Forbidden Tech
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This post did not contain any content.wrote on last edited by [email protected]
No idea how and why but my dad once had a cable like that in his workshop.
Short story: we were having a party, bit drunk and wanted power for the bigger speakers, needed an extension, rummaged around and found this one. Of course didn't check the ends, plugged it in and then thought "oh what a weird male adapter there, lets take it...bzzzzt".
Have a tiny burn scar on my hand now, luckily nothing else happened. The cable got dismantled afterwards, but I still don't know why it was there in the first place, he is a pretty good handyman normally.
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It's OK - I'm only going to use the suicide cord for my fractal wood-burning project.
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Yes, this would technically work. Although, it would only power the hot leg the outlet is connected to which only feeds part of the house.
It's very dangerous for a variety of reasons. Especially if you forget to shut off the mains breaker. The transformer can backfeed power down the line at line voltages, creating a shock hazard for lineman or anyone else who might have contact with the line.
Wouldn't any repair worker ground anything they work on first, or assume it is live?
I am not even a proper electrician, but "short-circuited and grounded, or treat it as live" has been the rule forever. -
Wouldn't any repair worker ground anything they work on first, or assume it is live?
I am not even a proper electrician, but "short-circuited and grounded, or treat it as live" has been the rule forever.Not an electrician, but I would imagine the danger being if the technician checked the wire was off locally, started work and then the home generator starts feeding mid work.
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No gay cords allowed!
The gay cords are extra powerful in Europe with a spicy 230v
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The gay cords are extra powerful in Europe with a spicy 230v
wrote on last edited by [email protected]1 European gay is equivalent to 1.91 american gays
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It also backfeeds the grid and can kill someone working on the lines.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]This is the real issue and why you need a modern transfer switch. Lineman is working on the transformer on the pole, "it's fine we cut it off upstream and I checked" and BOOM anyway
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I don't understand why it would have female on both ends?
Weird use case. Never underestimate the customer.
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No idea how and why but my dad once had a cable like that in his workshop.
Short story: we were having a party, bit drunk and wanted power for the bigger speakers, needed an extension, rummaged around and found this one. Of course didn't check the ends, plugged it in and then thought "oh what a weird male adapter there, lets take it...bzzzzt".
Have a tiny burn scar on my hand now, luckily nothing else happened. The cable got dismantled afterwards, but I still don't know why it was there in the first place, he is a pretty good handyman normally.
If you lose power, you can use one of these cables to power your house (or at least, the part of your house on that phase).
This is not how you should do this, but it can work. It is not a good idea (possibly illegal?).
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What if I yell "no homo!" when I plug it in?
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If you lose power, you can use one of these cables to power your house (or at least, the part of your house on that phase).
This is not how you should do this, but it can work. It is not a good idea (possibly illegal?).
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.
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It's OK - I'm only going to use the suicide cord for my fractal wood-burning project.
Well at that point all you need to do is cut a normal extension cord and strip the ends. Maybe add a switch or a button for extra safety.
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I'm gonna guess winter, hanging Christmas lights. People string up their lights and then realize far too late that they put two strands with female ends facing each other and instead of restringing they look for a male-to-male cord to bridge the gap.
A little live wire shouldn't stand in the way of holiday cheer, after all.
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).
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This is all reasonably accurate. Source: electrician, who worked at a supply store for a while. I've had people ask how to make all kinds of stupid cords.
If you don't know what you're doing, don't fool with electricity
The problem is that people read a few things on the internet, think they're now suddenly domain experts, and do it anyway.
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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.
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)
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I don't understand why it would have female on both ends?
Yeah. Makes no fucking sense
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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 can't check for back feeding.
Cable coming from house to pole has no power. Electrician goes to hook up wire. Homeowner puts on generator. Electrician gets electrocuted.
Yes the testing and hooking up could be a small window of time but a fraction of a second after testing is all it takes.
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What would they even be used for except to short a circuit?
Connecting this to two plugs on the same circuit won't short anything unless one of the outlets is wired incorrectly.
They're used to backfeed power to your house from a generator during power outages.
Technically not legal to use, but most people aren't going to pay $1k for a proper transfer switch.
They come with the caveat of 'not to be operated by fuckwits' since you can kill a linesman if you don't flip your main breaker before using them. -
The problem is that people read a few things on the internet, think they're now suddenly domain experts, and do it anyway.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Oh I know.
I've talked to them.
Don't do it. If you haven't actually worked with an electrician for at least two or.three years, just leave the repairs and shit jobs for people like me.
If you can't explain why the white wire is incorrectly called a neutral in single-phase systems, don't touch it.
