Bringing Russian kitchen appliances into the US

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Gary--a regular waffle maker would make thick waffles, which is not what the OP describes.

OK, doesn't matter in regards to electrical supply though. Thanks.

[slim 1,525]

OK guys, I know you're right (and thanks for relating it to guns, Gary. Very easy to understand now!) but I still think it would work! For some strange reason, it just seems like things from that Soviet-era design system seem to work no matter what. Think AK-47!

I'm almost to the point where I'm gonna Pay-Pal Mike some money for an adapter and have Irina bring it back just to test it out. Maybe even write Mythbusters or something.

Maybe we could do a VJ RUB Forum Mythbusters! We sure have a lot of "myths" on here!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

OK guys, I know you're right (and thanks for relating it to guns, Gary. Very easy to understand now!) but I still think it would work! For some strange reason, it just seems like things from that Soviet-era design system seem to work no matter what. Think AK-47!

I'm almost to the point where I'm gonna Pay-Pal Mike some money for an adapter and have Irina bring it back just to test it out. Maybe even write Mythbusters or something.

Maybe we could do a VJ RUB Forum Mythbusters! We sure have a lot of "myths" on here!

TV is one of those thngs we don't have in our house. 500 channels and nothing on. But if I had a TV, I would watch Mythbusters. It was one of the only good shows on TV and you can't get it anywhere on the internet (except 2 minute clips)

Anyway, sorry, but even the guy that invented the AK-47 cannot find a way around the physics of electricity. Our son is also an engineering student at the Moscow Physical Technical Institute, and believe me, they are teaching him the same stuff they do here...even though it IS the eastern hemisphere and everything! Amazing.

Actually, Slim, there are uses for the differences. Some (maybe more than I care to admit) years ago, before some of the lighting and control options we have today, I used to recommend the use of 230v lamps (light bulbs for those in Rio Linda) in locations where access was limited or difficult or expensive. They just lasted forever when operated on 110v electricity, but weren't too bright (OK, no comments about the author!) Anyway in commercial applications where the use was mostly decorative, it was useful. A lot of those uses have gone away now as people don't seem so interested in the liberal use of thousands of incandescent light bulbs for decoration.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

OK guys, I know you're right (and thanks for relating it to guns, Gary. Very easy to understand now!) but I still think it would work! For some strange reason, it just seems like things from that Soviet-era design system seem to work no matter what. Think AK-47!

I'm almost to the point where I'm gonna Pay-Pal Mike some money for an adapter and have Irina bring it back just to test it out. Maybe even write Mythbusters or something.

Maybe we could do a VJ RUB Forum Mythbusters! We sure have a lot of "myths" on here!

Yes, I want to know if ice cubes really cause polio, tuberculosis, sore throats and ingrown toenails. Does Coca-Cola really eat away your stomach until you have no stomach? And is a woman's reproductive system really damaged by sitting on a cold bench?

Here is a good one...one of Alla's friends has to have surgery. Alla says "Good thing it is in the cold months because now she won't get an infection" WHAT? Yes, "When it is hot and wet, like in summer, infection is everywhere, even in the air, you can hardly have surgery and avoid an infection because the germs come out of the air and get into your wound" WHAT????!!!!!!!! "But when it is cold, it kills all the germs and you will not get infection" Really? So we should sleep with the windows open? Maybe turn on a fan to blow some of that infection free clean air on us while we are sleeping? NOOOOOOOOOOO! Not that, are you crazy?

[justashooter 430]

i built a "hot pot table" for my chinese wife so that we can cook chinese style, and used chinese made induction cooktop appliances in it's construction. the table is mission style oak , stick built, about 7 feet long, 200 pounds, and is designed to seat 6. each place setting has it's own indivudual induction cooktop. any iron based pot or container placed on the cooktops that will attract a magnet will heat due to induction generated by the magnetic coils in the induction units. these appliances are designed for chinese current, which is 240/50Hz. and originally had standard 2 slot plugs like we use for 110/60Hz here in America.

i wired the cords of the units with 220V rated plugs and provided sockets for them under the table, and ran these into a union that plugs into a direct floor outlet that is fed 30 amps of 220 volt power from the breaker box. each unit is rated at 1.3Kw, so 6 at a time is no problem, and adding 2 more on a few occasions has been OK. each unit has a control panel and a microprocessor with timers and power settings, and the electronics seems unaffected by the voltage variation and frequency differential.

frequency differential affects RMS voltage, which is an average effective voltage that resides somewhere below the maximum potential. in 60 hertz and single stage 110, you are bouncing a wave 60 times a second against a dead neutral, so RMS is about 63% of peak. with single phase 220 you are getting two 110 volt legs in opposing rythym, so RMS is again about 65% of potential. with 3 phase power you are running 3 legs in synch, so see something like RMS at 85% of potential. reducing the cyclic rate would seem to have a negative effect on RMS, so we interpolate that 240/50 is very close to 220/60, in effective RMS.

[justashooter 430]

i should add that any electrician (or decent handyman) can install a special socket in your kitchen counter splashboard to supply 220 volt current, especially if you already have it handy, as attached to an electric oven or some such appliance. if you want to do it yourself you can get the parts you need at lowes for about 20 bux. you need some 12 gauge wire (assuming a total draw of less than 20 amps, which is a damned lot in 220 volts, like a 30 gallon water heater would use), a unique 220 volt style socket that will not accept 110V 2 slot plugs, and a screwdriver. just pull the oven out and unplug it or trip it's breaker, remove the cover where the wire goes in, hardwire your 12 gauge romex housewire (2 insulated and one bare ground) to the two hot legs of the connection panel where the appliance cord connects and the grounding buss, run the wire up to your box （convert an existing one) and wire in your special plug. affix a mate for it to any russian appliances your wife wants to use, and bob's your uncle.

if you are not comfortable with wiring, find someone who is. electricity is like a gun. uneducated persons should not be handling it.

[Darnell 8,478]

Other suggestion - tell her to go back to the appliance store, and buy the same thing with UNIVERSAL VOLTAGE plug. They exist... she just has to look.

This isn't a 'prong adaptor', per say, but takes any voltage amount from 110V to 220V. There's a built in transformer that steps the voltage stuff..

[slim 1,525]

I almost feel like the smartest man on VJ right now. Thanks guys! Seriously, in a time when people are so happy to be dumb and not know anything, it's nice to see that guys out there still get $#!t done. I pity the dude that calls AAA to change his tire because he doesn't know how.

I'm no genius, but I'm pretty sure between the last few posts, I could probably rewire my whole house right about now. - And put in one of those awesome tables!

[SMR 368]

i built a "hot pot table" for my chinese wife so that we can cook chinese style, and used chinese made induction cooktop appliances in it's construction. the table is mission style oak , stick built, about 7 feet long, 200 pounds, and is designed to seat 6. each place setting has it's own indivudual induction cooktop. any iron based pot or container placed on the cooktops that will attract a magnet will heat due to induction generated by the magnetic coils in the induction units. these appliances are designed for chinese current, which is 240/50Hz. and originally had standard 2 slot plugs like we use for 110/60Hz here in America.

i wired the cords of the units with 220V rated plugs and provided sockets for them under the table, and ran these into a union that plugs into a direct floor outlet that is fed 30 amps of 220 volt power from the breaker box. each unit is rated at 1.3Kw, so 6 at a time is no problem, and adding 2 more on a few occasions has been OK. each unit has a control panel and a microprocessor with timers and power settings, and the electronics seems unaffected by the voltage variation and frequency differential.

frequency differential affects RMS voltage, which is an average effective voltage that resides somewhere below the maximum potential. in 60 hertz and single stage 110, you are bouncing a wave 60 times a second against a dead neutral, so RMS is about 63% of peak. with single phase 220 you are getting two 110 volt legs in opposing rythym, so RMS is again about 65% of potential. with 3 phase power you are running 3 legs in synch, so see something like RMS at 85% of potential. reducing the cyclic rate would seem to have a negative effect on RMS, so we interpolate that 240/50 is very close to 220/60, in effective RMS.

That sounds like a cool table. I bet it was a lot of fun to build.

While it's true that two and three phase power have higher RMS values than single phase, RMS voltage is actually independent of frequency. It's a simple matter of taking one phase of a sine wave, rectifying it so it's all positive and then averaging it. The only value that matters is the maximum. RMS voltage of single phase is about 70.7% of the maximum voltage (1/sqrt(2)). Although a lower frequency means there are longer periods of low voltage, there are correspondingly longer periods of high voltage so the average is the same. For a heating application frequency is irrelevant as long as the frequency is high enough to prevent the heater from noticeably cooling during the off times (even 10 Hz would probably be more than enough).

In some applications, like a fluorescent light bulb, frequency matters (you see it turning on and off). The only applications where frequency is critical are some synchronous motors and anything that measures time based on the line voltage frequency.

[justashooter 430]

http://www.expatgroups.com/forums/index.ph...amp;#entry56507

attached is a pic of the table with my wife and a chinese business partner. since the pic i have made benches and a 4 cabinet sideboard to match, and painted the dining room.

Edited December 4, 2009 by justashooter

[slim 1,525]

Wow! That sure is a nice looking table... and stuff!

[peejay 327]

I didn't go back through all of the past posts in this thread, but I can give some advice through some experience with Russian appliances my wife brought over here from Belarus. We just bought an adapter plug that allows the pin type Russian plug to piggie-back onto the American blade type plug. No transformers needed to step it down because Russian juice is 220V and USA is 110V. My wife's 220V electric teapot works fine, but it takes forever to heat water at 110V because it was made to work at 220V. Now my wife just heats her tea water in a pot on our stove to speed things up. The Russian teapot now is not used anymore.

I'm sure the O/P's waffle maker will work here, but it will take more time to get up to heat. It won't get fried by plugging it straight into USA juice.

Similarly the transformer on my laptop computer is rated to convert AC volts to DC volts. The tag sez it is good from 110V to 240V and 50 mhz to 60 mhz. I just bought a simple plug adapter to allow me to piggie-back the USA blade type plug into the Russian pin type plug so it can be plugged into the Russian pin type receptacle. It will charge the battery and run the laptop, but it gets a heck of a lot warmer than it does when it is plugged in at home in the USA. No problems or damage were encountered though.

A word of caution. You can go from Russian 220V to USA 110V without a step down transformer. But you will definitely need a step down transformer to go from USA 110V to Russian 220V.

[justashooter 430]

Wow! That sure is a nice looking table... and stuff!

i'd be willing to trade for a few weeks if you wanna. hell, plane tickets are cheap.

[slim 1,525]

Wow! That sure is a nice looking table... and stuff!

i'd be willing to trade for a few weeks if you wanna. hell, plane tickets are cheap.

I tried this route already.... my wife said that if our table wasn't good enough for me then I could just eat by myself.

We'll give her a few years though. After eating at the same table, day in and day out, maybe eventually she'll be ready for some new wood.

[Neonred 3,564]

Wow! That sure is a nice looking table... and stuff!

i'd be willing to trade for a few weeks if you wanna. hell, plane tickets are cheap.

I tried this route already.... my wife said that if our table wasn't good enough for me then I could just eat by myself.

We'll give her a few years though. After eating at the same table, day in and day out, maybe eventually she'll be ready for some new wood.

Oh my. I'm trying not to giggle.