Vasile,

As an authority on power in the former Soviet Union <WINK>, I can tell you
that the neutral was *not* grounded.  I remember my early experiments - by
connecting a lamp between neutral and ground, I was getting ~40 volts at a
couple of hundred milliamps.  Also, I heard that in some places, you could
bypass the meter.  All you had to do is disconnect neutral and use water
pipes instead.  Free electricity.  :-)

Harold -

Formally, the standard is 220V, 50Hz.  However, like Vasile noted, the power
constantly fluctuates in the 180...240V range.  I remember everyone using
surge suppressors to protect their sensitive appliances.  Color TV's have a
tendency to catch fire after a 300V power surge.

I also heard from my professor how in East Germany VCRs could not keep exact
time, because the frequency was so unstable.  After unification with the
West Germany and becoming electrically independent from the Eastern Europe,
the problem went away.

Couldn't find any useful info on the internet.  GOST (Russian organization
for standartization, http://www.gost.ru) sells standards over the internet.
You can buy a paper or TIFF version at http://www.interstandard.gost.ru/.
Click the lower button on the right, the one that says PYC/ENG.

Hope this helps,

Vitaliy

----- Original Message -----
From: Vasile Surducan <vasile@S3.ITIM-CJ.RO>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: 02.22.2002 12:21 AM
Subject: Re: [EE]: Power in Russia?


> Harold, the neutral is grounded all over the world !
> But your ideea about don't fusing neutral is wrong because this ground
> connection is done near the transformer and some time there are long
> distances through user to transformer. This means a lot of dropout voltage
> on the neutral.
> Also fusing neutral is not only for short circuits to phase but also for
> high currents in that phase/neutral circuit.
> About 20A on one phase is too much, you'll overbalance the system. The max
> admitted current for one phase system is 9...10 A.
>
> Now you'll check if your device is right projected. [big grin]
>  ( east european and russian mains have 220V +20% -15% running at 45...50
Hz.
> Success, Vasile
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, 21 Feb 2002, Harold M Hallikainen wrote:
>
> >         I have a customer wanting to use our equipment in Russia. They'd
be
> > using a single phase 20A circuit. I understand they use 230V, 50 Hz. Do
> > they have a grouned neutral, as we do here in the US? In the US, we rely
> > on the neutral being grounded, so we don't fuse it (since a neutral
short
> > to ground does not create a fire hazard). So, what is the power
> > configuration in Russia? Anyone aware of a website that shows
> > schematically electrical standards throughout the world (single and
three
> > phase, from the final distribution transformer(s) to the customer load,
> > including standard placement of grounds, fuses, etc)?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Harold
> >
> >
> > FCC Rules Online at http://hallikainen.com/FccRules
> > Lighting control for theatre and television at
http://www.dovesystems.com
> >
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