I could certainly see a problem with quality control on the timer contributing, but I think your suspicion of the wiring in the building may be more likely. Even in a single family home, it is amazing to see how much our voltage fluctuates under normal conditions, never mind a lightning strike or otherwise. It gives me fits sometimes when roasting, because on any given day, I can't count on the voltage. You're certainly not going to hurt anything by adding a surge supressor! I'll look at the reviews on amazon--I guess I would fall into the "lasts forever" category so far.
Anyway, best of luck resolving the problem, whatever its cause turns out to be--all we really want is for you to have great espresso again! bmc "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." > From: Richard W <[email protected]> > Reply-To: <[email protected]> > Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 07:23:33 -0700 (PDT) > To: Brewtus <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Brewtus II. No Power light. Sunday morning emergency > > > Ben, > You are probably more correct than I am on this issue. > But, the wires inside the Brewtus II have burned out twice now. The > last time was an explosive burn out that destroyed the h-connector. > It takes about an hour to repair, once you know what is wrong and I > don't want to have to do this again. > > I had the Instamatic TN311 for about 1.5 years before the problem > happened the first time. Two months later it happened again. > > I live in a large (250 apartments) coop building in Manhattan with > many elevators. The electric wiring was last updated in the 1960s. > Maybe there is a surge happening in the building when elevator motors > start up. > Maybe that h-connector (see picture above) is just prone to failure. > WLL tech support originally told me to remove it and connect the wires > directly. > > In any case, I am adding a surge protector and a different heavy > timer. I also removed the h-cnnector. > Maybe the problem will never happen again. Maybe the changes I made > will make a difference. Maybe the switch on the Brewtus is better > designed than the switch in the Intermatic timer. Maybe the building > was hit by lightening. > > In any case, I hope I never see the problem again. > > By the way, take a look at the reviews for the TN311 at amazon.com. > Several people report that it fails and heats up a lot, but others > report that it lasts forever. Maybe there is a sample to sample > quality control problem with it. > > On Jun 5, 11:14 pm, Ben McCafferty <[email protected]> wrote: >> Richard, >> I have used the same Intermatic TN311 (heavy duty, 15A, 1750 W) for over two >> years continuously. >> >> Even if a spark was the same as a surge (which it's not--a surge is a sudden >> rise in voltage, a spark is electricity jumping from one contact to the >> other when they get close enough--if memory serves, it takes 20,000 volts to >> jump 1 cm or something like that), turning the machine on and off manually >> generates a spark also, by your theory, and so should fail also. Again, two >> mechanical switches. If anything, the timer takes the wear of sparking away >> from the red switch, making the red switch essentially wires/conductors >> instead of a switch. >> >> bmc >> "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." >> >> >> >>> From: Richard W <[email protected]> >>> Reply-To: <[email protected]> >>> Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 15:46:14 -0700 (PDT) >>> To: Brewtus <[email protected]> >>> Subject: Re: Brewtus II. No Power light. Sunday morning emergency >> >>> mariowar, >>> I suspect that 1st-line is right. >> >>> Most, but not all, mechanical switches produce a spark when the switch >>> is closed. Spark = voltage surge. >>> You can often see this by looking at a wall switch in a dark room as >>> you flip the switch. This is also why light bulbs burn out just as >>> they are switched on. >> >>> This is the timer I use: >>> http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-TN311C-Heavy-Duty-Grounded-Timer/dp/... >>> O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1244240412&sr=8-1 >> >>> I actually replaced this with a newer one recently because the >>> previous one failed. >>> First burn out of the Brewtus II was with the older timer. Second was >>> about a month after I got the new one. >> >>> I am going to get a surge protector as a precaution. >>> Maybe this one from Belkin would be the simplest and least expensive. >>> Maybe the one you linked to. >>> http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-SurgeCube-Surge-Protector-1-Outlet/dp/B0... >>> ref=rsl_mainw_dpl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER >> >>> For those who responded that they never have had problems with >>> appliance timers, which brand & model have you used. >>> Not all switches are equal in quality when it come to sparks. Maybe >>> some timers are better than the one I have. >> >>> On Jun 5, 4:43 pm, mariowar <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> "Timers are just a switch and as such, can't actually produce a >>>> surge, >>>> Not any more than just flipping the switch on and off or plugging and >>>> un-plugging the machine." >> >>>> Ira, when I read it I found it weird as well, however, they service >>>> machines and they should know what they are talking about. >> >>>> http://www.1st-line.com/cofffact/power_protection.htm >> >>>> b) if you have a timer on the outlet, you should plug in the timer >>>> first, then the surge supresor, and then the espresso machine. We have >>>> found in several instances that timers can cause a surge."- Hide quoted >>>> text - >> >> - Show quoted text - > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. 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