Posted Mon Nov 12, 2012, 8:04pm Subject: Compak K10 Pro Barista
Will it hurt my K10 to run it off of a surge protector? Like most of you I single dose so the surge protector switch is much easier for me to use when I pulse the grinder. I don't know why it would hurt it, but I thought I would ask just to be sure.
It's function in life is to "Short out" any voltage over and above standard voltage.
When you "pulse" your grinder, you slam that little MOV with voltage transient after voltage transient, which means they will eventually fail. This is because motors draw a lot of current for a split second when they are first starting up, which causes the voltage to dip down, when you stop the pulse, the voltage momentarily spikes, but not a lot.
Now, don't get me wrong.... It is absolutely normal for a MOV to fail. In fact, they all do. When they fail, that little "Protected" light goes out and your surge protected power bar just turns itself into a normal power bar. All that pulsing your K10 on it will do is reduce the lifespan of that little MOV down from years to months, or even weeks.
Sometimes, that little MOV will blow within a few weeks of normal use because all it takes is one big voltage surge and it's done. The sad part is, on really cheap surge protectors, you can't even tell when the MOV has blown until the equipment connected to it has blown up too. (Which is why I never protect equipment connected to a power bar that doesn't have a "Protected" light on it.)
IMO, You can use a surge protector to control power going to your devices, but I would make sure that it has a heavy duty switch and not a cheap rocker switch. IMHO, I'd rather wire up a box with a standard light switch in it with a male plug on one side and a standard female plug on the other and use that.
Now, if you said you were going to connect your grinder up to a UPS unit, I'd say that would be an absolute no-no, for many technical reasons that I'm not going to bother explaining.
Posted Tue Nov 13, 2012, 10:27am Subject: Re: Compak K10 Pro Barista
Qualin,
I just checked the surge protector and it does have one of those protection lights. It stays off most of the time, and when it is on it is just flickering. I will check into a better one. Any suggestions?
Oh wow. Yeah, I know a few coffee geeks actually just use darkroom timers because that's the easiest solution to go with and they generally can provide for a short burst of power for a few seconds as you need it.
One of the biggest advantages of using a darkroom timer is that it allows for consistent time-based grinding, which I've noticed is a HUGE time saver when you are banging off lots of shots.
If you build this custom solution mentioned, I wish you the best of luck! It doesn't look that hard to build and would do the job quite nicely. I would rather do that than rely on flipping a switch.
dtsuther Said:
How can I tell if the surge protector has a heavy duty switch in it?
Well, this is more of a matter of feel more than anything. In all honesty, a MOV costs less than $0.25. Since it is so cheap, it's difficult to find a cheap power bar without a surge protector in it. Personally, I find that the beige APC SurgeArrest power bars have nice big easy to flip power switches. Something like this: APC surge-arrest-series - Example Only
These power bars actually cost something, so when the protection light goes out on these guys, don't throw them out. :-) Just use them for something else which doesn't need surge protection.
dtsuther Said:
I just checked the surge protector and it does have one of those protection lights. It stays off most of the time, and when it is on it is just flickering. I will check into a better one. Any suggestions?
OK, Perhaps we should step back a second here. This is actually a good sign, this means that the MOV on this power bar is probably shot which makes it ideal for use with non-electronic devices. In other words, a power strip with a blown MOV just becomes an ordinary power bar. I don't honestly see the point in even surge protecting any motorized appliance unless it has electronics in it.
jwoodyu Senior Member Joined: 31 Dec 2010 Posts: 705 Location: Michigan Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Allex Duetto II Grinder: Mazzer Major Roaster: Poppery
Posted Wed Nov 14, 2012, 7:03am Subject: Re: Compak K10 Pro Barista
qualin Said:
Oh wow. Yeah, I know a few coffee geeks actually just use darkroom timers because that's the easiest solution to go with and they generally can provide for a short burst of power for a few seconds as you need it.
I would be one of those geeks with a darkroom timer ;0). My Major has the switch on the side bypassed and i use the stomp box switch for the dark room timer. Step on the switch the grinder runs however long i have set the timer for. This leaves my hands are free to wack the doser and hold the PF. When I am banging out shots for a party the setup really shines. The timer is adjustable by 1/10 of seconds and handle the draw from my Major with ease.
You know those people that want to tell you how to raise your kids but have none of their own? That is how i feel when someone with a kitchen appliance tells me how the merits or dis-merits of my machine or how to use it.
jwoodyu Senior Member Joined: 31 Dec 2010 Posts: 705 Location: Michigan Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Allex Duetto II Grinder: Mazzer Major Roaster: Poppery
Posted Wed Nov 14, 2012, 3:12pm Subject: Re: Compak K10 Pro Barista
Gralab 525 with a foot switch just like this one ;0) I think i gave $60 for mine with the foot switch and shipping. I had to lurk ebay and craigslist for a couple weeks to get it done that cheap. Google Searchtempest.
You know those people that want to tell you how to raise your kids but have none of their own? That is how i feel when someone with a kitchen appliance tells me how the merits or dis-merits of my machine or how to use it.
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