How do I rewire an electric arepa maker to heat on 220 v from 110v configuration?

Question

A friend gave me a toastyarepa jr that was already converted my an electrician. I have purchased a second one. I know that the the heating elements just need to be hooked up in series rather than parallel and perhaps a resisor changed. Can anyone give me a layman's description of how to do this. I watched it done one time but the electrician was spanish speaking so I could not ask questins.. Using a converter is not an option.

Thanks,

Answer 1

If this was designed for reconnection, you should find that the cord goes behind a small cover on the bottom. If you take the cover off, you should find the wires are connected to two s***w terminals (3 if there is a ground). For 110V operation, there will be two wires from further inside connected to each of the two terminals along with the wire from the cord. There should be another s***w terminal that has nothing connected to it. For 220V, you need to remove 1 internal wire from each of the two terminals and connect those two wires to the unused terminal.

You may have a problem in determining which of the two wires must be moved. The two wires must not be internally connected to opposite ends of the same heater element. One wire must belong to one element and the other wire must belong to the other element. You may need an ohmmeter to determine which wire is which. In any event, it would be good to have an ohmmeter to verify that the resistance between the prongs of the plug has doubled after you have moved the wires.

The wires may be numbered or otherwise identified and the bottom of the appliance or the back of the compartment cover may have a diagram or something  that indicates how they should be connected. It may help to examine the one that has already been converted.