK-240V-USA-120V-/120649545653?pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_PowerAdaptors_SM&hash=item1c1745f7b5#ht_1833wt_1139

Doodee

am.... not quite.
See, the main problem you have is the amount of Watts required to head the element. traditional step down converters like the one you linked to are not designed to have a high wattage for a sustained period. The Silvia needs to be heated for about 20mins as the Boiler is brass, but even without doing that you're looking at 5mins of over 1Kw. There is also Ampage and frequency to consider (IIRC it will effect Clocks and possibly the Thermocouple).

This is what I had to buy:
http://www.transtools.co.uk/store/prod_85/corded-power-tools/transformers-and-leads/240v-to-110v-3-3kva-site-transformer.html

You want to go higher than the max power consumption of your Silvia as it will be safer
You will also need some wire and stuff from an electrical shop to make a cable for it. It's a bit of work. Also, that Transformer is very heavy.
Mind me asking how much you paid for the Silvia?

Doodee

adrian522 wrote: »

is this the sort of thing I need?

The silvia is 41 watt...

http://cgi.ebay.ie/100W-100-WATT-STEP-DOWN-TRANSFORMER-UK-240V-USA-120V-/120649545653?pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_PowerAdaptors_SM&hash=item1c1745f7b5#ht_1833wt_1139

41 watt.....?

That can't be right. How much power does the boiler require, it should be in Kw's.

adrian522

OK, maybe I misread, the sticker is attached below, perhaps its 1100 watts, would that make more sense?

The Silvia cost about £340 stg + 25 delivery, so about €430.

Doodee

adrian522 wrote: »

OK, maybe I misread, the sticker is attached below, perhaps its 1100 watts, would that make more sense?

The Silvia cost about stg + 25 delivery, so about €430.

Yup, that's more like it.
Re-check the add and see if it mentions the voltage or US plug.
I would say that you should probably send it back to him as it's an expensive and tricky options to get it to work over here, and it will void any warranty.

adrian522

The add did mention 120V but it was buried in a review pasted in from coffeegeek.

I've opened a dispute with paypal so hopefully something will come of that.

Thanks for your help I'll update you with how works out.

adrian522

I got a response from the seller on ebay as follows:

"This coffee machine comes from America, the only thing you have to do is buy conwerter to change the voltage to 230v it will cost about 40 pounds.
everything was in the description on ebay"

Solair

A 1kW plug in transformer isn't easy to come by, however Ireland and Britain mandate a strange form of 110V on building sites for portable equipment. It's not the same as US power, but it is usually "OK" for heavy appliances.

US power is 110V on the live and 0V on the neutral. The exact same way we do it for 230V.

Irish/UK portable site power is 55V on the live and 55V on the neutral out of phase. So, the difference from live to neutral is 110V. The idea of this is that if a cable is cut, or someone comes into contact with a live wire, it's only 55V to ground.

Any builders suppiers can sell you an appropriately rated transfomer. They're usually a yellow bucket-shaped device.

Simply change the plug for a yellow European standard CEEform plug, again any DIY store / hardware store of a decent size has these.

US colour codes:

Green = earth
white = neutral
black = live

adrian522

Well my first choice is still to send this back if I can.

I was looking at this on amazon at £98

Would this be appropriate?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AT-Transformer-EUROPE-Voltage-Converter/dp/B004O80LVC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1305889324&sr=8-7

Solair

Well, if I were you I would send it back if there is a decent alternative 230V version available.

In general, coffee machines from European sources are as good / better than US ones.

Also, US appliances are usually limited to about 1500Watts because of their 110V power system. A 15Amp socket at 110V can only safely deliver 1550Wats.

Where as a 13amp socket at 230V delivers up to 2990W.
Or, on the continent the 16A sockets deliver over 3000W.

Technically speaking, they'll calculate the loads at 250V so, it's actually rated for up to 3000W here in Ireland too.

This generally means that European appliances can have much more powerful heaters on board than US ones and that can make a huge difference for coffee machines.

Can you read the exact wattage on the label on the machine itself and also the supply voltage. I assume it's 110-120V ? Some heavier US appliances actually use 230V with different plugs to the usual US-style ones.

I would go for a site transformer if you can, they are approved to British and European standards and are generally much safer.

Changing the plug should be easy enough, if you aren't happy doing it yourself, I'm sure you'll know someone who is capable of doing it.

A lot of adapters/transformers sold online fall into a grey area where they tend to be junk made in China that doesn't conform to any particular standard as they are converting from one to another.

site transformer

Irish/British/European standard 110V plug:

adrian522

Thanks, I'll send it back if at all possible, failing that I may try to sell it on the ebay US site. Still waiting for that first great at home espresso ...

adrian522

Ok, so I've sent this back to the seller (at my expense of €54) and paypal have just credited me back the original price.

So an expensive mistake in the end, don't know why the guy didn't just sell it on the US site in the first place as he obviously knew it was not intended for the european market.

Solair

Well, from the seller's point-of-view, he could actually be in trouble with various agencies in Europe if someone were to make a complaint.

It's not legal to sell a non-European approved (CE marked) device in Europe and it's also not legal if he's based in the UK to supply an appliance for sale without a BS1363 plug i.e. standard 13amp UK/Irish style plug. It's the same in Ireland too.

That appliance is not suitable for use in this market and should not be marketed or sold here. End of story!

Where you do supply something with a 2-pin continental plug, you are supposed to fit an adapter which can be only removed with the use of a tool.

So, I think you should have grounds to make a complaint and get your money back. I'd certainly make some noise about it anyway.