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CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

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Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#231

Post by quickthrowman »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #144
NotYourLawyer wrote: post #81

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.

This is not an argument I like to use, but I'd say that if you were knowledgeable enough, then you wouldn't be using it.

I agree, if they were knowledgeable enough they would convert the load side of whatever they were trying to power from a female plug end to a male plug and use a traditional extension cord and not risk death.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#232

Post by xani_ »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #205
xani_ wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ElectroBOOM made his whole career on videos like that. Still can't watch him, I get anxious

Really? I mean, it's all staged/planned. In his earlier videos, like the electric guitar one, even the spark is fake and edited in.

I know he's a skilled EE and minimalizes chance for that but still, accidents happen and I'm also not exactly fan of essentially masochism on screen

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#233

Post by Nifty3929 »

angrygoat wrote: post #78

I've been shocked by one of these – I was setting up some computers, asked for an extension cord, got handed a male-to-male cord. Didn't notice until I plugged one end in, and grabbed the other while fishing around for it while looking. It never occurred to me that it might be male on both ends. The shock was very painful but the RCD tripped and saved my life. I'm quite grateful to the regulators here in Australia th…

This is one nice thing about electric in the US - household voltage is mostly 110v, with special outlets for the occasional exception that requires 220v. And even in those cases, it's not 220v on one wire, it's just two wires of 110v.

I've been shocked by 110v countless times (well, maybe a dozen or so), and it's just an momentary shock (in both senses) and nothing more. Not recommended! Be careful! Circumstances (water) can make it fatal! But still I've been fine.

Australia and lots of other countries use ~240v as normal household voltage. I've never been shocked by 240v, but from your description I'm really glad about that.

Are there any downsides for using 110v instead of 220v?

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#234

Post by thakoppno »

TIPSIO wrote: post #74
kevinmchugh wrote: post #39

There'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…

> plug it into the computer’s power strip, then unplug the power strip from the wall

For additional opsec, plug your computer directly into wall socket? That is new to me but interesting nonetheless.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#235

Post by xani_ »

hedora wrote: post #161
xani_ wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people would complain as they don't plan on using generator and extra socket and switch is extra cost. People needing that cable are just being cheap and not wanting to do it properly

It's $100-200 in extra parts. California already forces people to spend $1000's on LED compatible dimmers and moisture / motion sensing switches (spoiler alert: none of these things work properly, and they all have a high first year failure rate). They also have fascination with putting power outlets in useless places.

Yes. For thing you don't use.

> California already forces people to spend $1000's on LED compatible dimmers and moisture / motion sensing switches (spoiler alert: none of these things work properly, and they all have a high first year failure rate). They also have fascination with putting power outlets in useless places.

"This stupid thing for $100 doesn't matter, we already have stupid thing for $1000" is not a great argument either.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#236

Post by Nifty3929 »

hajile wrote: post #89

It'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.

How would they get 14kV, assuming the output from the generator is just 110v?

Honest question, I was wondering this before and I assume you know more about it than I do.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#237

Post by seabrookmx »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #34
zibby8 wrote: post #8

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.

Isn't it more common to use a dryer outlet with a 240v input?

In my experience, yes.

I've seen more "suicide cables" with a male 14-30R (dryer plug) and male L6-30R (twist and lock type, usually on generators) than I can count.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#238

Post by varispeed »

thakoppno wrote: post #234
TIPSIO wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> plug it into the computer’s power strip, then unplug the power strip from the wall For additional opsec, plug your computer directly into wall socket? That is new to me but interesting nonetheless.

Wire it permanently to the house wiring.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#239

Post by xani_ »

hedora wrote: post #149
xani_ wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fuse would blow, because you have mains ->main fuse -> circuit fuse -> generator

Maybe? What if it's a slow-blow fuse / breaker, and the phase is just a little bit off?

If it was alternator driven generator it would most likely drift into phase with the network, as the network would either break, or allow it to spin faster depending on in which direction the difference is.

That's actually how the big generators are synced, if there is less load you will see frequency of network increase slightly until the amount of generation drops, similarly in other way.

Inverter based one, hard to tell, entirely depending on code driving it.

But taking into consideration even 20V over low resistance wire could be 20+ amps it would probably trip pretty quickly.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#240

Post by KennyBlanken »

oliveshell wrote: post #218
a2tech wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats why I made one. I've upgraded now to a proper panel setup for my generator, but it was a quick and simple solution in the moment.

For anyone who doesn’t see why this is a bad idea: If you plug your generator in like this, you can backfeed the step-down transformers in your neighborhood, which then step up the voltage from your generator and energize your local utility lines with potentially several thousand volts. This can be a nasty surprise for utility workers trying to restore power to what they think are de-energized wires.

No, you won't. This myth needs to die; at least you didn't include the claim that "dozens" of line workers have been killed by this (they haven't.)

First off: line workers don't touch anything unless they've verified with testing equipment that it isn't live and/or they're using something like hotsticks. Anything they actually put hands on is grounded first.

Second: if power is out, your generator would be connected to everything downstream of the point of isolation which means the main breaker in your house is effectively connected to a near-zero-ohm shunt. Your generator likely cannot power even one or two full households worth of surge load, much less an entire neighborhood. Said generator would immediately bog down, and also pop its breaker.

Stop talking about things you know nothing about.

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