Would that only happen if one outlet were wired backwards (hot to neutral and vice-versa)?
If both outlets are wired correctly, as I’m envisioning it, the extension cord is parallel to the existing branch.
Same if both outlets are wired (the same) incorrectly.
But if one outlet is wired correctly and one has its poles swapped, then you are shorting hot directly to neutral…
But also being a 3-prong outlet…assuming everything is wired correctly…the short would either be redirected to ground and either trip the breaker or trigger a GFCI…no?
IANAElectrician. Just a high dude thinking about circuits.
Worth mentioning that the point of a suicide cord like this isn’t to connect two outlets together…really no reason to do that…it’s usually used to hook up a generator (or other load-center, like say a campground plug) to a branch circuit when the home/rv/load doesn’t have an inlet. It’s also extremely dangerous if used incorrectly, and there are several ways to very easily use it incorrectly.
In a residential setting with reasonable extension cable length & gauge, and reasonable loads you actually kinda can. Impedance and phase mismatches won’t matter on those scales. In fact, that’s basically what a ring circuit is.
Anecdote: my grandparents basically had an “accidental ring circuit” in their old house for like 40 years. It was only noticed when they hired an electrician to upgrade the wiring for an electric stove
Unless one of your outlets is wired backwards, plugging this into 2 outlets on the same side of your electrical panel won’t do anything.
If you were able to plug it into outlets on different sides of your panel, then you just created a 240v short and the cable is going to be real-spicy real-quick.
Unless the cord crosses hot to neutral, connecting two ends to the same outlet won’t do anything. In fact behind the wall, that’s how the two halves of a socket, or two adjacent sockets on the same breaker, are wired.
i managed to do that to myself once in my sleep; i had managed to wrap my arm around a lamp cord which came out of the plug, and when i rolled over i managed to put my thumb on the exposed wires.
I’ll never understand why the US refuses to modernize the horrid NEMA 5 connectors. A recessed receptacle, insulators around the base of the live and neutral blades, spring-loaded detention mechanism to keep the connector from slipping out… in its current state, it’s only two steps removed from sticking the bare wires into the socket.
Because everything the EU and the rest of the world does is stupid. By adapting things from other countries would be akin to acknowledging that other countries can do some things better than the US. But this can’t be, since the US is Numbaaa 1! /s
Arrogance: we especially don’t want to do it because the rest of the world does.
Cost: not the equipment, though that can get pretty pricey considering we up the margins on everything, but mostly labor; labor is ungodly expensive (they cry insurance or (my fave) “you’re paying for the years of experience”).
at least it’s short enough that it will only reach two plugs on the same panel, thereby guaranteeing that the first things that blow are breakers.
Would that only happen if one outlet were wired backwards (hot to neutral and vice-versa)?
If both outlets are wired correctly, as I’m envisioning it, the extension cord is parallel to the existing branch.
Same if both outlets are wired (the same) incorrectly.
But if one outlet is wired correctly and one has its poles swapped, then you are shorting hot directly to neutral…
But also being a 3-prong outlet…assuming everything is wired correctly…the short would either be redirected to ground and either trip the breaker or trigger a GFCI…no?
IANAElectrician. Just a high dude thinking about circuits.
Worth mentioning that the point of a suicide cord like this isn’t to connect two outlets together…really no reason to do that…it’s usually used to hook up a generator (or other load-center, like say a campground plug) to a branch circuit when the home/rv/load doesn’t have an inlet. It’s also extremely dangerous if used incorrectly, and there are several ways to very easily use it incorrectly.
You can’t just branch and reconnect AC power lines at random points.
Or rather, you can, maybe only once though.
In a residential setting with reasonable extension cable length & gauge, and reasonable loads you actually kinda can. Impedance and phase mismatches won’t matter on those scales. In fact, that’s basically what a ring circuit is.
Anecdote: my grandparents basically had an “accidental ring circuit” in their old house for like 40 years. It was only noticed when they hired an electrician to upgrade the wiring for an electric stove
You are forgetting the plug on the knob that will plug it in
Yeah, not what I need. I need NEMA 5-15 to CAT6 adapter
the P in PoE stands for Pulverization
Unless one of your outlets is wired backwards, plugging this into 2 outlets on the same side of your electrical panel won’t do anything.
If you were able to plug it into outlets on different sides of your panel, then you just created a 240v short and the cable is going to be real-spicy real-quick.
That’s only true if your house runs on DC.
Unless the cord crosses hot to neutral, connecting two ends to the same outlet won’t do anything. In fact behind the wall, that’s how the two halves of a socket, or two adjacent sockets on the same breaker, are wired.
then the thermal breaker would jump
Alternatively, One can plug one end in, then you have a creative new way to parent.
“Didn’t mow the lawn? C’mere Billy, hold out your palm.”
i managed to do that to myself once in my sleep; i had managed to wrap my arm around a lamp cord which came out of the plug, and when i rolled over i managed to put my thumb on the exposed wires.
I’ll never understand why the US refuses to modernize the horrid NEMA 5 connectors. A recessed receptacle, insulators around the base of the live and neutral blades, spring-loaded detention mechanism to keep the connector from slipping out… in its current state, it’s only two steps removed from sticking the bare wires into the socket.
Because everything the EU and the rest of the world does is stupid. By adapting things from other countries would be akin to acknowledging that other countries can do some things better than the US. But this can’t be, since the US is Numbaaa 1! /s
Tbh insulating the blades bases would be a huge step in the right direction, and there’s no remodeling required.
At least for homeowners, factories would need new production lines presumably.
i don’t live in north america, but this was in a house from the 1910s.
Unless you accidentally touch one of the prongs after plugging one end in… 😅
Laughs in generator.