So, in theory my S1 arrives tomorrow (UPS is usually late in the day here, so there's not much I'll be able to do. Wonder if I'll be "sick" on Friday ...)
Anyway, I have to arrange the plumbing and the power.
First, plumbing. The S1 will sit next to the sink, on a tile counter with a tile backsplash. I have the choice of either drilling through the tile down into the cupboards or drilling through the sink (or, in theory, drilling through the wall, since the water heater and its plumbing is on the reverse side but that's probably not worth while.) Seems like drilling through the sink (stainless steel, I think) would be the easiest. Leaves a bit of the plumbing showing, perhaps, but I'm not sure that really bothers me (we're not talking a high-end kitchen here.) Drilling into the backsplash seems like a pain (have to route the plumbing into the wall). Drilling into the counter leaves a hole after me. People talk about just replacing a tile, but I have no idea how well I could match these tiles.
How do people finish the holes? In the sink, it should be water tight. Is that feasible?
As to power, I'm just sort of curious why people are so worried about 20A on non-dedicated but 20A circuits. Might pop the breaker, but it shouldn't be dangerous. I'm not likely to have multiple devices on at the same time, so I figure it's worth giving it a shot. Am I missing something?
Plumbing and power ...
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woodchuck
I have only plumbed in the water supply. I don't find the emptying the nice large drip tray too much of a pain. I put in a sediment and softener filter under the sink and ran a 3/8 inch JW hose through the rear wall and up to the back splash where I drilled a hole covered with a blank outlet plate at the same level as the rest of the outlets. Ran a seperate 20amp service up for the machine.
Cheers
Ian
Cheers
Ian
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Niko
Re: Plumbing and power ...
You can start a fire.aptosca wrote: Might pop the breaker, but it shouldn't be dangerous. I'm not likely to have multiple devices on at the same time, so I figure it's worth giving it a shot. Am I missing something?
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aptosca
What's gonna start on fire? I don't know codel, so I don't know if this is true, but from what I've read, wiring matches breaker, so if I have a 20A breaker, I have 12 gauge wire (obviously I can/will check this.)
If this is the case, I don't see the fire vulnerability: everything's rated for 20A and the breaker will trip if things go over that, so the wire won't get overloaded.
How different is this from plugging two hair driers into two sides of a 15A socket on a shared 20A circuit?
Clearly running on a shared 20A circuit leaves no headroom but it is a 20A circuit, not a 15A circuit, so I would think there would be no elevated danger (except of inconvenience).
I could easily have something wrong here, so feel free to (and thanks for) educating me ...
If this is the case, I don't see the fire vulnerability: everything's rated for 20A and the breaker will trip if things go over that, so the wire won't get overloaded.
How different is this from plugging two hair driers into two sides of a 15A socket on a shared 20A circuit?
Clearly running on a shared 20A circuit leaves no headroom but it is a 20A circuit, not a 15A circuit, so I would think there would be no elevated danger (except of inconvenience).
I could easily have something wrong here, so feel free to (and thanks for) educating me ...
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blacroix
Keep in mind that some breakers don't actually trip at their rated spec (Federal Pacific is famous for this) and therefore are fire hazards. Continuously tripping a breaker is also bad for the breaker itself. I think one of the biggest concerns on a shared breaker in a kitchen is that it'll be on the same circuit as a fridge, microwave or toaster. Shut off that breaker and see what else is connected to it so you can make a more informed decision.
If you find yourself tripping the breaker all the time, switch it to 15A mode. From what I've experienced - my brew boiler only takes about 3-4 minutes before it shuts it's light off - so initial warm up time (if you're making milk drinks) will only be 3-4 minutes longer. That certainly shouldn't be a show stopper.
If you find yourself tripping the breaker all the time, switch it to 15A mode. From what I've experienced - my brew boiler only takes about 3-4 minutes before it shuts it's light off - so initial warm up time (if you're making milk drinks) will only be 3-4 minutes longer. That certainly shouldn't be a show stopper.
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aptosca
Breakers that don't trip sound like hazards, w/ or w/o the S1.
I'm pretty sure the fridge is on it's own circuit and I'm pretty sure the MW and toaster aren't. I figured I'd avoid using those when the S1 was on. Don't know how realistic that is.
It was really always about being an experiment: I actually thought the circuits had 15A breakers so I'd planned on running in 15A mode until I rewired, and then only if it annoyed me enough to be worth the trouble. Now perhaps I'll experiment. If I trip the breaker even once, I'd probably switch to economy mode because the hassle of resetting the breaker is more than waiting. Then the only decision would be how much hassle to rewire.
I've thought about putting the S1 in the utility room which is right next to where it would be. There I have an unused 220 outlet that I can easily step down. If I go the roasting route, that's where it'd go. But the s1 is so pretty, seems a shame to banish it.
I'm pretty sure the fridge is on it's own circuit and I'm pretty sure the MW and toaster aren't. I figured I'd avoid using those when the S1 was on. Don't know how realistic that is.
It was really always about being an experiment: I actually thought the circuits had 15A breakers so I'd planned on running in 15A mode until I rewired, and then only if it annoyed me enough to be worth the trouble. Now perhaps I'll experiment. If I trip the breaker even once, I'd probably switch to economy mode because the hassle of resetting the breaker is more than waiting. Then the only decision would be how much hassle to rewire.
I've thought about putting the S1 in the utility room which is right next to where it would be. There I have an unused 220 outlet that I can easily step down. If I go the roasting route, that's where it'd go. But the s1 is so pretty, seems a shame to banish it.
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aptosca
Ahhh ...
Though it did take a little effort to get to "Ahhh ..."
Got it. Unboxed it. Gauge was messed up. Sent e-mail to Chris and twisted it anyway. Had to actually take the bracket off that's there now or I couldn't get very good registration with the front panel. Tim at Chris's says it should be possible to get reasonable registration even with the bracket on. Maybe I'll try to put it back on at some point. It's not hurting anything now (though I certainly wont' ship it w/o, if I ever have to.)
Then plumbing. Wow John Guest stuff really is easy. Does anyone know if JG can be got at retail? I was thinking of adding a tee with a shutoff between the filters and the s1. That way I can flush new cartirdges without having to disconnect the S1 (though I'm worried about sediment getting left in the tee, so I'm not sure about this.) And I can relieve pressure in the system w/o having to power on the S1 if I ever have to.
Anyway, that all went pretty fast. So I hooked up the water (coming out the front of the sink for now) and turned the water on. No leaks. Then plugged in the s1 and turned it on.
It did it's little self test, then filled the boilers, then started heating them in 15A mode.
Then it went to an error code: the group wasn't coming up to temp or it wasn't getting a temp reading.
Yuck.
Talked to Tim early this morning. He told me to take the top of and look at the temp sensor wire. It looked okay, but there was clearly a wire off the group boiler. I could see it and touch it but I couldn't get it back on. So I had to take off the back. 5 min to take off the back, 15 seconds to connect the wire ... and an hour to get the back back on (Tim warned me). At least I know how to do it.
So then it all came up to temp. I took the opporutnity (with the back off) to switch it into 20A mode but I've left it in economy mode for now.
First couple of shots weren't half bad, then I made a mess (with my naked portafilter). Even that didn't taste terrible.
Tempting to drink too much coffee ...
Though it did take a little effort to get to "Ahhh ..."
Got it. Unboxed it. Gauge was messed up. Sent e-mail to Chris and twisted it anyway. Had to actually take the bracket off that's there now or I couldn't get very good registration with the front panel. Tim at Chris's says it should be possible to get reasonable registration even with the bracket on. Maybe I'll try to put it back on at some point. It's not hurting anything now (though I certainly wont' ship it w/o, if I ever have to.)
Then plumbing. Wow John Guest stuff really is easy. Does anyone know if JG can be got at retail? I was thinking of adding a tee with a shutoff between the filters and the s1. That way I can flush new cartirdges without having to disconnect the S1 (though I'm worried about sediment getting left in the tee, so I'm not sure about this.) And I can relieve pressure in the system w/o having to power on the S1 if I ever have to.
Anyway, that all went pretty fast. So I hooked up the water (coming out the front of the sink for now) and turned the water on. No leaks. Then plugged in the s1 and turned it on.
It did it's little self test, then filled the boilers, then started heating them in 15A mode.
Then it went to an error code: the group wasn't coming up to temp or it wasn't getting a temp reading.
Yuck.
Talked to Tim early this morning. He told me to take the top of and look at the temp sensor wire. It looked okay, but there was clearly a wire off the group boiler. I could see it and touch it but I couldn't get it back on. So I had to take off the back. 5 min to take off the back, 15 seconds to connect the wire ... and an hour to get the back back on (Tim warned me). At least I know how to do it.
So then it all came up to temp. I took the opporutnity (with the back off) to switch it into 20A mode but I've left it in economy mode for now.
First couple of shots weren't half bad, then I made a mess (with my naked portafilter). Even that didn't taste terrible.
Tempting to drink too much coffee ...