We brought this coffee machine from Italy about 20 years ago, my late husband changed the plug to the British and we enjoyed using this machine for a couple of years. For the last 15 years it was just living on the kitchen worktop. The heating element works fine, I cleaned the inside gently with some lemon juice. It is fantastically heavy - 11 kg (!!). Might consider offers from £400 but you will have to collect from Winchester.