If I ever buy one of these, I’d only ever use it to encase in resin and put on a shelf as a comedic ornament.
Cords
Submitted 2 months ago by Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net to [deleted]
https://slrpnk.net/pictrs/image/734b45cf-a4c5-4718-9004-15343b7f8c03.jpeg
Comments
biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Hugin@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I made one of those once by accident. I was talking a long extension cord that had been cut in two and converting it into two smaller cords. I messed up and attached the male to the wrong cable.
snowsuit2654@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
I don’t know much about circuits but could you switch the polarity to make this work?
RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s not that it won’t work - polarity doesn’t quite work like that in AC systems - it’s that as soon as you plug in one end, the other end has a pair of exposed metal contacts with mains voltage between them. One mistake, touching the contacts or having them come into something metal (like the ladder you are using to hang the Christmas lights) and someone dies
floofloof@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Also, once you plug it in to your strand of lights, the other end of your lights will have a live male plug dangling off it.
snowsuit2654@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Thanks! I didn’t realize the difference between AC and DC.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Reversing polarity is a Starfleet-approved procedure in all situations.
isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
in AC, which is what home electricity uses, the polarity is constantly switching, from + , then - , then + , and so on, 50 or 60 times a second depending on where you live. This means that, unlike batteries, it’s symmetrical, and you can just splice the cables and attach two male plugs together and they will work regardless, even if you somehow attach the neutral to live and live to neutral, in fact in many countries you can actually buy just the plug without the cable and then you can assemble it yourself in whatever way you please.
of course tho, this should be done only if you have a decent understanding of electricity, and it should not be attempted by someone who lacks those competences, hence why hardware stores “gatekeep” male to male plugs. If you really need one and are sure you understand how they work, you can probably make one yourself.
snowsuit2654@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Ah I see. You can tell I don’t know much about this lol. I figured it was like DC.
SirDerpy@lemmy.world 2 months ago
(If you) are sure you understand how they work
And
If you really need one
I understand how power systems work. But, I can’t come up with a situation where I’d use a male-male AC cord rather than a safer and more reliable alternative. Most relevant is simply cutting off the female termination and reterminating through a breaker to the outlet ($15 and 15 min).
StrongHorseWeakNeigh@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I know even less probably but I’m going to say yes and let you find out for me.
ristoril_zip@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Oh I call the cables I use to wire up my controllers “suicide cords” because it’s just the hot, neutral, and ground hanging out one end, waiting to touch me…
shylosx@lemmy.world 2 months ago
We intentionally made suicide cords all the time at my old job lol
Thcdenton@lemmy.world 2 months ago
can@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I’m sure someone would sell you one.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
But you don’t really build those here do ya
Halcyon@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
Lemming Line
tyler@programming.dev 2 months ago
NO
TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I used it to connect a generator to the wall and give me some temporary power in my house when I was renovating. It’s only dangerous if you are stupid.
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Just because you didn’t get hurt doesn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.
There’s a reason the people who write the fire and electrical codes say that if you need to do something like that, you need to have a properly installed transfer switch.
TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I mean, driving a car is dangerous, everything has a risk inherent to it but you can minimise it by being prudent.
Steak@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Not smart. You could kill yourself or some poor electrician working the problem outside your house somewhere.
FJW@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
The backup-generator seems to be the one semi-legit use-case that keeps coming up where few people have been able to present a significantly better alternative.
hypeerror@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
The safe method for a generator is a transfer switch. With that cable you make your circuit breaker useless and could also send power back out to the street and harm someone working on the problem.
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
There’s literally an approved solution to the problem designed explicitly to solve the problem.
Install a transfer switch so you can disconnect utility power, switch to your generator and people can see the situation at the breaker.
If you don’t have one, you use something called an “extension cord” to run power to your important devices for the duration of the outage.
If you don’t know how to power a few appliances with a generator and some extension cords, you definitely shouldn’t be thinking you can use a dangerous cable that people who do know you should never use in the first place.