Samovar: where to buy?

[Emily Saunders]

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you for that website.  I'm not sure that  
it will help me to get my samovar to work as I like (I'm not sure my  
philological brain can follow the physics formulas well enough to  
explain it all to a lamp repairman), but I love the colorful comments  
on the tradition of tea drinking by a Hungarian hacker with a  
self-proclaimed Russian homeland.

I've set a bookmark for future chuckles.

Emily Saunders

On Sep 1, 2006, at 1:47 PM, Michael Denner wrote:

> This is a quirky but quite exhaustive site on samovars:
> http://home.fazekas.hu/~nagydani/rth/Russian-tea-HOWTO-v2.html
>
> You'll find there an explanation of how to get your samovar to boil
> water. If I were you, I'd take it to the local electrician or
> lamp-repair shop and have them do the alteration for you...
> ***
>
> Samovars in North America
>
> In North America, charcoal-burning samovars can be used exactly the  
> same
> way we use them in Russia, except, perhaps, that you should warn each
> participant of the garden-party, preferably in written form, about the
> dangers of scalding themselves. Otherwise, some ignorant bastard might
> sue your pants off, should s/he touch the samovar in the wrong place.
>
> The operation of Russian electric samovars is somewhat more involved,
> given the differences in the AC grid. First off, the frequency differs:
> as opposed to the Russian 50 Hz, North America operates at 60 CPS (unit
> conversion: 1 Hertz = 1 Cycle Per Second). This difference does not
> affect the samovars in any way.
>
> The difference in voltage is more salient. Recall Ohm's Law: R=U/I and
> the definition of electric power: P=UI.
>
> From these two equations it is apparent that the heating power of the
> same resistance at half the voltage is one fourth of the original  
> value.
> Assuming the samovar's heating coil linear and the losses negligible,  
> it
> would take four times as long to boil the water in the same samovar in
> America than it took in Russia. Fortunately enough, non-linearities  
> work
> to your advantage.
>
> The last obstacle is the difference in connectors. You can overcome it
> either by replacing the plug with an American one, or by utilizing a so
> called "outlet adapter" (Radio Shack part #273-1406D). Don't forget the
> grounding!
>
> The brave and impatient can hack up the samovar to operate just as fast
> as it does in Russia. In order to achieve the same power at half the
> voltage, you'll need one fourth of the resistance. Now, recall the
> definition of resistance in terms of dimensions: R=rl/A, whereby l
> denotes the length of the resistor, A its cross-section and r is a
> constant that depends on the properties of the material. The volume of
> this resistor would be V=lA.
>
> In order not to affect the longevity of the spiral, you'd better
> preserve the volume of the heating element, while decreasing its
> resistance. If you take a look at the two above formulae, you'd notice
> that halving the length and doubling the cross-section would achieve
> exactly the desired effect. So, pull the spiral out, remove the
> insulation, fold it in two, and stretch it to the desired length before
> putting the insulation back. If you cannot stretch the spiral without
> risking its integrity, you can prolong it with a thick copper-wire.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
>    Dr. Michael A. Denner
>    Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
>    Director, University Honors Program
>
>    Contact Information:
>       Russian Studies Program
>       Stetson University
>       Campus Box 8361
>       DeLand, FL 32720-3756
>       386.822.7381 (department)
>       386.822.7265 (direct line)
>       386.822.7380 (fax)
>       www.stetson.edu/~mdenner
>
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