Forbidden Tech
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Seems like the power companies should be responsible for either checking there is no back feeding or provide those things for everyone then. (I'm still not advocating for you back feeding your home)
You'd have to constantly test. Just because a lines worker tested that the line is dead five seconds ago doesn't mean some idiot just plugged one of these in.
They can work, you just need to disconnect your house first then use it. It's also a good way to burn your house down. If something on the same circuit as the generator pulls more current than the wires in the walls are designed to take, because there's no breaker in the way anymore it can catch fire.
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Why not have the meters detect and control a disconnect. with all the solar generation around, someone's gotta have a bad transfer switch somewhere.
Reaction time
In the US, using a cord like this will either be harmless or create effectively a dead short. Typical breakers will catch the latter but it will take tenths of a second for a breaker to react in which time the electricity could kill someone.
Depending on circuit conditions a GFCI might intervene as well, they're typically faster at reacting (needing a few milliseconds) but for a cable designed to handle full residential power, it's still enough to kill a person in that small window of time
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Most of eastern Europe do this and somehow linesmen don't get killed. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do but come on, guys, you have to adapt. If your government is shit.
Can't adapt if I can't get my suicide adapter.
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I sell so many of these around Xmas time, I just make them myself with scissors and electric tape.
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That would immediately blow the fuse in the lights and/or start a fire if the two strands were on different circuits that happened to be on different electrical phases.
While I wouldn't doubt that some people are stupid enough to do that, it's actually summer that it's done the most for because of storms and power outages, and people learn that backfeeding is a thing (that you shouldn't do unless you absolutely know what you're doing).
I appreciate a good "um actually" but this really is about Christmas lights. People really are stupid enough for this to be something posted specifically around December.
As far as I can tell from a reverse image search this is the original. (Not linking to the other place, DM me if you want the link for some reason).
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Yeah. Makes no fucking sense
I searched that model number, and came up with a similar looking box that has a corded male end- implying that those two stickers are outputs.
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In my jurisdiction, backfeeding your house from a receptacle is very illegal. Transfer switches and interlock kits exist for a reason.
For anyone wondering exactly why it's a bad idea: Power from your generator can, if your house isn't isolated from the grid, travel back into the utility lines and backward through the big transformer at the utility pole (so now it's a few thousand volts again) and give an unsuspecting linesman a nasty surprise. People have died from this. It is a bad idea.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]This is also why solar inverters in most countries MUST be able to 'island' (logically disconnect from grid) in order to run a battery.
We don't have a battery yet, so our inverter shuts down on grid loss. Frustrating as hell when there's an outage on a sunny day, but i get it.
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Take it down, darwin demands sacrifice, lest we be riddled with stupidity.
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I appreciate a good "um actually" but this really is about Christmas lights. People really are stupid enough for this to be something posted specifically around December.
As far as I can tell from a reverse image search this is the original. (Not linking to the other place, DM me if you want the link for some reason).
Fair enough. I shouldn't be posting within 30 minutes of waking up anyway...
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Fair enough. I shouldn't be posting within 30 minutes of waking up anyway...
Never underestimate stupidity. Though I do think it's at least not normally people trying to connect two strands that are themselves already live. It's normally people who are connecting several strands together and started at the end not plugged in with the male end poking out, not realizing that this means when they're done stringing and go to plug in they've got the female end and no way to plug it in.
Left facing the daunting task of completely undoing all the work they just did, they try to look for something to bridge the gap without thinking through to the danger.
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What if I yell "no homo!" when I plug it in?
where are you plugging it in?
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"this time of year" is 100% christmas.
from people putting up lights, probably trying to run remote power to a box with an extension cord, or because they installed half their lights backward and need this to bridge between the two sets because they rather embrace the danger than redo all the work.
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where are you plugging it in?
I mean, there's only one place for double-headed items to be safely used and it isn't in the workshop.
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What would they even be used for except to short a circuit?
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I saw an electrician use one for troubleshooting. Half the outlets in the house were in serial on the same circuit, and there was a problem in the wall somewhere. He disconnected the wires from the breaker and backfed power from a live circuit to an outlet to see if there were any more breaks further away.
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Take it down, darwin demands sacrifice, lest we be riddled with stupidity.
Except that sometimes, those idiots could take people down with them. That electrical fire might spread to another house, and the person getting electrocuted might not be the idiot.
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Except that sometimes, those idiots could take people down with them. That electrical fire might spread to another house, and the person getting electrocuted might not be the idiot.
Imagine I'm making the most exasperated, annoyed, disapponted noise possible.
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Reaction time
In the US, using a cord like this will either be harmless or create effectively a dead short. Typical breakers will catch the latter but it will take tenths of a second for a breaker to react in which time the electricity could kill someone.
Depending on circuit conditions a GFCI might intervene as well, they're typically faster at reacting (needing a few milliseconds) but for a cable designed to handle full residential power, it's still enough to kill a person in that small window of time
except american standards mandate GFCI only in bathrooms, so you'll get cooked before anything trips
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They cant stop you from buying heat shrink and wire strippers. Don't let nothing hold you back
you don't even need heat shrink if you have the good plugs which can be unscrewed open
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A former coworker was abroad most of the time. Still, his power meter showed lots of usage during his absence. A tenant in the same house had used such a cord to leech power across the common laundry room.
Now that coworker knew his way about electricity. So instead of the 220V between common and a phase, he rewired his washing machine socket to two different phases, aka 380V, and left for a week.
When he came back, he saw a number of kitchen- and other appliances waiting for trash collection.
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Why not have the meters detect and control a disconnect. with all the solar generation around, someone's gotta have a bad transfer switch somewhere.
Arc-fault breakers are required by code as of now, and it would help this situation quote a bit. However millions of homes don't have them installed so they're more at risk.
