Yes - my preference also. The kitchen's circuit's incoming leg is pretty recent 12-3 copper Romex which is run through the crawlspace back to the main panel - this seems a competent install. The leg which feeds back to the outlets where we'd much prefer to have the Brewtus isn't so good. This is a WWI era house, and while much of the kitchen tile is original, the section around the these outlets appears to have been replaced and the sockets re-wired from the original knob & tube with cloth-covered 14-2 wire in a possibly linen sheath with an uninsulated ground wire wrapped around it.
Apparently, our electrician wimped out on installing 14-3 Romex behind the new cabinets, and just used the existing wiring. My hunch is that this elderly wiring is somewhat marginal for sustained 15 amp loads, and certainly inadequate for 20 amps. We can run the Brewtus's power cord behind the sink and use it on the true 20 amp circuit, and just use the weaker sockets to power our Mazzer grinder and a 900W teapot - this should suffice until I'm ready to go spend a day with the rats and spiders installing 14-3 leg in the crawlspace. Cheers Jim On Monday, November 30, 2020 at 11:03:04 PM UTC-5 bg wrote: > I presume the Brewtus is in your kitchen. Unless changed, I believe the > NC electrical code requires 20 amp breakers in kitchens. 15 amp > receptacles are allowed since there are usually multiples on each circuit, > but for me, I would stay with the 20 on a large load. > > beeg > > > > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of > *James > Mitchell > *Sent:* Monday, November 30, 2020 9:01 PM > *To:* Brewtus <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Brewtus Brewtality... > > > > Things aren't going so well with our Brewtus II - Katherine was making our > morning shots, and as she turned towards the sink with its drip tray: > "There was this 'Swizz. Pop., BANG!' and all the kitchen lights went out." > > > > No, it wasn't our neighbors playing with an RPG - it was the blessed brew > boiler heating element going South and taking out a GFCI socket in a fairly > spectacular fashion: > > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C0w2AIcqeqiuG6vqQHi5FW9MmCvCIcL7/view?usp=sharing > > > > It looks like there was water intrusion near the element's base, and when > it flashed to steam it ripped the element apart. The loud bang was a very > marginal GFCI socket failing to deal with a dead short on a twenty amp > circuit. > > > > The circuit is now on a 15 amp breaker, there's a medical-grade dual > socket rated for 15 amp continuous service, and a new boiler element is due > this week from WLL. > > > > No one appears to have stock on the Expobar-specific thread sealant - > Stefano recommends an italian sealant which looks very good - which I'd > buy, but USPS from Oregon to North Carolina is pretty glacial at the best > of times, and we're getting impatient. > > > > The local HVAC folks who keep our 75 year old steam heat system working > swear by Permatex 56521: "It applies easily, sets up quickly, remains > flexible, and in a clean joint - never, ever leaks." > > > > 56521 has no NSF rating, and its MDS lists ethanol as a primary carrier, > with 1% Methanol as an additional carrier. While folks have maintained that > K's coffee: "Could stun a horse & blind a donkey..." I've no desire to > actualize their experience, and will use the sealant only on the the upper > threads with 4-5 wraps of teflon tape on the lower threads to isolate it > from the brew water. > > > > There appears to be good water flow through the E61, with no portafilter > the Elka pump will fill an 8 oz glass in less than 15 seconds - I'll pull > the water level probe, clean and inspect it for continuity and scale, to > eliminate it causing an underfill condition. > > > > Much past this point, my troubleshooting gets fairly mystical, since the > volume of water flow through the grouphead belies issues with the parker > valve or Elka pump, my most popular theories tend to include demons, > Maxwell Houses, and extremely bad JuJu. > > > > Cheers & Thanks > > Jim > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Brewtus" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/2e070887-e040-46a8-a389-a475b2f26cedn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/2e070887-e040-46a8-a389-a475b2f26cedn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/e3c81d8b-fa83-435f-b4f8-65f46cd3646an%40googlegroups.com.
