I bought one of these on Amazon last year for a specific use case, and I’m knowledgeable enough to use it safely. IIRC Amazon pulled the listing a few months later and gave me a refund because it’s obviously a dangerous product.
CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
81–90 of 311 posts
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn’t the usual advice to turn off your main breaker? Both to protect a lineworker and to avoid stalling your generator by trying to power up the neighbourhood?
I’m not sure I want to see the Venn diagram of people who would buy this cable, and people who would know they need to do that.
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Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#83There's a wonderful kind of writing that pops up at hardware stores in response to annual searches for suicide cables. A couple examples here https://twitter.com/kobunheat/status/1336134415336964096 THESE ARE NOT MADE THEY SHOULD NEVER BE MADE has the kind of direct clarity of existential risk that they sought for with "This is not a place of honor. Nothing of value is here."
Really interesting... What are people doing with their lights where this would ever come up though? Edit: From reddit, a use case is found [1]: > They’re actually used my law enforcement whenever they do a raid and seize a computer. If they turn the computer off, they’ll have to try and get past a password. And if the hard drive is encrypted, they’re basically SOL. > This can be a real issue for things like drug deal…
You hang up two strings of lights outside your house. Usually each string plugs into the previous string and it all works.
But if you get one string backwards instead of having a male and female connector to hook them together you have two males or two females.
Taking down and putting up a long string of lights again is a huge hassle. But if you could just buy this one little cable…
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
So, I have a very good understanding of basic physics. I have a very good ability to critically think. I am, what I would consider, educated and intelligent. And there was a time in my life when I googled "double male cord" because my snow-blower has a female plug for the electric start that is supposed to go to a converter box specifically sold by the company, and I lost it and didn't want to pay $100 for a new one.…
I think that just underlines his point though, you started going down that path and then had the ability pause and think critically for a moment.
Had the knowledge too though. Many people lack the knowledge of how things work, as well as the inclination to stop and think before acting.
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#85How can folks not see that using such contraption is obviously a shitty idea? That’s why we need to completely overhaul the teaching of physics in middle and high school. Every citizen should have at least a basic understanding of basic physical concepts that allow then to understand why this kind of thing is a bad idea
Probably because the alternative is to not have power during the (increasingly common) blackouts. I'm assuming that is the alternative due to there not being a proper way to accomplish this goal that does not cost thousands of dollars.
I highly doubt that having an electrician come out to install an outdoor inlet would cost thousands of dollars.
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#86All these cable stories always make me wonder: Is it possible to design a safe gender-less power plug? By that I mean one that has no male and female end but two symmetrical ones. That would not only be safer but also more convenient as there would only be one type of such cable, instead of three: (female-male, female-female, male-male).
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#87There's a wonderful kind of writing that pops up at hardware stores in response to annual searches for suicide cables. A couple examples here https://twitter.com/kobunheat/status/1336134415336964096 THESE ARE NOT MADE THEY SHOULD NEVER BE MADE has the kind of direct clarity of existential risk that they sought for with "This is not a place of honor. Nothing of value is here."
Really interesting... What are people doing with their lights where this would ever come up though? Edit: From reddit, a use case is found [1]: > They’re actually used my law enforcement whenever they do a raid and seize a computer. If they turn the computer off, they’ll have to try and get past a password. And if the hard drive is encrypted, they’re basically SOL. > This can be a real issue for things like drug deal…
Christmas lights often have a plug with prongs at one of the cable, and a socket at the other end. This way you can make a super-long one by just plugging one into the other.
I suspect that someone accidentally just started with the wrong end, and ended up with the plug with prongs at the far end, and the socket at the end by the electrical socket.
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
So, I have a very good understanding of basic physics. I have a very good ability to critically think. I am, what I would consider, educated and intelligent. And there was a time in my life when I googled "double male cord" because my snow-blower has a female plug for the electric start that is supposed to go to a converter box specifically sold by the company, and I lost it and didn't want to pay $100 for a new one.…
I think that just underlines his point though, you started going down that path and then had the ability pause and think critically for a moment.
Sometimes even smart people might forget to pause.
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#89It's not mentioned, but this is DEADLY for innocent linemen too.
They check the line before working and it's dead. They start work and some idiot without a proper transfer switch backfeeds through the transformer hitting them with 14k volts.
Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The green wire which is a neutral has no place to fasten inside the plastic body. It just goes inside, connects to nothing, while being exposed in the path of the water, presumably to keep water that was too conductive from shocking you I have nothing to say to this. Wow.
Maybe I’m dumb but what else would the ground on a completely plastic enclosure be connected to?
The ground wire is floating in an area that would have water in it, sometimes being electrically connected to the water, sometimes not, depending on the flow, how the wire is bent, etc.
He measures leaking voltage to the pipe and the water and gets readings.
There are actual safe inline electric water heaters with inbuilt GFCI, proper grounding, probably other protective circuits, etc.