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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on February 16, 2010 at 12:21pm

What exactly are you asking? Do you have a four prong outlet and want to plug your linea into that? Not all four prong plugs are the same. Some are 3phase with no neutral and some are single phase with a neutral. Do you know the voltage at the plug? I know how to rewire the plug if everything is correct but I need some more info before I can be of any assistance.

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Sean Maddox on February 16, 2010 at 1:53pm

Thanks for your reply Mike. I have a 220V outlet that accepts a four prong plug. The plug on the Linea is 3 prong. So I need to change out the wire/plug on the Linea to a four prong.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on February 16, 2010 at 2:13pm

Hi Sean. Do you know for sure what the voltage is at the receptacle? Do you have access to a multimeter? Do you know how to take a reading at the receptacle? 208 is a popular voltage in a commercial setting and in some cases you might find 240vac. And if the receptacle has four prongs what are they hooked up to? Single phase or three phase? If it is a three phase circuit then you will have a three pole breaker at the box and three hot leads at the receptacle. If it is a single phase circuit there will be a two pole breaker and two hot leads and a neutral at the receptacle. I mostly need to know if there is a neutral line on the circuit. I also need to know what flavor of four prong plug you have. There should be some numbers printed on it that conform to a NEMA spec, i.e L14-20. We also need to make sure that the circuit has enough juice for your machine. Can you tell me what the breaker is rated and the wattage rating for your machine? Sorry for all the questions. I just don't want to end up giving you info that blows up your machine or starts a fire in the wall.

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Permalink Reply by Jared Rutledge on February 16, 2010 at 3:23pm

it's not that hard to wire one in, i'd keep calling around till you find an electrician that actually wants to earn his keep. my electrician wired my gb/5 in just right (including the pump) and he doesn't know the first thing about espresso machines. he just knew what was neutral, ground, hot, etc. and fixed it right up.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on February 16, 2010 at 3:41pm

As well, I can give you the name of the tech my company uses in Atlanta. He's good. Doing this kind of thing is easy. It just might not be legal, which is why some people might not be so willing to do it. If you're installing in new construction there is no way an electrical inspector will let this kind of rewiring fly. If you don't have an inspection to deal with using a four prong plug instead of a three is easy. The circuit just needs to be appropriate for the machine and have at least two hot poles and one ground. If you like you can PM me and I'll call you back to step you through.

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Permalink Reply by Sean Maddox on February 16, 2010 at 6:11pm

My multimeter is reading 240.

It's a double pole 30 Amp breaker with one red and one black hot coming out of it. There is also a white neutral and copper ground going back to the receptacle.

I think the NEMA spec is 14-30R but it's really hard to see.

Mike Sabol said:

Hi Sean. Do you know for sure what the voltage is at the receptacle? Do you have access to a multimeter? Do you know how to take a reading at the receptacle? 208 is a popular voltage in a commercial setting and in some cases you might find 240vac. And if the receptacle has four prongs what are they hooked up to? Single phase or three phase? If it is a three phase circuit then you will have a three pole breaker at the box and three hot leads at the receptacle. If it is a single phase circuit there will be a two pole breaker and two hot leads and a neutral at the receptacle. I mostly need to know if there is a neutral line on the circuit. I also need to know what flavor of four prong plug you have. There should be some numbers printed on it that conform to a NEMA spec, i.e L14-20. We also need to make sure that the circuit has enough juice for your machine. Can you tell me what the breaker is rated and the wattage rating for your machine? Sorry for all the questions. I just don't want to end up giving you info that blows up your machine or starts a fire in the wall.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on February 16, 2010 at 6:38pm

I can believe it. A regular appliance tech would probably not have run across this situation. You're asking an electrician to improvise a bit, which is not something many are comfortable with.

Is there a particular reason that you are dealing with an appliance technician instead of an espresso machine tech? There's a pretty big difference.

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Permalink Reply by Sean Maddox on February 16, 2010 at 7:01pm

Apparently I haven't found the right espresso machine tech either. The only one I found in Atlanta (so far) does not work on La Marzoccos.

Brady said:

I can believe it. A regular appliance tech would probably not have run across this situation. You're asking an electrician to improvise a bit, which is not something many are comfortable with.

Is there a particular reason that you are dealing with an appliance technician instead of an espresso machine tech? There's a pretty big difference.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on February 16, 2010 at 7:19pm

Alright. The plug rewire is simple. The three wires coming out of the machine are hot-hot-ground. The ground should be green and the hot wires are probably black/white or black/red. On the 14-30P (the plug or male) the ground terminal is the one with the dog leg on it. Neutral is oposite, oftentimes a white or silver color, and the two hot legs are on either side if the Ground/Neutral is Up/Down. Just wire your four prong plug with the hot legs coming from the machine into the hot terminals on the plug. Wire the ground to the ground terminal. Leave the neutral empty. Easy.

I am assuming you bought a functional machine and you just need to plug it in. For a machine that was otherwise operating good on a three prong plug this will work fine. It's not even dangerous. I know that four group lineas needed a 50 amp breaker. At 240 your machine will be pulling the maximum that it's rated for. So you could be close to the limit on your breaker. If you divide the wattage rating by 240 (the volts) that will tell you how many amps you'll be pulling. If it's below 30 you're good.

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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on February 16, 2010 at 8:42pm

If it's a 3gr (or less) Linea 30A circuit fine. If it's a 4gr you need a 40A circuit. (or larger, I had mine run 50A circuit for go juice expansion room if needed.) 4gr would likely run ok on a 30A circuit, but it's supposed to be on a 40 or larger...

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Permalink Reply by Tim Schmoyer on March 17, 2019 at 6:32am

Sorry to hop on here so long after the original post.  But a question for Mike Sabol and anyone else who may know:

I have a two group Aurelia I (2010).  I am moving into a building with a 220 four-prong outlet (14-30P).  My current machine plug is a three prong.  I want to confirm that I can connect green wire to the Ground prong, black wire to the X prong, and white wire to the Y prong.  Leave the plug's W prong empty.  This would give me two hots and a ground, no neutral.  Sounds right?  

I made this video to show what I'm talking about:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrtg06im58s

Before I go live with this, I just wanted some confirmation.

Thanks again

Tim Schmoyer

Mike Sabol said:

Alright. The plug rewire is simple. The three wires coming out of the machine are hot-hot-ground. The ground should be green and the hot wires are probably black/white or black/red. On the 14-30P (the plug or male) the ground terminal is the one with the dog leg on it. Neutral is oposite, oftentimes a white or silver color, and the two hot legs are on either side if the Ground/Neutral is Up/Down. Just wire your four prong plug with the hot legs coming from the machine into the hot terminals on the plug. Wire the ground to the ground terminal. Leave the neutral empty. Easy.

I am assuming you bought a functional machine and you just need to plug it in. For a machine that was otherwise operating good on a three prong plug this will work fine. It's not even dangerous. I know that four group lineas needed a 50 amp breaker. At 240 your machine will be pulling the maximum that it's rated for. So you could be close to the limit on your breaker. If you divide the wattage rating by 240 (the volts) that will tell you how many amps you'll be pulling. If it's below 30 you're good.

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