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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

#251

Post by tyingq »

Shorel wrote: post #100
tyingq wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a terrifying teardown of one of those heated shower heads here: https://hackaday.com/2018/08/25/electric-shower-head-tear-do... When he opens it, the ground wire is just floating in the enclosure, not hooked up to anything. Contacts that would mechanically fail to shorted, etc. He also mentions it flows ~24 amps of 220V on the high setting.

I used them for over 20 years in South America. I even burned them many times, to the dismay of my dad. I burned them because I wanted hotter water, and closed the water line as much as I can, the resistance heated up to red and then melted. The fact that ground contacts the water is by design. As far as I know, no one has ever been electrocuted by using one of these showers, not even me, so used to burn them. The on…

I believe you that accidents don't happen often with them. But, on the other hand, you're describing a scenario where you:

- Melted the enclosure, probably exposing the wiring, maybe near your hand if you reached up to see what was happening

- While you might have been standing on a drain that was an excellent path to ground

And, if the ground wire is meant to be constantly in contact with the water, there's certainly cheap ways to ensure that, that are better than "exposed stripped end randomly sits in the chamber".

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

#252

Post by yetihehe »

Nifty3929 wrote: post #233
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 (wa…

Depends on person. I've accidentally touched 220V several times and only felt a little stinging. One time I was kneeling on wet grass. But - please don't try it yourself, I'm just very lucky and probably a bad conductor, you might be not.

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

You need thicker wires and higher current to carry the same power. In Europe electric kettles are much more common because they can use up to 2kW in most households without any problems.

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

#253

Post by jakogut »

Nifty3929 wrote: post #233
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 (wa…

> even in those cases, it's not 220v on one wire, it's just two wires of 110v.

This is not really correct. Voltage is potential difference, so the voltage of a single conductor as measured from a single point is always zero, as there's no difference. Similar to how a boulder on top of a hill on Earth has potential energy from gravity, because there's a difference in height, and a force acting on that mass. That same boulder with no hill or gravity has no potential energy.

In America, residential panels are generally wired with three current carrying conductors (hot, hot, neutral), and a ground. Each hot is one leg of a 240V transformer, and the neutral is a center tap, which has 120V of potential difference (voltage) between both hots. In 120V circuits, one hot is combined with the neutral for 120V of potential. Other circuits and outlets can combine two hots for 240V of potential, or two hots and a neutral for both 240V and 120V capability, such as might be used by your dryer, with large motors and heaters driven by the higher voltage, and control circuitry being powered by the lower voltage.

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

Because the current required for the same amount of power at a lower voltage is higher (Ohm's law), thicker wire is required to carry that current, and more heat is generated.

Source: DIYer who's wired my own garage, including a 100A subpanel and various circuits, which was all permitted and passed inspection.

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

#254

Post by jffry »

Nifty3929 wrote: post #233
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 (wa…

110v delivers less power at the same amperage, and higher amperage drives a need for a thicker conductor.

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

#255

Post by kwhitefoot »

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.

Only if you neglect to trip the main breaker.

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

#256

Post by ghaff »

xani_ wrote: post #140
ghaff wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Why would you think that most people would just know it’s a terrible idea? I dunno, statistic about deaths from electrocution?

And why would they connect overall statistics about deaths from electrocution to that particular thing? Lots of ways to get electrocuted.

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

#257

Post by xani_ »

mindslight wrote: post #228
xani_ wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Water analogues kinda assumes you somehow know hydraulics but not electrics tho.

I've used fluid analogies for intuition, even working as a professional design engineer. It's much easier to feel flow, pressure, momentum, etc than try to develop an independent intuition based solely on equations. I'm actually starting to learn hydraulics at the moment and it's a head trip. I know these schematic symbols must have some kind of method to them, but what . Also all of these components are just created…

Yeah but it's only similar from a very far away. Like just simple resistor, in electronics flow increases linearly with voltage, in hydraulics it doesn't.

Or how in some hydraulics system it's not really the flow that's the motivator for action, like in simple hydraulic brakes it's not the flow of the fluid in a circle that powers anything, it's just that the push on fluid on one side pushes the brake pad on the other. So it's not really a flow but wave of pressure (which is kinda how current actually flows in the conductor anyway...)

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

#258

Post by NotYourLawyer »

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.

It was a temporary solution until I had time to build things out the right way, which I am now in the process of doing.

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

#259

Post by kwhitefoot »

varispeed wrote: post #238
thakoppno wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Add a trembler switch to the internal power supply.

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

#260

Post by daveoc64 »

The way Christmas Lights are wired in the US is very different to the UK.

They usually come pre-wired with a standard 3-pin plug in the end, or a transformer block with a propreitary connector (probably outputting DC), so you don't have to worry about any of this extension stuff.

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