Powering electronics in Russia

[MatryoshkaMan]

Hey all, my memory is a bit fuzzy and also I will be taking a laptop with me for the first time when I travel to Russia in October. My laptop battery charger and my digital camera battery charger are both 110/220v 50-60HZ so I THINK they are OK to just plug into the wall as is with the use of a plug adapter. Correct me if I am wrong please!

But I remember using using my current plug adapters in the past in Russia & Ukraine and sometimes the outlets are deeply recessed back into the wall and my adapters barely reached...but in any case I never started a fire and muddled through somehow..From what I remember some outlets are recessed back farther than others, maybe the really old ones?

Also I have seen "Russian Grounded Plug Adapters" on Amazon, they seem to have a large circular base which LOOKS like it goes right into those deep Russian outlets. Am I to assume these are for use with the really old ungrounded outlets?

I am a dummy when it comes to power so help me out please!!

Thanks.

[MatryoshkaMan]

Just bought one of these on eBay really just for the hell of it, better to be safe than sorry over there...If I can't charge my laptop or camera battery I'd be S.O.L.!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Universal-Grounded-Travel-Schuko-Plug-Adapter-Europe_W0QQitemZ140331201726QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20ac6434be&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[BillyB]

My laptop battery charger and my digital camera battery charger are both 110/220v 50-60HZ so I THINK they are OK to just plug into the wall as is with the use of a plug adapter. Correct me if I am wrong please!

Also I have seen "Russian Grounded Plug Adapters" on Amazon, they seem to have a large circular base which LOOKS like it goes right into those deep Russian outlets. Am I to assume these are for use with the really old ungrounded outlets?

You are correct. As long as your electronics say 220v or 240v on it, it will be fine, just need the plug adaptor.

I've never seen a 3 prong Russian outlet so I don't know how they'd be grounded. Your adaptor may be able to handle an American grounded plug but I'm not sure the adaptor is grounded since it's two prong. Just don't take a bath with your electronics.

[TwoBitBandit]

You are correct. As long as your electronics say 220v or 240v on it, it will be fine, just need the plug adaptor.  

I've never seen a 3 prong Russian outlet so I don't know how they'd be grounded. Your adaptor may be able to handle an American grounded plug but I'm not sure the adaptor is grounded since it's two prong. Just don't take a bath with your electronics.

If you look closely, you can see that some russian outlets and some large appliances (computers, etc) have a third connector on the peripheral/circumference of the plug.  That's the ground.

Billy's post is correct--if you have a device that says it's good for 220/240V (most consumer electronics and laptops) then you're good with just the little plug adapter.  

However, if you have a small appliance that only works on 110V you can still buy a transformer for it.  I have a small one that's good enough to power a small appliance like an electric razor.  You can get them to handle any reasonable amperage, but the size is generally proportional to the amperage, and one big enough for a powerful device (like a hair drier) is prohibitively big to travel with.

[Faux Pas]

Just bought one of these on eBay really just for the hell of it, better to be safe than sorry over there...If I can't charge my laptop or camera battery I'd be S.O.L.!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Universal-Grounded-Travel-Schuko-Plug-Adapter-Europe_W0QQitemZ140331201726QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20ac6434be&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Radio Shack has plug adapters that you can use in Russia. They are called "European adapters" if I remember correctly. Seems like they were about 4-5 bucks a piece. If your electronics say 110/240 you will be fine with just the adapters

[Misha]

Radio Shack has plug adapters that you can use in Russia. They are called "European adapters" if I remember correctly. Seems like they were about 4-5 bucks a piece. If your electronics say 110/240 you will be fine with just the adapters

They are also easy to find in Russia. I have also seen them in "dollar stores" from time to time in Canada, selling of course for a dollar 

[XMan]

http://digitalwirelessgroup.com/product_detail.asp?ID=70&CATEGORY=

The above works very well, in my experience.
Used in Ukraine and Russia, no problem.

[Phil dAmore]

The three-prong outlets are for higher-current applications. The outlet is designed so that you can't plug a standard two-prong plug into an outlet designed for 3-prong.

Odd that there should be a difference because except for a few commercial applications, the entire Russian electrical system is a two-wire, ungrounded system. 

Don't worry about the difference in frequency (50 Hz vs. 60 Hz) unless you are bringing an electric alarm clock.  Even after the voltage correction the clock will lose 10 minutes every hour because of the lower European frequency.  Everything else like laptops and phone / camera chargers will be fine, but double-check to ensure that the device will automatically handle the higher input voltage.

[BillyB]

Odd that there should be a difference because except for a few commercial applications, the entire Russian electrical system is a two-wire, ungrounded system. 

It's possible that although those old buildings weren't wired for a ground, they could hook the ground wire from the outlets to the metal plumbing in the building the water and the pipe that's interconnected and headed underground will act as a sufficient ground. Grounds are hooked to copper piping in American homes.