131–140 of 311 posts
All 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).
How 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
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.…
Back feeding seems insane. Most residential circuits are rated for 15A. A 5000 watt generator can produce over 40 amps at 120V. Seems like a good way to start an electrical fire.
There's not a big risk of overcurrent here, since the 15A breaker will trip on overcurrent even when it's being backfed. The main hazard with these suicide cables is of electrocution, both inside your house due to the exposed blades being energized, and of linemen working to restore the power.
How 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
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are reasonably priced (under $100, though not under $3 like a common receptacle) male power inlets. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Reliance-Controls-30-Amp-Power-I... is the first one I found on Google (4-wire for 240V center-tapped), but there are many, including a 120V version: https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-5278-CWP-Straight-Flanged-Rec... Even these, if hardwired to the building's service, represent some risk,…
Unless it is installed properly, that is just as dangerous as the cord in the article, as long as you remember the "plug generator in last" rule. In particular, both can kill hapless power company employees by unexpectedly backfeeding into downed parts of the grid, and they have similar carbon monoxide/fire hazard issues. (Not that there is anything wrong with the product; I wish they were mandatory, so they'd reliab…
Not saying it can't happen. The main one where it could is if the break is between your house and everybody else. But in the vast majority of situations you will instantly pop the dinky 15a breaker
I think you'd have to start with human rated GFCI... Current GFCI systems aren't human rated (ie. they might fail, and should only be used as a secondary safety feature, not the primary way to stop the user touching the electricity).
How 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
Electricity is like magic to most people. If you ask around you'll find that folks don't have the vaguest idea how it works. All they know is "plug it in and it turns on". These people are eating and sleeping inches from voltages that could easily kill them. Safety measures are fairly good (even with the terrible US plugs), but safety devices can only go so far. I would strongly encourage that everyone (even those wh…
My grandma fried a printer/laptop once accidentally doing an unintentional version of this. The printer and laptop were plugged into different circuits and there was a big enough voltage difference if fried one of them.
Likely due to neutral not being tied to a cold water pipe.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean most people know it's a terrible idea, it's just that 0.1% of a population of 330 million people is 330k people, and I don't think that 0.1% is from a failure of our education system
Why would you think that most people would just know it’s a terrible idea? After all, the vast majority of (digital) cables that people use mostly work just fine so long as they fit—leaving aside vagaries of USB-C and Thunderbolt.
I dunno, statistic about deaths from electrocution?